約伯倫理 第 506 章

Verse 20. — Changing the lip of the truthful, and taking away the doctrine of the elders. God grants the word of truth to those who do it, and takes it from those who do it not. When a priest does not do the good things which he speaks, even his speech is withdrawn from him, lest he dare to speak what he does not perform, as it is said by the Prophet: But to the sinner God hath said: Why dost thou declare my justices, and take my covenant in thy mouth? (Ps. xlix, 16). Hence also he prays, saying: And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth (Ps. cxviii, 43). For he weighs well that almighty God grants the word of truth to those who do it, and takes it from those who do it not.

He, then, who begged that this be not taken from his mouth, what else did he seek but the grace of good working? As if he openly said: Suffer me not to err from good work, lest, while I lose the order of living well, I lose the rectitude of speaking. And often a teacher who dares to teach what he neglects to do, when he has ceased to speak the good things which he has scorned to perform, begins to teach his subjects the depraved things which he does; so that by the just judgment of almighty God he may now have no tongue for good who refuses to have a good life, so that, when his mind is inflamed with love of earthly things, he may always speak of earthly things. Hence in the Gospel Truth says: Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh:

A good man out of a good treasure bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of an evil treasure bringeth forth evil things (Matth. xii, 34; Luke vi, 45). Hence also John says: They are of the world, therefore of the world they speak (1 John iv, 5). Well, then, is it said: Changing the lip of the truthful, and taking away the doctrine of the elders; because those who before were truthful in preaching heavenly things, while, loving temporal things, they rush down to earthly things, the lip of the truthful is changed, and the doctrine of the elders is taken away, because, loving temporal things, they by no means follow the precepts of their forebears, so that they may hold the place of rule as though for the fruit of pleasure, not for the use of labour. The Jews denied as present the Christ whom they had said would come.

This, however, may be understood more openly of the Jews, who before the incarnation of the Lord were truthful, because they believed and announced that he would come; but after he appeared in the flesh, they denied that he was he. The lip of the truthful, then, was changed, because they denied as present him whom they had said would come. And the doctrine of the elders was taken away, because they in no way followed by believing those things which they remembered that their fathers had foretold. Hence also, when Elijah comes, it is promised that he shall turn the hearts of the sons to their fathers (Mal. iv, 6), so that the doctrine of the elders, which is now taken away from the heart of the Jews, may then, by the Lord's mercy, return, when the sons shall begin to understand concerning the Lord that which the fathers preached.

But if by the 'elders' we take those same Jews, who, persuaded by their perfidy, strove to oppose the word of Truth, the doctrine of the elders was taken away after the Church, sprung from the Gentiles as it were a young maiden, received it — the Church which says by the Psalmist: I have understood more than the elders (Ps. cxviii, 100). And because she held this by working, she showed how she had understood more than the elders, when she straightway subjoins, saying: Because I have sought out thy commandments. For because she was zealous to fulfil by working what she had learned, she received to understand what she should teach. Hence it is fitly still subjoined: