36. Why spiritual teachers are signified by wild goats and hinds. A description of the wild goats. Which hinds cross rivers. The things we do grow the greater before God, the more they decrease before ourselves through humility. — The southern region calls the ibices birds, which inhabit the streams of the Nile. But the eastern and western regions name as ibices small quadrupeds, whose custom it is to bring forth young among the rocks, because they know not how to dwell anywhere but among the rocks. And if at any time they fall even from the high summits of the crags, they receive themselves unhurt upon their own horns. For as they fall they strike the head, and while they set their horns foremost to meet it, the whole body is rendered exempt from the injury of the fall.
But the custom of hinds is to destroy the serpents they find, and to tear their limbs to pieces with bites. And it is reported that when they cross rivers, they lay the burdens of their heads upon the backs of those going before, and, succeeding one another by turns, they do not feel the labor of the weight at all. What is it, then, that blessed Job is examined concerning the bringing forth of wild goats and hinds, unless that in the hinds or wild goats the person of spiritual teachers is signified? For they themselves, as wild goats, bring forth among the rocks, because in the doctrine of the fathers, who for their solidity are called rocks, they beget souls unto conversion.
They themselves, as wild goats, feel the harm of no fall, while they are received upon their own horns, because whatever loss of temporal ruin befalls them, they receive themselves in the testaments of holy Scripture, and are saved as it were by the interposition of horns. For of these testaments it is said: 'Horns are in His hands' (Hab. 3:4). To the consolation of the Scriptures, therefore, they take refuge, when they are struck by some loss of temporal calamity. Did not Paul, after the manner of wild goats, falling amid the adversities of this world, as it were receive himself upon his own horns, when he said: 'Whatever things were written, were written for our instruction, that through the patience and consolation of the Scriptures we might have hope' (Rom. 15:4)?
They are also called hinds, as through Jeremiah it is said of the teachers begetting sons whom they incautiously abandon: 'The hind brought forth in the field, and left it' (Jer. 14:5). They, after the manner of hinds, having slain their vices, live as it were with serpents extinguished, and from that very extinction of vices they burn the more keenly toward the fountain of life. Whence the Psalmist says: 'As the hart longs for the fountains of waters, so my soul longs after You, O God' (Ps. 42:1). They too, while they cross the fleeting moments of this temporality as it were certain rivers, being compassionate through charity, lay their burdens upon one another by turns, because with careful observance they keep what is written: 'Bear one another's burdens, and so you shall fulfill the law of Christ' (Gal. 6:2).
(vi, 2). But because after the Lord's coming spiritual teachers were scattered throughout the world, who by their preaching could cause the souls of their hearers to give birth in conversion, and because this same time of the Lord's incarnation was not known before the voices of the prophets — although that very incarnation to come was foreknown to all the elect — blessed Job is fittingly examined about the time of the bringing forth of the wild goats and the hinds, and it is said to him: 'Do you know the time of the bringing forth of the wild goats among the rocks, or have you observed the hinds in travail?' As if it were said to him: Do you therefore believe that you have done something in a lofty manner, because you do not yet foresee that time in which spiritual teachers, sent into the world through their teaching,
beget sons of the ancient fathers, and by their own labours gather in for me the gains of souls. For if you were to behold their fruit as the offspring of wild goats and hinds, you would think very humbly of your own virtue. For we reckon as very small the great things we do, when we weigh them against stronger examples. But then they grow before God through merit, when before ourselves they decrease through humility. (Old version XVII.) 37. By the hinds may be understood the teachers; by the wild goats, the hearers. The examples of the saints are to be contemplated. The humility and patience of King David. He believed insulting words to be not reproaches but helps. And grace rather than anger is owed to them.
— By the signification of the hinds may be understood the teachers, and by the naming of the wild goats, which are the smallest of animals, the hearers. Now the wild goats bring forth among the rocks, because they are made fruitful for performing holy works through the examples of the fathers who went before; when perhaps they hear lofty precepts and, conscious of their own weakness, distrust that they are able to fulfil them, they behold the life of their elders, and, having considered their fortitude, they set down the offspring of good works.
For that I may say a few things out of many, so that the diligent reader may understand much in a little: let this man, oppressed by the insults of words, when he is not able to keep the virtue of patience, recall to memory the deed of David; for when Shimei pressed him with so many revilings, and the armed nobles strove to take vengeance, he said: 'What is there between me and you, sons of Zeruiah? Let him alone that he may curse; for the Lord has commanded him to curse David; and who is he that dares to say, why has he done so?' (2 Kings xvi, 10). And a little after: 'Let him alone that he may curse according to the command of the Lord, if perhaps the Lord may look upon my affliction, and render me good for this cursing of this day' (Ibid., 12).
By which words he assuredly indicates that, on account of the crime committed against Bathsheba, fleeing from his son who rose up against him, he brought back to mind the evil he had committed, and bore with equanimity what he heard; and he believed the insulting words to be not so much reproaches as helps, by which he judged that he could be purified and that mercy could be shown to him. For then we bear well the reproaches inflicted upon us, when in the secret of the mind we return to the evils we have committed. For it will seem light that we are struck by an injury, while in our own action we perceive that what we deserve is worse; and so it comes to pass that to reproaches grace rather than anger is owed, by the intervention of which one trusts that a heavier punishment can be avoided when God is judge. (Old version XVIII.) 38. By what art Joseph overcame lust.
Let us turn the grace bestowed of God's outward gifts into the arms of virtues. Let us be ashamed to fight against God out of his benefits. + Behold, another man, while he prospers in the successes of this world, with the joy of his heart enticing him, feels himself tempted by the goads of lust; but he recalls to memory the deed of Joseph, and keeps himself in the citadel of chastity. When he perceived that the loss of his purity was being urged upon him by his mistress, he said: 'Behold, my master, having handed over all things to me, does not know what he has in his house, nor is there anything that is not in my power, or that he has not delivered to me, except you, who are his wife; how then can I do this evil, and sin against my master?' (Genesis xxxix, 8).
By which words it is shown that he suddenly brought to memory the good things he had obtained, and overcame the evil that was assailing him; and because he remembered the grace received, he broke the force of the impending fault. For when slippery pleasure tempts us in prosperity, these very prosperous things are to be set against the sting of temptation, so that we may blush to commit evil, in that we remember that we have received good things freely from God, and may turn the grace bestowed of outward gifts into the arms of virtues, that what we have received may be before our eyes, and that we may subdue the things which allure us. For because pleasure itself is born of prosperity, it is to be smitten by the consideration of that same prosperity, so that our enemy may die there whence it arises.
For it must be considered lest we turn the gift received into a vice, lest through the favour of life the whirlpool of wickedness swallow us up. For we kindle the wrath of the supernal judge against us inextinguishably, if we fight against his kindness even out of his own bounty. 39. Daniel is to be imitated by one panting for contemplation. The taste of carnal things is to be restrained. To one who restrains the wandering of outward things, an inner retreat is opened. — Another man, seeking the sweetness of inner knowledge, yet not prevailing to touch its secrets, looks to the life of Daniel for imitation, and lays hold of the desired summit of knowledge. For he who is afterwards called by the angelic voice, on account of his longing for inner knowledge, a man of desires (Dan.
x, 11), is recorded first, in the royal court, to have tamed within himself the desires of the flesh, so that he touched nothing of the delectable foods, but preferred harder and rougher fare to sumptuous and softer dishes (Dan. i, 12), so that while he withdrew from himself the enticements of outward food, he might come to the delights of inner nourishment; and he might so much the more eagerly receive within the taste of wisdom, the more robustly he had repressed without the savour of the flesh for the sake of that same wisdom. For if we cut off from the flesh what pleases it, we straightway find in the spirit what delights us. For to the intention of the soul, if the outward wandering is shut off, the inner retreat is opened.
For in proportion as the mind cannot be scattered outside itself for the sake of discipline, it can the more intend upon itself through advancement; for even the tree is compelled to grow to a height which is prevented from spreading out through its branches; and when we block the streams of a fountain, we provoke the flowing waters to rise to higher places. Therefore, while any zealous persons contemplate the life of the saints by imitation, they set down the offspring of the wild goats among the rocks. Hence it is that Paul admonished his hearers to bring forth like wild goats among the rocks, when, having enumerated the virtues of their elders, he said: 'Having so great a cloud of witnesses set over us, laying aside every weight, and the sin which surrounds us, let us run through patience to the contest set before us' (Heb. xii, 1). And again:
'Considering the outcome of their manner of life, imitate their faith' (Heb. xiii, 7). (Old version XIX.) 40. When we conceive the divine precepts, we do not straightway bring them forth. — But when we conceive the divine precepts in the heart, we do not straightway bring them forth as though already solidly thought out. Whence blessed Job is not asked about the bringing forth of the wild goats, but about the time of the bringing forth. Which time, indeed, if we scarcely comprehend it in ourselves, much more do we not know it in another's mind. For first the seeds of supernal fear, received in the womb of the heart, are curdled through the meditation of study so that they may remain; afterwards, fixed by the strict intention of thought, while they tend toward the reasoning of discernment, they are as it were formed into the distinction of members;
thereafter, strengthened by the practice of perseverance, they come as it were into the solidity of bones; but at the last, perfected and fortified by authority, they proceed as though to birth; which increases of the divine seeds no one considers in another's mind, save he who creates them. For although we already recognize, by the attestation of certain things, that someone has conceived the force of supernal longing, yet when it may break forth in birth we do not know. 41. Certain offspring are miscarriages, because premature. Human praise extinguishes tender good. — But often the seeds conceived in the mind are unable to come to perfection, because in being born they anticipate the time of birth.
And because, not yet fully formed in thought, they come forth before human eyes, they die like miscarriages. For the good things, while still tender, human speech for the most part extinguishes, while it praises them as though already strong. For they perish so much the more swiftly, the more untimely they break forth to the notice of applause. Sometimes indeed our imperfect thought, not yet strengthened, while it is too quickly shown to men, is scattered by the adversity of those resisting; and while it strives to be seen before its time to be something, it brings it about that it is nothing.
But holy men, because they take care that the points which they think well upon may grow strong in secret, and, as it were about to bring forth offspring, first form them within the womb of the mind, blessed Job is rightly examined about the time of birth, since indeed what is fitting for each is not known to any save the Creator. For he, while he beholds the innermost parts of the heart, apprehends when our good things may be fittingly born to human notice. And so it is well said: 'Do you know the time of the bringing forth of the wild goats among the rocks?' As if he plainly said: As I do, who therefore make the offspring of the elect lively, because I bring them forth at a foreknown time. And well is it added concerning the desired offspring of hearers: 'Or have you observed the hinds in travail?'
For to observe the hinds in travail is to weigh with careful consideration those labours of the fathers who beget spiritual sons. 42. What sorrows those endure who bring forth the souls of preachers. — For it must be shrewdly perceived that this saying is impressed so watchfully that it is said, 'you have observed,' because assuredly it belongs to very few to weigh what labour there is in the preaching of the fathers, with what sorrows, as if with certain strivings, they bring forth souls in faith and conversion;
with what caution they look about themselves in observation, that they may be strong in precepts, compassionate in weaknesses, terrible in threats, gentle in exhortations, humble in showing their mastery, ruling in the contempt of temporal things, rigid in enduring adversities, and yet, while they do not attribute their strength to themselves, weak; how great is their grief over those who fall, how great their fear over those who stand; with what fervour they seek certain things, with what dread they preserve certain things once obtained. Because therefore it belongs to very few to weigh these things, well is it said to him: 'Or have you observed the hinds in travail?' (Old version XX.) 43. Those who are fathers through the vigour of discipline, let them be mothers through the bowels of piety.
— Nor does it stand in the way that the divine word, speaking of the teachers, designates them not under the appearance of stags but of hinds, because doubtless those are the true teachers who, while they are fathers through the vigour of discipline, have known how to be mothers through the bowels of piety. Who bear the labours of holy conception, and carry within the womb of charity the sons to be brought forth to God. For in bringing forth their offspring, mothers labour the more, who sustain the growing conception within the womb through the long space of months, and who lay down the one proceeding from the womb not without great sorrows. Whence here too it is fittingly subjoined by way of consideration: