Moralia in Job 1122

VERSE 6. — 'But He does not save the wicked, and He grants judgment to the poor.' 49. God condemns the pride of power, not its loftiness. — Sacred Scripture is often wont to call the poor 'humble.' Whence in the Gospel they are named with the addition of 'spirit,' when it is said: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven' (Matt. 5:3). For because riches show men to be visibly powerful, they are poor within themselves who, being exalted, are not so in their consciences. But He calls those 'wicked' who either are disjoined from the piety of faith, or in that which they faithfully believe contradict themselves by depraved morals. Since therefore Almighty God condemns the pride of malice, not the loftiness of power, after it was said:

'God does not cast away the mighty, since He Himself also is mighty,' it is rightly subjoined: 'But He does not save the wicked, and He grants judgment to the poor.' That is, He destroys the exalted, but renders the humble free through judgment. Or certainly He grants judgment to the poor, because those who are now wickedly oppressed themselves then come as judges over their oppressors. 50. Of the reprobate, some are judged, others are not judged. — For there are two parts, namely of the elect and of the reprobate. But two orders are contained in these same single parts. For some are judged and perish, others are not judged and perish. Some are judged and reign, others are not judged and reign. Those are judged and perish to whom it is said by the Lord's exclamation:

'I was hungry, and you gave Me not to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me not to drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me not in; naked, and you covered Me not; sick and in prison, and you visited Me not' (Matt. 25:42-43). To whom is prefixed: 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels' (Ibid., 41). But others, in the last judgment, are not judged and perish, of whom the Prophet says: 'The wicked shall not rise in judgment' (Ps. 1:5). And of whom the Lord says: 'He who does not believe is already judged' (John 3:18). And of whom Paul says: 'Those who sinned without the law shall perish without the law' (Rom. 2:12). All the unfaithful therefore also rise again, but unto torment, not unto judgment.

For their cause is not then examined, because they come to the sight of the strict Judge already with the damnation of their unbelief. But those retaining the profession of faith, yet not having the works of profession, are confuted so that they perish. But those who did not even hold the sacrament of faith do not hear the rebuke of the Judge in the final examination, because, prejudged by the darkness of their unbelief, they do not deserve to be confuted by the invective of Him whom they had despised. The former at least hear the words of the Judge, because they at least held the words of His faith. The latter, in their damnation, do not perceive even the words of the eternal Judge, because they were unwilling to preserve His reverence even so much as in word. The former perish according to the law, because being placed under the law they sinned;

to the latter, in their perdition, nothing is said of the law, because they endeavored to have nothing of the law. A prince too, ruling an earthly commonwealth, punishes differently a citizen offending within, and differently an enemy rebelling without. In the former he consults his own laws, and condemns him with the words of a worthy invective; against the enemy, however, he wages wars, plies the instruments of destruction, and repays torments worthy of his malice; but of his evil he does not inquire what the law holds. For it is not necessary that he be slain by the law, who could never be bound by the law. So therefore in the last judgment both the legal invective smites him who declined by action from what he held by profession;

and the other is slain without the invective of judgment, who is not held by the law of faith. 51. Of the elect also, some undergo judgment, others do not, but sit as judges. — But on the part of the elect, some are judged and reign, who wipe away the stains of their life with tears, who, redeeming preceding evils by subsequent deeds, cover over whatever unlawful thing they once did from the eyes of the Judge by the overlaying of almsgiving. To whom the Judge, coming, says to those standing on the right: 'I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; naked, and you covered Me; sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me' (Matt. 25:35). To whom He prefaces, saying:

'Come, blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world' (Ibid., 34). But others are not judged and reign, who even transcend the precepts of the law by the perfection of virtues, because they are by no means content to fulfill only that which the divine law enjoins upon all, but with a more excellent desire they aim to exhibit more than they could hear in the general precepts. To whom it is said by the Lord's voice: 'You who have left all things and followed Me, when the Son of Man shall sit on the seat of His majesty, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel' (Matt. 19:28). And of whom the Prophet says: 'The Lord will come to judgment with the elders of His people' (Isa. 3:14).

And of whom Solomon, when he spoke of the Bridegroom of the holy Church, added, saying: 'Her husband is noble in the gates, when he sits with the senators of the land' (Prov. 31:23). Therefore these, in the last judgment, are not judged and reign, because they come as judges together with their Author. For, leaving all things, they carried out with more ready devotion than they had heard generally commanded. For by a special command it is said to a few more perfect ones, and not generally to all, that which the rich young man heard: 'Go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow Me' (Matt. 19:21).

For if the general command bound all under this precept, it would surely be a fault for us to possess anything of this world. But it is one thing that is generally enjoined upon all through sacred Scripture, another that is specially commanded to the more perfect. These therefore are rightly not held under the general judgment, who have even conquered the general precepts by their living. For just as those are not judged and perish who, at the persuasion of perfidy, disdain to be held by the law, so those are not judged and reign who, at the persuasion of piety, advance even beyond the general precepts of the divine law. Hence it is that Paul, transcending even the special precepts, exhibited more in work than he had received by the institution of permission (1 Thess. 2:7).

For when he had received permission that, preaching the Gospel, he might live by the Gospel, he both conferred the Gospel on his hearers, and yet refused to be sustained by the Gospel's provisions. Why then should this man be judged in order to reign, who received less that he might keep, but found greater that he might live? Let it therefore rightly be said: 'He grants judgment to the poor,' because the more they were despised in this world with great humility, the more then, having received their seats, they grow up to a greater height of power. Whence it also follows: