約伯倫理 第 1355 章

21. 'The ring in the nostrils of the devil is the omnipotence of the divine power.' As by the nostrils are meant his snares, so by the ring is signified the omnipotence of the divine power, which, while it forbids us to be seized by temptations, holds the snares of the ancient enemy encircled by marvelous ordinances. Therefore a ring is set in his nostrils, when, the strength of the supernal protection being drawn around him, his cunning is restrained, lest it prevail against the weakness of men as much as it secretly explores the arguments of perdition. By the name of ring can also be signified the aid of the hidden judgment, which is set in the nostrils of this Behemoth, when it is curbed from its crafty cruelty.

Whence it is well said through the prophet, when he is forbidden from harming the Israelites, to the king of Babylon: 'I will put a ring in thy nostrils' (Isa. 37:29). As if it were openly said: By devising snares thou dost sigh; but, not being able to accomplish what thou desirest, thou dost carry the ring of my omnipotence in thy nostrils, so that while thou dost more ardently pant after the death of the good, thou dost return empty from their life. And that which in this place is called a ring, this Sacred Scripture through John in the Apocalypse calls a sickle. For it says: 'I saw, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sitting like to the Son of man, having on his head a crown of gold, and in his hand a sharp sickle' (Apoc. 14:14). For the power of the divine judgment, because it constrains on every side, is called a ring;

and because, by cutting, it embraces all things within itself, it is signified by the appellation of a sickle. For in a sickle, whatever is cut, in whatever direction it is severed, falls inward. And because the power of the supernal judgment is by no means to be escaped—for we are within it, whithersoever we may endeavor to flee—rightly, when the judge who is to come is shown, He is described as holding a sickle, because when He powerfully meets all things, by cutting He surrounds them. That he was within a certain sickle the Prophet saw, when he said: 'If I ascend into heaven, thou art there; if I descend into hell, thou art present. If I take my wings before the dawn, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me' (Ps. 138:8,9,10).

He saw himself within a certain sickle, when he knew that from no place could a way of flight lie open to him, saying: 'For neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desert mountains' (Ps. 74:7)—understand, does a way of fleeing lie open—and presently, subjoining that all-encompassing comprehension of the supernal power, he says: 'For God is the judge.' As if he said: A way of fleeing is wanting on every side, because He judges who is everywhere. And so the divine judgments, just as they are signified by a sickle, because encircling they cut, so are they expressed by a ring, because on every side they constrain. And so in the nostrils of Leviathan a ring is set by the Lord, because the power of His judgment is restricted in his snares, lest he prevail as much as he wishes. Let it be said, then:

'Wilt thou put a ring in his nostrils?' Understand: as I do, who constrain his cunning snares by an omnipotent judgment, so that he neither tempts as much as he desires, nor seizes as much as he tempts. There follows: