The Book of Job Through the Lens of the 'Nicomachean Ethics': Aristotelian Fortitude and Virtuousness of Job’s Lamentation in Albert the Great’s Commentary on Jb 6:11–12

In Jb 6:12, the protagonist, afflicted both in the body and in the soul, reminds his friends that his fortitude is not that of stones, nor is his flesh of bronze. According to the exegetical tradition which can be traced back to Gregory the Great’s 'Moralia in Iob', stone and bronze symbolize a wicked form of fortitude, i.e., the 'insensibilitas' of the obstinate sinner, who is insensitive to God’s corrections. Within this exegetical framework, Job is claiming that he cannot be charged with such a vice. In the XIII century, however, the rediscovery of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics leads Albert the Great to a different reading of the biblical lines. The insensibility of stone and of bronze is now interpreted in the light of Aristotle’s doctrine of fortitude, according to which the courageous person should experience pain and fear and not be insensitive to these emotions. Job is therefore perfectly justified in complaining about his misfortunes, because it would be morally wrong not to do so. Thanks to this category of “Aristotelian patience”, Albert illustrates how Job retains the moral virtue displayed in the prologue, thus providing a consistent portrait of the biblical character and the book as a whole.