Humanitext Reader

Hilary of Poitiers · Lessor Fragments §2.2.1

Job's Piety without the Law and the Work of Grace

Passage 2 of 3 · Latin

Summary

It is argued that Job abstained from evil and worshiped God with a pure mind without reading scriptures, and that his actions were performed under the grace of the Savior whom he prophesied.

§2.2.1Item quod eum dixisse commemorat: Quas Iob litteras legerat, ut abstineret se ab omni re maligna? quia deum sola mente uitiis non ammixta ueneratur, deum autcm colere proprium iustitiae officium est. Quid fecisset; lob dicit, non quid in hoc saeculo perfecisset aut sinegratia salualoris, quem etiam prophetauit, uel fecisset uel perfecisset.
Likewise, that which he records him to have said: "What writings had Job read, that he might abstain from every evil thing? For he worships God with a mind alone unmixed with vices, and to worship God is the proper duty of justice." He says what Job had done, not what he had perfected in this world, or what he had either done or perfected without the grace of the Savior, whom he also prophesied.

Notes

  1. §2.2.1litteras — The plural noun `litterae` here refers to 'writings', 'books', or 'scriptures' rather than individual alphabetical characters. It highlights the context where Job lived righteously without having read the written Law or Scriptures.
  2. §2.2.1Quid fecisset; lob dicit — Although the semicolon in the text seemingly separates `Quid fecisset` from the subject `lob` (a typographical variant of `Iob`), syntactically `lob` is the subject of the indirect question `quid fecisset` ('what Job had done'), while the subject of the main verb `dicit` ('he says') is the author of the homily. Thus, the clause means: 'He [the author] says what Job had done'.

Cite this passage

Hilary of Poitiers, Lessor Fragments §2.2.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:stoa0149b.stoa003.humanitext-lat1:2.2.1

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