its place, when David was saying, My soul thirsfeth for the Ps.42,2. litiiKj God; when shall I come and appear he/ore the face of God? The Truth was pointing out its place to the dawn, when It was saying by Solomon, For trJtat hath the wise^ccXes, more than the fool? and uhat the poor, except to go thither ' ' where there is life? And this place our Lord after His birth doubtless manifested even to the Patriarchs who preceded His Incarnation; because unless they knew, by the spirit of Prophecy, that the King of their heavenly country was to become Incarnate, they would not see how desirable are the a^oods of this same country. The Truth made known its place to the dawn, when in the presence of His disciples He isked His Father, saying, Father, I ivill that they also Johni7, whom Thou hast giveii Me, he with Me where I am. He * pointed out its place to the dawn, when saving, JJ'heresoeverMait.2^, fJie carcase is, (here icill also the eagles he gathered together. ' rhe dawn was hastening to arrive at this place, which it had inown, when Paul was saying that he had a. desire to JePhii. 1, iissohed, and to be with Christ. And again, To me to live.^^\, 's CJirist, and to die is gain. And again, We know that if 2 Cor. mr earthly house of this hahitaiion were dissolved, we^^^' 'lave a building of God, an house not made icith hands, Hernal in tlie heavens. But He well says that He shewed ts place to the dawn after His birth, because before He Him-;elf made known the blessedness of future retribution by His )wn Body, He confined it in the knowledge of a few. But vhen He took the infirmities of a human birth, He extended he knowledge of coming glory in the love of a countless aultitude. But because compassion so carries on the nystery of the Divine work, that anger still attends it, in irder that the secret Judge may look favourably on and ansom some, and pass over and ruin others, since we have earnt how He enlightens the Elect by His Incarnation, let IS now hear how He condemns the reprobate. It follows; Ver. 13. Hast Thou held and shaken the ends of the earth, •nd hast Thou shaken the wicked oiit of it?
5. The Lord * held the ends of the earth,' because He iii-:ame in the end of the world to the synagogue which was VOL. III. X fiiHi God took the last of Israel, and shook out the Wicked.
Job 38, now forsaken and snbjcct to foreign kings: and He shook -i~^ — ^tlie wicked out of it, because He cast out even from the ALLliG. ' glory of the carnal sacrifice, those who denied the spiritual preaching of the faith. Or lie certainly held the ends of tlic earth, because He chose out of Juduea a few abject and humble men. He held the ends of the earth, because He forsook the doctors of the law, and chose fishermen. And while He holds the ends of the earth, He shakes the wicked out of it, because while He strengthens weak believers, He condemns the sturdy unbelievers therein. But the word ' shaking,' He also rightly added: because by His coming He stirred up even the hearts of the reprobates with immeasurable fear.
Johni2, For they in truth were shaken who were saying, We prevail nothing, behold, the whole world is gone after Him. But a thing which is shaken is wearied out by being drawn hither and thither. Judaea therefore had been shaken, which was John 7, saying of Christ by some, That He is a good Man, and was resisting Him by others, saying. Nay; hut He deceiveth the John 9, people. It was saying by some. If this Man were not oj God, He could do nothing. And at last it exclaims by Johni 8, others, //' this Man were not a malefactor, ice icould not have d.elivered Him up nnto thee. The reprobate were shaken indeed but not prostrated, when at one time they beheld the miracles with wonder, and at another despised and derided the disgraces of His weakness. Had not they been Johnio, shaken, who were saying, How long dost Thou hold our sou i ill suspense? If Thou he the Christ, tell us\plai7ily. Or He certainly shook and held the ends of the earth, because wher He terrified the feeble hearts of the humble w ith pious fear He did not abandon them to strict judgment. For th(| multitude of the believers in God stood more firmly, fron: the same reason that it was alarmed when humbled u itself. For that God holds firm the person whom He shake.^ 18.66, He teaches by the Prophet, saying, On whom shall M LXX. ^pii'^t rest, but 07i the humble and quiet, and Him ivh trembleth. at My word^? That He holds the person whor He shakes, is intimated by the testimony of Solomon, wh Prov. says, Happy is the man who feareth alway, but he that t ■ * of a hard heart shall fall i?ito mischief. Because therefor the Lord held the ends of Judaea in the Apostles, an- The Jews turned back to earthy and clave not to God's icilL 307 rejected therefrom the Scribes, and Pharisees, and Hii^h Book Priests, as the merit of their iniquity demanded, let us hear - what is still added respecting their condemnation. It follows; Ver. 14. The sedl shall be restored as clay^and shall slaitd as a garment.
6. What else but ' clay' did the Lord find the people of iv. Israel, whom He came unto when given up to the practices of the Gentiles, and toiling at bricks in Egypt? And whilst He led it forth by so many miracles to the land of promise, and filled it, when brought thither, with the knowledge of His wisdom, whilst He conferred on it so many secret mysteries by means of Prophecy, what else did He make it but a * seal' for preserving His mystery.? For Divine Prophecy itself kept secret, whatever the Truth revealed of Itself at the end. But when, after so many Divine secrets, after the many miracles which it witnessed at the coming of our Redeemer, it loved its land, in preference to the trutli, (saying by the Priests, 1/ we let Him thus alone^ all mcnJohnU, will believe on Him^ and the Romans will come, and take away our place and nation;) it returned, as it were, to those bricks, which it had left in Egypt: and that which had been made the seal of God, turned back again to that which it had abandoned. And, having been a ' seal,' it appeared as ' clay' in the eyes of the Truth, when it lost, through the wickedness of impiety, the mysteries of the word, which it had received, and chose to savour only of the things of earth, which pollute.
7. Where it is fitly subjoined. And shall stand as a garment. For because garments which are unfinished and of thicker texture, even when put on, do not adhere, nor are well fitted to the limbs of the wearer, they are said to stand. Judaea therefore, even when it seemed to be labouring in the knowledge of the truth, stood as a garment; because it professed to serve God in external commands, but refused to cling to Him by the understanding of love. While it observed the letter only, in the precepts of God, and did not through the Spirit unite itself to their inmost meanings, it did not cling, so to speak, to Him Who had put it on. Where it is also fitly subjoined, Ver. 15. From the wicked their light shall be taken away.
308 Wicked sfiahcn out of tJie Cliurch by the last trial.
Job 38, 8. Because, wliile they refuse to believe the truth, they lose for ever the knowledge of the Law, and while they boast Alleo. o^ having received tlie Law, they are, doubtless, blinded Pa. 69, ]yy boasting of tlieir knowledge. For it is written, Let their eyes he darkened that then see not. And again it is written, Is. 6, 10. Blind the hearts of this people, and make their ears heart/.
John 9, And again it is written, For judgment I have come into this world, that they which see not might see, and that they which see might he made hlind. And because they Vjoasted themselves in the works of the Law against the Giver of the Law, it is fitly subjoined; And the high arm shall he broken. vi. 9. For the high arm is broken, when the proud works of the Law are reproved, by preaching the grace of faith, when Rom. 3, it is said. By the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh he justified.
10. But all these words can be understood in another sense also. For Holy Scripture is wont to call the Church ' earth.' The Lord therefore holds and shakes the ends of the earth, because He allows the ends of His Church to be agitated by most cruel persecution through the coming of Antichrist, and yet forsakes her not, by permitting it. Sometimes the Lord holds this earth, and shakes it not; sometimes He holds and shakes it; because He possesses it at one time with the tranquil peace of faith, at another orders it to be disturbed with the assault of persecution.
H. But when saying. Hast thou held and shaken the ends of the earth, He rightly added immediately, And hast thou shaken the wicked out of it? For as Paul bears Tit. 1, witness, there are many therein, wJio profess that they know God, but in tvorks deny Him. The Lord therefore shakes the wicked out of it, because those, whom deep-seated sins possess, will then fall into the gulph of open unbelief, and pass over to the heap of chaff, when moved by the breath of that temptation. And though they now conceal themselves within the bosom of the threshing floor, under the semblance of faith, they will then, doubtless, bound forth from the heap of grain, by the fan of strict judgment.
12. Whence it is also fitly subjoined, Tlie seal shall he restored, as clay. As if he were openly saying; They who Some sealed in the Church shall yet prove clay. 309 now appear in the bosom of the Church as a * seal,' will then Book in the sight of all men be restored as * clay:' that is, they deceive not the judgments of men concerning their profession of religion, but it is proved that they savour of earthly things. For Holy Scripture is wont to use the word ^ seal' for faith, and * clay' for iniquity. For the younger son, who returned to his father, having consumed his substance, received aLukei5, ring as a present. For the Gentile people, which returns to ' God, by penitence, having lost its immortality, is defended by the seal of faith. Whence also it is said to the Church by its Bridegroom, Set Me as a seal upon thine heart. For Sol. a seal is placed on things for the very purpose that they may g°"^ ' not be violated by any boldness of plunderers. The Bridegroom therefore is placed as a seal on the heart, when the mystery of His faith is imprinted for the safe keeping of our thought; in order that that unfaithful servant, namely our adversary, observing our hearts sealed by faith, may not presume to break in upon them with temptation. But by ' clay' worldly infection is set forth, as the Psalmist bears ivitness, who says. He brought me up out of the pit of misery, Ps.40,2.
2nd the deepest clay. Because many then who are found in worldly infection, are sealed, when brought to the Church,.yith the sacrament of heavenly faith, and yet depart not rom their wicked deeds, and conceal themselves now under he cloke of faith, and yet shew what they really are, when hey have found an opportunity, it is rightly said, The seal 'hall be restored as clay. For those whom we now believe.0 be faithful, we shall then find to be the very enemies of he faith; and though, when not tempted, they appear to be a seal,' they will doubtless, when tempted, be ' clay.' Whence dso it is rightly said. Shall be restored: for their reprobate ife proves them afterwards to be such, as their conscience •Quid have done before their faith. Of whom it is fitly suboined, A?id shall stand as a garment.
1 3. For Holy Church is now clothed as it were with garments, IS many in number as the faithful, by whose veneration she s honoured. Whence also when the Gentiles were shewn to ler, it is said by the Lord through the Prophet; As I live, Is. 49, aith the Lord, thou shall surely be clothed with all these, ' with an ornament. But she is now arrayed, in ap- 310 Unstable profession. Liyht taken from the Wicked, Job 38,pcarance only, with many who seem to be faithful, but when '- — the assault of ])crsecution strikes them, she will be stripped of them and laid bare; of whose fate it is said, And it sitall stand an a garment, liut to * stand' is put in this place Ps. 1,1. for persisting in sin. Whence it is written. And.stood not in iJie ivay of sinners. Or certainly every reprobate is said to * stand as a garment,' to shew that he cannot stand at all.
Because, as a garment, when put on, is stretched by the body, in displaying its appearance, but when taken off is bent and folded together; so every one, who has fallen back from the stability of Holy Church, was stretched out, as it were, and beautiful, while being worn, but will lie afterwards, when stripped off, broken down and cast aside. But if by ' standing' we understand * continuance,' every reprobate person who endures a short time in this life, which he loves, stands as a garment. Whence also it is said by the Prophet, Ps. 102, All shall wax old as a garment^ and as a covering shall thou change them, and theg shall be changed. These points therefore, which he introduced veiled in a cloud of allegory.
he now makes known in plainer words, adding, From the wicked their light shall be taken away.
vii. 14. For neither does the light of God now illumine those, who veil the malice of their iniquity with the name of faith For while they neglect to live according to the preaching oi faith, and yet in appearance reverence it, they seek for the honour of this present life under the name of religion; and they gain this light from faith, as faith cherishes them in the sight of men. But there are some who sincerely believe the eternal truths which they hear, and yet contradict by evi living the very faith which they profess. These also have their light in darkness, for while they act perversely and ye think rightly about God, they are illumined in a measure b^ the shining of a light, so as not to be quite in darkness And while they love the things of earth more than those o heaven, those that they see more than those they hear of when the season of persecution assaults them, they lose tha sound belief they seemed to possess. And this is specially the case, in a greater degree, at that time, when the head o the wicked himself arising, in the last persecution, agains Holy Church, his boldness attacks it with unrestraine( Men join themselves to Antichrist before his tinie. 311 strength. Then is the heart of each one laid open, when Bock whatever lay concealed is exposed, and they who are now ^^ _ holy in words, but unholy in heart. Tall headlong, on their wickedness being made public, and lose the light of faith which they had in appearance possessed. But it is necessary, amidst all this, for each of us to return to the hidden recess of his heart, and to fear at the fatal results of his doings, lest he fall, as his merits demand, into the number of such men, by the strict justice of the judgmenls of God.
15. But let no one inconsiderately Halter himself, and believe that he therefore is exempt from such a fall, because he thinks that he does not reach to the storm of this tempest. O how many have beheld not the times of that temptation, and yet are involved in the storm of his temptation. Cain saw not the time of Antichrist, and yet was deservedly a limb of Antichrist. Judas knew not the fierceness of that persecution, and yet yielded to the might of his cruelty, by the persuasion of avarice. Simon was far removed from the Acts 8, times of Antichrist, and yet joined himself to his pride, by * perversely seeking for the power of miracles. Thus a wicked body is united to its head, thus limbs to limbs, when they both know not each other in acquaintance, and yet are joined together by wicked doings. For neither had Pevgamos known the books or the words of Balaam, and yet, following his wickedness, it heard in a voice of reproof from above; ThouB.e\.2, hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, tvho taught * Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat and to commit fornication. Both times and places separated the Church of Thyatira from the knowledge of Jezebel; but because equal guilt of life had enthralled it, Jezebel is said to dw^ell therein, and to persist in perverse doings, as the Angel bears witness, who says; I have a few things against ih. 20.
thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. Behold, because they could be found, who followed the conduct of Jezebel in their reprobate deeds,.Jezebel is said to have been found there: because an agreement of habits makes a corrupt body one, even if times or places sever it asunder. Whence it is that every wicked person, who has already gone 312 Envy^ prides ambittun^ make members of Satan.
Job 38, by, survives in bis pervcrs:e imitators, anrl tbat tbc aulbor of inifjiiity, wlio lias not yet come, is abeady visible in tbose wIjo Alleg.
1 John do bis works. J lence John says; Now are Ihere become many ^' ^' Anlichrists, because all wicked persons are even now bis members, wbicb being in trutb born in wickedness, bave 2 Thess. prevented tbeir bead, by evil livin^^ Hence Paul says, TJiat ' he mi()hl he revealed in Jiis time; for tJie mystery of imquily doth already work. As if" be were saying; Then Anticbrist will be manifestly seen; for be now secretly works bis bidden works in tbe bearts of tbe unrigbteous. For, to say notbing of more open crimes, bebold one man secretly envies bis brotber in bis beart, and if he find an opportunity, strives to supplant bim. Of wbat olber is be a member, but of him, "Wisd.2, of whom it is written, Tlirough envy of the devil came death ^'*' into the world'? Another, thinking himself a person of great desert, preferring bimself to all, tbrougli swelling of heart, believes all to be inferior to bim. Of wbat other is he a Job 41, member, but of bim of whom it is written, He heholdeth every high thing, and is a king over all the children of pride? Another seeks for the power of this world, not that be may profit others, but tbat he may not be subject to another. Of what other is he a member, than of him, of whom it Is. 14, is written, Who said, I trill sit in the mount of the testament, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the Most High? For tbe Most High alone so rules over all things, as to be unable to be subject to another. Whom tbe devil perversely wished to imitate, when seeking dominion of his own, be refused to be subject to Him. Whoever therefore seeks for power of his own, imitates the devil, because he loathes to submit to bim who is placed over him by Divine ordinance.
16. There are many things besides, to proclaim certain persons to be faithless, though established in the peace of the. Church. For I see that some persons so accept tbe person of the powerful, as not to hesitate, when requested by bim, to deny, for his good will, the truth in the cause of a John neighbour. And who is Truth, but He who said, / atji the ^^' ' Way, the Truth, and the Life? For John the Baptist died not, when questioned about his confession of Christ, but about tbe truth of justice; but because Christ is the Trutb, Christ denied hy doing wrong for fear of man. 313 he therefore went even to death for Christ, because namely Book for the truth. Let us suppose that a person has, when ques ^— tioned, accepted the person of tlie powerful, and has denied the trutli, that he might not sutler the wrong even of a word. What, I pray you, would he do in the pain of punishments, who was ashamed of Christ among the scourges of words? Behold, even after this he is still a Christian before the eyes of men, and yet if God resolved to judge him strictly, he is one no longer.
17. But I see others, to whom are assigned, through their position as teachers, the duties of exhorting and reproving, who behold some unlawfulness committed, and who yet, when afraid of losing the good will of certain powerful persons, presume not to reprove it. What else doth he, whoever he be, but see the wolf coming, and flee away } He flies, because he was silent; he was silent, because he despised eternal grace, and preferred temporal glory. Behold he hid himself within the concealments of his silence before the face of a powerful man, and gave way as to open persecution, so also to secret fear. It is well said of such; They loved the praise of men more than the praise jahn of God. If these things are strictly judged, whoever is such, ^^' ^^* even though public persecution was wanting, yet denied Christ by his silence. There are not wanting then, even in the peace of the Church, the temptations of Antichrist. Let no one then dread those times of the last persecution, as though the only ones. For the cause of Antichrist is continually promoted among the ungodly, because he is even now secretly working his mystery in their hearts. And even if many, now seemingly established within the Church, pretend to be what they are not, they will yet at the coming of the Judge be exposed, as they are. Of whom Solomon well says, I saw the wicked buried, icho even ichen they lived Eccles.
here, were in the holy place, and were praised in the city, as^' ^^* men of just works. After it was said then of the wicked; The seal shall be restored as clay, and shall stand as a garment, and their light shall be taken axcay from the wicked, (which is certainly to take place in that persecution of Antichrist,) he presently, consoling us concerning the destniction of the same Antichrist, says; 314 Kxtreme pride, and fall ^ of Anticlirint.
Job 38, And the hvjk arm shall he broken.
— ~ — 18. For, for what else is the higli arm taken, but the proud Alleo If^^li^css of Antichrist, who is so cxalb.'d over the reprobate minds of men with the pride of worldly glory, that though a sinful man, and yet scorning to be counted a man, he pretends falsely that he is God aV)ove men? Wlience the 2 Thess. Apostle Paul says; Ho Ihat he sitleth in the temple of God, ^> *• shewing himself, as if he were God. And to shew his pride more fully, he stated before, Who opjpjoseth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshippjed. For even a man can sometimes be called God, according to Exod. that which is said to Moses, See, I have made thee a god to '' ^* Pharaoh. But a mere man cannot be worshipped as God. But because Antichrist sets himself up over all holy men, and over the power of the Godhead Itself, he endeavours to surpass that which is called God, and that which is worshipped as God, by demanding for himself the name of glory. But we must observe into what a depth of pride he has fallen, who remained not in that degree of ruin, in which he fell. For both the devil and man fell, by pride, from the state of Is. 14, their own creation, either for him to say, / will ascend above ^^' the height of the clouds, I will be like the Most High, or for Gen. 3, the Other to hear and to believe. Your eyes shall be opjened, ^' and ye shall be as gods. They fell, therefore, both of them, because they desired to be like God, not by righteousness. but by power. But man who had fallen, by perversely aiming at the likeness of God, discerning, when freed by grace, that he was very different from God, through the guilt P5.89,8. of sin, exclaims, O Lord, who is like unto Thee? But the devil, having been justly cast aside in his sinful lapse, continued not in his own degree of ruin; but the longer he was deprived of the grace of the Almighty; the more did he adc to the guilt of his sins. For he who fell, because he wished inverting the order of things, to be like God, was brought sc far, that entering into Antichrist, he scorned to seem lik( God, and, when condemned, counts Him as his inferior Whom he could not in his pride regard as his equal. Foi when this, which we have stated before, is said of him 2 Thess. Exalting himself above all that is called God, or that it ^' ^* worshipped; it is openly shewn, that by seeking at first th( i God^a mercy in convertiny men from sin at the last. 315 likeness of God, he wished, as it were, to exalt himself Book Y Y T 'ST against God, but that increasing m the sin of pride, he now — __ -' sets himself iij) above all that is called God, or that is worshipped. Because then this his pride will be smitten by the coming of the strict Judge, (as it is written, Who7n the 2ThesB, Lord Jesus shall slay icith the spirit of His mouth, and shall^^ ^' destroy vnth the briyhtness of His coming j) it is rightly said, And the high arm shall be broken.
1J>. But all these expressions, which have been twice dis- Mor. cussed, can be still understood in another sense. For the words of God are conserves S as it were, to give us strength. ' pig-And just as, the more a conserve is ground, the more does™^"** its virtue increase in the cup; so the more we bruise the Divine words by expounding them, the more, when we hear them, are we benefited, as if by the draught. Because therefore the merciful God long bears with the sins of men, and frequently converts the minds of sinners, when He sees the end now approaching, He rightly says of Himself, as suggesting the might of so great affection, Ver. 13. Hast thou held and shaken the ends of the earth, and hast thou shaken the wicked out of itf 20. For by 'earth' is designated man, who savours of ix. things below; to whom it was said in his sin; Earth thou Gbq, 3, art, and to earth shall thou go. But because the merci-^^* ful Creator forsakes not His own work. He both bears with the sins of men, by His wisdom, and at last remits them by their conversion. But, when He beholds hard and insensible minds. He scares them at one time vvith threats, at another with blows, at another with revelations: in order that those which had become hardened by most fatal security may be softened by wholesome fear, so that they may, though at last, return, and blush at least at this, that they have long been waited for. For thus the Lord, because He judges more severely the ends of our life, therefore purges also His Elect more carefully at the close. For it is written; God shall fudge the ends of the earth. He therefore watches i Sam. more anxiously over our closing deeds, the more He con- ' ' siders that the beginnings of our coming life depend upon them. And because He docs this of His mercy; by bringing forward His tenderness, with which He receives even those sinners who have been converted at the last, He instructs 316 Man returned to duy^ and laid hy as a rjarmevt.
Job 38, the rigliteousiiess of blessed Job, saying; Ilast t/iou held ^* * _- and shaken the ends of the earth, and hast thou shaken the wicked out of it^ Thou uiKhrstandest, As I,\Vho frequently arouse sinners by alarming them at tlieir last moments, hold them fast by converting them, and pluck from their hearts the wicked motions of their thoughts. And the Lord ri^^htly teaches blessed Job, how He converts sinners at the end. As if He openly said. Observe the power of My mercy, and bring down the pride of thy righteousness. But, that that punishment of former sin accompanies these closing hours of a man, through the death of the flesh, even when he is converted. He immediately teaches, saying; Ver. 14. Tlie seal shall be restored as clay, and shall stand as a garment. X. 21. For the Lord made man, whom He fashioned after His own likeness, as a kind of seal of His power. But yet it shall be restored as clay; because, though he may by conversion escape eternal sufferings, yet he is condemned by the death of the flesh, in punishment of the pride he has committed. For man, who has been formed from clay, and adorned with the likeness of the Divine image, having received the gift of reason, forgets, when swelling with pride of heart, that he was formed of the basest materials. Whence it hath been ordered by the marvellous justice of the Creator, that, because he became proud in consequence of that reasonable sense which he received, he should again by death become earth, which he was unwilling humbly to regard himself. And because he lost the likeness of God by sin, but returns by death to the substance of his own clay, it is rightly said; The seal shall be restored as clay. And because, when the spirit is summoned from the body, it is stripped, as it were, of its kind of covering of flesh, it is fitly subjoined of the same clay; and shall stand as a garment. For, for our clay to stand as a garment is for it to remain empty and stripped off, even till the time of the resurrection. But because even they do not escape this punishment of pride, who overcome this very pride by living humbly, He subjoins what is the special punishment of the proud, saying; Ver. 15. From the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the high arm shall be broken.
The high brought down. Chrisfs descent into Hell, 317 2'2. For the deatli ol the flesh, which restores the Elect to Book their light, takes away their light from the reprobate. For^-— i— the light of the proud is the glory of this present life. And ^** that light is then withdrawn from it, when it is called by the death of the flesh, to the darkness of its own retributions. For then is the high arm there broken, because loftiness of heart, which has been violently seized on, beyond the order of nature, is scattered by the weight of Divine justice which overwhelms it, in order that how' wickedly it had'Oxf. exalted itself for a while, it may learn when it is crushed forq^ajj^ ever by the weiglit of judgment. But none of us would know what was to follow after death, did not the Creator of om* life come even to the punishment of our death. For did He not of His own mercy seek the lowest condition. Ho could not justly bring back to the highest, us, w^ho were lost ifter we had received His likeness. Whence it is rightly subjoined; Ver. 16. Hast thou entered into the depth of the sea, and hast thou walked in the lowest parts of the abyss?