For I am full of words, the spirit within me constrains me.
All Commentaries on Job 32:18 Go To Job 32
Gregory The Dialogist
AD 604
18. When boastful men observe that holy preachers speak eloquently, and are reverenced for their eloquence, they frequently imitate the loftiness of their language, and not their useful intention. They are far from loving what the others desire, but are especially anxious to gain great renown amongst men. For it is frequently the case that wise men, when they find that they are not listened to, impose silence on their lips. But frequently when they see that the sins of the ungodly gain strength when they are silent, and cease to reprove, they endure a kind of violence in their spirit, so that they burst forth in language of open reproof. And hence when the Prophet Jeremiah had imposed on himself silence in preaching, saying, I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His Name; he immediately added, And there was made as it were a burning fire in my bosom, and shut up in my bones: and I was wearied, not being able to bear it; for I have heard the insults of many. [Jer. 20, 9] For, seeing that he was not listened to, he wished to hold his peace; but when he beheld evil increasing, he no longer persisted in the same silence. For when he ceased to speak without, from being wearied of speaking [Comma after ‘locutionis,’ as the rhythm and the sense both require.], he felt a flame kindled within him by the zeal of charity. For the hearts of the just burn within them, when they behold the deeds of the ungodly gain strength from not being reproved, and they believe that they are themselves partakers in the guilt of those, whom they allow, by their own silence, to go on in iniquity. The prophet David, after he had imposed silence on himself, saying, I have set a guard upon my mouth, while the sinner stood against me. I was dumb, and was humbled, and kept silence even from good things: [Ps. 39, 1] in the midst of his silence blazed forth with this zeal of charity, when he
immediately subjoined; My sorrow was renewed, my heart grew hot within me, and in my meditation a fire shall flame out. [Ps. 39, 3] His heart grew hot within him, because the flame of charity refused to burst forth in words of admonition. The fire burned in the meditation of his heart, because his reproof of the ungodly had ceased to flow on with the chiding of his lips. For the zeal of charity tempers itself with wonderful consolation, as it gains strength, when it bursts forth in words of reproof against the deeds of the ungodly, in order that it may not cease to reprove the faults which it cannot amend, lest it should convict itself of partaking in their sins, by consent of keeping silence.
19. But because certain vices frequently assume the guise of virtues, as, for instance, lavishness wishes to appear like pity, stinginess like frugality, cruelty like justice; in like manner, a desire for empty glory, being unable to keep itself within the bounds of silence, inflames like the zeal of charity, and the powerful desire of ostentation impels a person to speak without restraint, and the desire of display breaks out, as if with the wish of offering advice. For it cares not what good it can effect by its speaking, but what show it can make: nor is it anxious to correct the evil which it beholds, but to display the good which it feels. Hence Eliu also, swollen by the spirit of pride, and unable to keep himself within the barriers of silence, says, I am full of words, the spirit of my womb constraineth me; behold, my belly is as new wine without a vent which bursts in sunder new vessels. [ver. 18]
20. If we must understand this passage spiritually, by ‘belly’ he means the secret recesses of the heart. But by new wine is understood the warmth of the Holy Spirit, of which the Lord says in the Gospel, They put new wine into new skins. [Matt. 9, 17] For when the Apostles were filled suddenly therewith, and were speaking in every tongue, it was said by the Jews, who knew not the truth and yet bare witness to it, These men are full of new wine. [Acts 2, 4] But by vessels we understand not inappropriately either consciences which are weak from their very estate of humanity, or certainly those earthly vessels of our bodies; of which the Apostle Paul says, We have this treasure in earthen vessels. [2 Cor. 4, 7] But because Eliu, as we before observed, was so puffed up and swollen with pride, as though he were kindled within, to speak through the grace of charity, by the fire of the Holy Spirit, compares the spirit, which he felt within him when silent, to new wine without a vent. And he well says, Which bursts asunder new vessels, because the fire of the Holy Spirit is scarcely kept in by the new life, much less by the old. The new wine then bursts asunder new vessels, because by its violent heat it is too much even for spiritual hearts.
