Moralia in Job 547

Verses 8, 9.—If its root be old in the earth, and its stump be dead in the dust, at the scent of water it shall bud, and put forth leaves as when it was first planted. 6. By their death the just beget in us abundant fruits. What is the root of the just but holy preaching, because from it he springs and in it he subsists? And what is understood by the name of 'earth' or 'dust' but the sinner? to whom it is said by the voice of the Creator: Earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou go, or certainly, as our translation has it: Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return (Gen. 3:19). The root of the just therefore grows old in the earth, and the stump dies in the dust, because among the hearts of the depraved his preaching is despised and believed to be exhausted of all its strength.

And the stump dies in the dust, because among the hands of the persecutors his body is deprived of life. For according to the voice of Wisdom: In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die, and their departure was accounted an affliction (Wisd. 3:2). But this one, whose root grew old in the earth, and whose stump died in the dust, buds at the scent of water, because through the breathing of the Holy Spirit he makes in the hearts of the elect, by the example of his own work, the germ of virtue. For by the appellation of 'water' the irrigation of the Holy Spirit is sometimes wont to be designated, as it is written: If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. But whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall give him, shall not thirst forever (John 7:37; 4:13). It follows:

And it shall put forth leaves as when it was first planted. To put forth leaves when the trunk has been cut down is, when the just man has been corporeally extinguished, by the very example of his passion to raise up the hearts of many, and from right faith to display the greenness of truth. But it is well said: As when it was first planted. Everything that is here done by the just is a second planting, because the first planting, namely, is not in the work of the just, but in the foreknowledge of the Creator. And because all things that the elect do are, just as they are first inwardly beheld and disposed, so afterward outwardly accomplished, it is well said: It shall put forth leaves as when it was first planted;

that is, it displays in the effect of its work the greenness which it first had in the foreknowledge of the Creator. 7. Man fails of himself, but is renewed when the Holy Spirit comes. The root of the just can also be understood as the very nature of humanity, out of which he subsists. Which root, namely, grows old in the earth when the nature of the flesh fails, reduced to dust. Whose stump dies in the dust, because the extinguished body is dissolved from its own form. But it buds at the scent of water, because through the coming of the Holy Spirit it rises again: And it shall put forth leaves as when it was first planted, because it returns to that form for the receiving of which it had been created, if, being placed in paradise, it had been unwilling to sin.

8. Christ the tree, cut down in the passion, multiplied in the resurrection. Which perhaps can also be understood of the Lord Himself, namely the head of all good ones; for according to that which we have said before, because He says of Himself: If they do these things in the green wood, what shall be done in the dry (Luke 23:31)? He said that He is the green wood, and we the dry wood, because He Himself had in Himself the power of divinity; but we, who are mere men, are called dry wood. The wood therefore hath hope, if it be cut down, because it grows green again, since even if He could be slain through the passion, through the glory of the resurrection He came again to the greenness of life.

His branches sprout, because, being multiplied by His resurrection, the faithful grew far and wide. His root grew old as it were in the earth, because His preaching was despised by the perfidy of the Jews. And the stump died in the dust, because in the heart of the persecutors, which was puffed up by the wind of its own perfidy, He was held contemptible and despised, because He could be slain in the flesh. But it budded at the scent of water, because through the power of God His extinguished flesh returned to life, according to that which is written: Whom God raised from the dead (Acts 3:15). For because God is a Trinity, the holy Trinity, that is, the Father, and the same Son, and the Holy Spirit, raised again the extinguished flesh of the only-begotten Son.

And it put forth leaves as when it was first planted, because that weakness of the apostles, which in His death was terrified, and denied, and by denying withered, through the glory of His resurrection grew green again to faith. In comparison with which wood, what is every man but dust? Whence also it is added: