The words that were written by the writer in the book, and these also about Job, of whom it is written that he also 'shall again rise with those whom the Lord raiseth' , we must suppose to have been composed with this meaning. In consequence of so great a trial he had in a sense gone down to Sheol and final destruction, so that even his name should thenceforth be extinguished, as he himself said when he was being tormented by the pains , and suddenly he arose as from the dead, and put off the unsightliness of the sores, and he was comely in body, as in the bloom of youth, and everything ended for him in a change to the best fortune. Therefore, lest any think that the prize of virtue ends with these things, and lest we who read imagine that we shall receive the rewards for the labours of virtue in this world, for this reason the writer recorded the words that are written, «He shall again rise with those whom the Lord raiseth»; that is, lest any think that his rewards are completed and ended with present things: for these were given as an earnest for the things that are future and are expected by us all. For he shall rise with those whom the Lord raiseth, viz. those who have conducted themselves after the same pattern, of whom Paul also in writing to the Hebrews says that all those who have borne testimony through faith 'did not receive the promises, God having provided some better thing for us, that they might not be made perfect without us'. By the words which he used (and it is written, «He shall again rise with those whom the Lord raiseth») the writer is thought to be explaining this also, that he endured such pains, not because he looked to the things that were given him in this.world, but to the hope of the great and wonderful resurrection, concerning which also he said, «I will endure for thee until I shall again be» ; and again, «For I know that he ever floweth who shall release me upon the earth. He shall raise my skin which endureth these things». The words which are before us for the purpose of interpretation were used by the author with reference to the general resurrection which is expected by everyone (and the words are «He shall again rise with those whom the Lord raiseth»), and not, as your religiousness has supposed, to that by which some of the saints rose, when our Lord took the saving Cross upon him for our sakes, and the Good Shepherd laid down his soul for the sheep. For this the holy Matthew the Evangelist recorded in these words: «But Jesus, when he had cried with a loud voice, gave up the ghost. And lo! the veil of the temple was rent in two, from the top to the bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints who slept arose, and came out from the graves, and after his resurrection went into the holy city, and appeared to many» . Since then the Evangelist stated indefinitely that many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep rose, it is unnecessary for us to inquire who these were, and if Job was among them. For the reason why he said 'many', and not 'all the bodies of the saints' is because the resurrection which is expected by everyone is not that one, but the one at the second coming of our Saviour Christ. For then, I mean at the time of the revered Gross, it was only in order to demonstrate the power of our same Saviour, who in that the soul separated from the body went down to Sheol, that certain men rose by a divine manifestation, showing that in the places beneath the earth there was perception of the God-befitting illumination. And these were prophets and some of those who lived after the same manner as they, who were well-known from the Holy Scriptures among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This is stated also by the God-clad Ignatius, who adorned the throne of the Antiochenes, immediately after the apostolic administration , and the first see of the chief of the apostles Peter, and was perfected with a crown of martyrdom. In writing-to those at Magnesia he wrote as follows about our Saviour Christ: «How shall we be able to live without him? whom the prophets also, being his disciples in the spirit, expected as a teacher; and for this reason he whom they rightly awaited when he came raised them from the dead». But that we should think that those who rose then, at the time of the saving Cross, remained to this day the words of the gospel do not permit; for they cry plainly, «They went into the holy city and appeared to many». The word 'appeared' plainly denotes a temporary appearance, for the purpose of confirming, as we said, the power of our Saviour, who broke the gates of bronze, and the bars of iron from which there is no escape, of the places beneath the earth. After therefore those who rose had shown themselves at that time, they again laid their bodies aside and departed to their places, awaiting the general resurrection which is expected by everyone. That this is so, the holy John bishop of Constantinople also testifies in the fourteenth note of the second part of the commentary on the first epistle to the Corinthians, where he wrote thus: «But if any be in doubt why, when speaking about the resurrection, he did not here introduce the bodies which rose in our Lord's time, we will say this, that this is not speaking about the resurrection. For to show that those who rose die again was alien to the purpose of one who is showing that death is finally destroyed. For it is for this reason also that he said that it is the last thing to be destroyed, in order that you may no longer fear that it will rise. For, when evil is done away, much more shall death be annihilated» . And in the fifteenth note which follows, when speaking about saving baptism, and explaining why a man who is about to be baptized, when he repeats the baptismal confession, is baptized into the remission of sins and the resurrection of the dead, and eternal life, he says this: «For, since sin brought in death, the root being dried up, we must no longer dispute in any way about the: destruction of the fruit. Therefore after first saying 'the remission of sin', he then confesses also the resurrection of the dead, being led from this to that also. And afterwards, since the name 'resurrection' does not suffice to set forth everything (for many after they had risen departed again,' as those in the Old Testament, as Lazarus, as those at the time of the Cross) you are bidden to say, 'and in eternal life', that none may any longer fear death after that resurrection» .