102:1
V ers. 13, 14, 15. — Cum autem quadam die filii et filiae ejus comederent, et biberent vinum in domo fratris sui primogeniti, nuntius venit ad Job, qui dice- ret: Boves arabant, et asinae pascebantur juxta eos, et irruerunt Sabaei, tuleruntque omnia, et pueros percus- serunt gladio, et evasi ego solus, ut nuntiarem tibi. 22. Diabolus tentandi tempora eligit. — Notandum quae tempora tentationibus congruant. Tunc quippe diabolus tentandi tempus elegit, quando beati Job filios in convivio invenit. Neque enim solummodo in- tuetur hostis quid faciat, sed etiam quando faciat. Nam quamvis potestatem acceperit, aptum tamen d ad subversionem tempus exquisivit;
Verses 13, 14, 15. — 'Now on a certain day, when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their firstborn brother, a messenger came to Job and said: The oxen were plowing, and the she-asses feeding beside them, and the Sabeans rushed in and carried off everything, and struck the servants with the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you.' 22. The devil chooses his times for tempting. — It is to be noted what times are suited to temptations. For the devil chose a time for tempting precisely when he found blessed Job's children at a banquet. For the enemy considers not only what he may do, but also when he may do it. For although he had received power, yet he sought out a time fit for overthrowing;
第十三、十四、十五節——「有一天，約伯的兒女正在他們長兄家裡吃飯喝酒的時候，有報信的來見約伯，說：牛正耕地，母驢在旁邊吃草，示巴人忽然闖來，把牲畜擄去，並用刀殺了僕人；惟有我一人逃脫，來報信給你。」二十二、魔鬼揀選試探的時機。——當注意何種時機適於試探。魔鬼正是在發現約伯的兒女正在宴席之時，揀選了試探的時機。因為仇敵不僅顧念要做甚麼，也顧念何時去做。他雖已得了權柄，卻仍尋求合宜傾覆的時機；
102:2
ut videl cet nobis Deo dispensante proderetur, quia praenuntia tribula- tionis est laetitia satietatis. Intuendum vero est, quam callide ipsa damna, quae illata sunt, nuntiantur. Non enim dicitur, boves e a Sabaeis ablati sunt: sed qui ablati sunt, boves arabant; ut videlicet memorato fructu operis, causa crescat doloris. Unde et apud Graecos non solum asinae, sed fetae asinae raptae refe- runtur; ut dum minima animalia audientis animum minus ex sui qualitate percuterent, amplius ex fecun- ditate vulnerarent. Et quia eo magis adversa animum feriunt, quo cum multa sunt, etiam subita nuntian- tur, aucta est mensura gemituum, etiam f per arti- cula nuntiorum. Nam sequitur:
so that it might indeed be betrayed to us, by God's ordering, that the gladness of fullness is a forerunner of tribulation. But it is to be observed how craftily the very losses that were inflicted are announced. For it is not said, 'The oxen were carried off by the Sabeans,' but 'those that were carried off were plowing oxen'; so that, by the remembered fruit of their labor, the cause of grief might increase. Hence also among the Greeks it is reported that not merely she-asses, but pregnant she-asses, were seized; so that while the least of animals would strike the hearer's mind less by their quality, they might wound it more by their fecundity. And because adverse things strike the mind the more, the more, being many, they are also announced suddenly, the measure of groanings was increased even by the intervals of the messengers. For there follows:
這是要藉神的安排向我們揭示：飽足的歡樂乃是苦難的先兆。但當觀察，那所加的損失被報告得何等狡猾。因為經上不說「牛被示巴人擄去了」，乃說「被擄去的牛正耕地」；為要藉著所記念的勞碌果效，使憂傷之因增加。故此在希臘文本中也記載，被擄去的不僅是母驢，乃是懷胎的母驢；這樣，雖然最微小的牲畜按其本質較少刺傷聽者的心，卻藉其多產更深地傷害了他。又因為逆境愈是眾多、又是突然報來，就愈發刺傷人心，所以哀哭的分量便藉著報信者接連而至的間隔增加了。因為接著說：