From there she seeks the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.
All Commentaries on Job 39:29 Go To Job 39
Gregory The Dialogist
AD 604
100. That is, from these choirs of Angels he directs the eyes of his mind to contemplate the glory of the Majesty on high: and, not seeing it, he is still hungry: and seeing it, at length, he is satisfied. For it is written, Because his soul, hath laboured, he shall see and be satisfied. [Is. 53, 11] And again, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. [Matt. 5, 6] But who is the food of our mind is plainly pointed out, when it is said; Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. [Matt. 5, 8] And because, from being weighed down by the interposition of the corruptible flesh, we cannot behold God as He is, it is rightly subjoined;
Her eyes behold afar off.
101. For whatever progress any one may have made, when placed in this life, he cannot as yet behold God in His real appearance, but darkly, and through a glass. But when we look close at hand, we see more truly, but when we turn our sight further off, we are darkened by our uncertain sight. Because, therefore, holy men raise themselves up to lofty contemplation, and yet cannot behold God as He is, it is well said of this eagle; Her eyes behold afar off. As if He were saying; They resolutely direct the keenness of their intention, but they cannot, as yet, behold Him nigh, the greatness of Whose brightness they are not at all able to penetrate. For the mist of our corruption darkens us from the incorruptible light, and when the light can both be seen in a measure, and yet cannot be seen as it is, it shews how distant it is. But if the mind were not to see it in any way, it would not see that it was far off. But if it were already to behold it perfectly, it would not in truth see it through a mist. Because then He is neither completely seen, nor again completely hidden, it is rightly said, that God is beheld from far.
102. Let us bring forward the words of Isaiah, and point out how they and these are uttered by the same Spirit. For when he was describing the virtues of active life, saying; Who walketh in righteousnesses, and speaketh the truth, who casteth off the gain from oppression, and shaketh his hand from every bribe, that stoppeth his ears, lest he hear blood, and shutteth his eyes not to see evil; [Is. 33, 15] he immediately added to what heights of contemplation he can ascend by these steps of active life, saying; He shall dwell in high places, his loftiness shall be the munitions of rocks; bread is given him, his waters are sure. His eyes shall see the King in His beauty, they shall behold the land afar off. [ib. 16] For to dwell in high places, is to set our heart on heavenly things. And our loftiness is the munitions of rocks, when we look back to the precepts, and examples of mighty fathers, and separate ourselves from grovelling thoughts. Our loftiness is the munitions of rocks, when we are joined in mind to the choirs and camp of heaven, and, standing in the citadel of our heart, expel, as though placed beneath us, the malignant spirits who lie in wait. Then also bread is given to us; because our attention, raised to things above, is refreshed with the contemplation of eternity. Our waters are also sure, because that, which the teaching of God here promises through hope, it then offers as a gift. For the wisdom of this world is not trustworthy, because it is not likely to remain after death. Our waters are sure, because that, which the words of life teach us before death, the same they point out to us also after death. Our eyes behold the King in His beauty, because our Redeemer is, in the judgment, beheld as Man, even by the reprobate; but those alone who are Elect are exalted to behold the loftiness of His Divinity. For, to behold the servile form alone, in which He is despised by the wicked, is to see, as it were, a kind of deformity of the King, But the King is seen, by the Elect, in His beauty; because, being rapt above themselves, they fix the eyes of their heart on the very brightness of His Godhead. And because, as long as they are in this life, they cannot behold that land of the living, as it really is, it is rightly added; They shall behold the land afar off. That then, which He says here; The eagle will mount up, and make its nest in high places, is there expressed, He shall dwell in high places. That which is here said, She abideth in the rocks, and dwelleth in the abrupt flints, and inaccessible rocks, is there added, His loftiness shall be the munitions of rocks. That again which is here introduced, From thence she beholdeth her food, is here also subjoined, Bread is given him, his waters are sure, his eyes shall see the King in His beauty. And that which is here subjoined, Her eyes behold afar off, is there fitly added, They shall behold the land afar off.
103. Let us consider, what a lofty eagle was Paul, who flew even to the third heaven, yet, when dwelling in this life, he still beholds God afar off, who says, We now see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. [1 Cor. 13, 12] And again; I count not myself to have apprehended. [Phil. 3, 13] But, though he himself beholds eternal things much short of what they really are, though he knows that he cannot perfectly understand them; yet he cannot instil by preaching, into his weak hearers, those very things, which he is able to behold only through a mirror and an image. For he speaks of himself, as if of another person, saying, He heard secret words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. [2 Cor. 12, 4] Although therefore the smallest, and most extreme, inward truths are seen, yet to mighty preachers they are most exalted, but beyond the capacity of weak hearers. Whence also holy preachers, when they see that their hearers cannot receive the statement of His Divinity, come down to speak only of the Lord’s Incarnation.
