約伯倫理 第 719 章

Verse 16. — 'He shall suck the head of asps, and the tongue of the viper shall kill him.' — The devil in temptation first creeps in gently, afterwards drags violently. — The asp is a small serpent, but the viper is of a longer body; and asps bring forth eggs, and from their eggs their offspring are begotten, but vipers, when they have conceived, their offspring rage in the belly, and, the sides of their mothers having been burst, they come forth from their bellies. Whence too the viper is named from the fact that it brings forth by violence (vi pariat). And so the viper is so born that it comes forth violently, and is produced with the destruction of its mother. What therefore is figured by the small asps but the hidden suggestions of unclean spirits, which first steal upon the hearts of men by a small persuasion?

And what is designated by the tongue of the viper, but the violent temptation of the devil? For first he creeps in gently, but afterwards he drags even violently. And so he sucks the head of asps, because the beginning of a hidden suggestion is born small at first in the heart, but the tongue of the viper kills him, because afterwards the captured mind is slain by the venom of violent temptation. First by subtle counsels the unclean spirits speak to the heart of man, who, while they gently persuade, as it were pour out the venom of asps. Whence it is written: 'They have broken the eggs of asps and woven the webs of spiders. He that shall eat of their eggs shall die, and that which is hatched shall break out into a basilisk' (Isaiah lix. 5). [Old Version.

VIII.] For to break the eggs of asps for wicked men is to lay open by perverse works the counsels of malignant spirits which lurk in their hearts. And to weave the webs of spiders is to work out any temporal things whatsoever for the concupiscence of this world. While these are solidified by no stability, the wind of mortal life without doubt snatches them away. And well is it added: 'He that shall eat of their eggs shall die' (Ibid.), because he who receives the counsels of unclean spirits slays in himself the life of the soul. And 'that which is hatched shall break out into a basilisk,' because the counsel of the malignant spirit which is covered in the heart is nourished unto full iniquity. For the basilisk is called the king of serpents. But who is the head of the reprobate, if not Antichrist?

That therefore which has been hatched shall break out into a basilisk, because he who receives the counsels of the asp to be nourished in himself, having become a member of the iniquitous head, grows into the body of Antichrist. And so of this hypocrite it is said: 'He shall suck the head of asps, and the tongue of the viper shall kill him,' because, when he willingly takes up the iniquitous suggestion of the ancient enemy, he afterwards, being overcome, hands himself over to his violent temptations. Whence also in paradise he brought words of flattering persuasion to man standing upright (Genesis iii. 5 and following); but him whom he once snatched to consent, he now drags even while resisting, and, overcome by the delights of his own corruption, all but violently slays him.

But perhaps we are able to understand these very things also by a contrary interpretation. For because the asp kills quickly by its venom, but the viper more slowly, by the asp is designated violent and sudden temptation, but by the viper gentle and long-lasting temptation. Whence also death is said to be for the one in the sucking of the head, but for the viper in the tongue, because sudden temptation often slays the unexpecting mind as soon as it arises; but long temptation, because by persuading longer it suggests depraved things, as if by the tongue of the viper kills.

And because every hypocrite, pierced by the suggestion of unclean spirits as if by the venom of serpents, in no way considers what may be the heavenly gifts of the Holy Spirit, while he scatters abroad the intention of his heart in outward favours, rightly it is subjoined: