Salvifici Doloris §6

6. Sacred Scripture is a great book about suffering. Let us quote from the books of the Old Testament a few examples of situations which bear the signs of suffering, and above all moral suffering: the danger of death(5), the death of one's own children(6) and, especially, the death of the firstborn and only son(7); and then too: the lack of offspring(8), nostalgia for the homeland(9), persecution and hostility of the environment(10), mockery and scorn of the one who suffers(11), loneliness and abandonment(12); and again: the remorse of conscience(13), the difficulty of understanding why the wicked prosper and the just suffer(14), the unfaithfulness and ingratitude of friends and neighbours(15); and finally: the misfortunes of one's own nation(16).

In treating the human person as a psychological and physical "whole", the Old Testament often links "moral" sufferings with the pain of specific parts of the body: the bones(17), kidneys(18), liver(19), viscera(20), heart(21). In fact one cannot deny that moral sufferings have a "physical" or somatic element, and that they are often reflected in the state of the entire organism.

(5) Quod Ezechias subiit (cfr. Is. 38, 1-3).

(6) Sic ut Agar timuit (cfr. Gen. 15, 16), Iacob mente finxit (cfr. Gen. 37, 33-35), David expertus est (cfr. 2 Sam. 19, 1).

(7) Id Anna metuit, Tobiae mater (cfr. Tob. 10, 1-7; cfr. edam Ier. 6, 26; Am. 8, 10; Zac. 12, 10).

(8) Talis fuit Abrahae (cfr. Gen. 15, 2), Rachelis (cfr. Gen. 30, 1), Annae, Samuelis matris (cfr. 1 Sam. 1, 6-10), temptatio.

(9) Ut exsulum Babylonica lamentatio (cfr. Ps. 137 [136]).

(10) Quibus v. gr. affectus est Psaltes (cfr. Ps. 22 [21], 17-21), Ieremias (cfr. Ier. 18, 18).

(11) Sic ut accidit Iob (cfr. Iob 19, 18; 30, 1. 9), nonnullis Psaltibus (cfr. Ps. 22 [21], 7-9; Ps. 42 [41], 11; Ps. 44 [43], 16-17), Ieremiae (cfr. Ier. 20, 7), Servo patienti (cfr. Is. 53, 3).

(12) Quibus iterum oppressi sunt nonnulli Psaltes (cfr. Ps. 22 [21], 2-3; Ps. 31 [30], 13; Ps. 38 [37], 12; Ps. 88 [87], 9. 19); Ieremias (cfr. Ier. 15, 17) atque Servus patiens (cfr. Is. 53, 3).

(13) His Psaltes (Ps. 51 [50], 5), testes aerumnarum Servi (cfr. Is. 53, 3-6) et Zacharias Propheta (cfr. Zac. 12, 10) confusi sunt.

(14) Talia passi sunt tum Psaltes (cfr. Ps. 73 [72], 3-14), tum Qoelet (cfr. Qo. 4, 1-3).

(15) Haec perpessi sunt sive Iob (cfr. Iob 19, 19), sive Psaltes nonnulli (cfr. Ps. 41 [40], 10; Ps. 55 [54], 13-15), sive Ieremias (cfr. Ier. 20, 10); Siracides vero de hac miseria meditatur (cfr. Sir. 37, 1-6).

(16) Praeter plures Lamentationum locos, cfr. psalmistarum questus (cfr. Ps. 44 [43], 10-17; Ps. 77 [76], 3-11; Ps. 79 [78], 11; Ps. 89 [88], 51), prophetarum (cfr. Is. 22, 4; Ier. 4, 8; 13, 17; 14, 17-18; Ez. 9, 8; 21, 11-12). Cfr. etiam Azariae orationes (cfr. Dan. 3, 31-40), et Danielis (cfr. Dan. 9, 16-19).

(17) Cfr. e. gr. Is. 38, 13; Ier. 23, 9; Ps. 31 (30), 10-11; Ps. 42 (41), 10-11.

(18) Cfr. Ps. 73 (72), 21; Iob 16, 13; Lam. 3, 13.

(19) Cfr. Lam. 2, 11.

(20) Cfr. Is. 16, 11; Ier. 4, 19; Iob 30, 27; Lam. 1, 20.

(21) Cfr. 1 Sam. 1, 8; Ier. 4, 19; 8, 18; Lam. 1, 20-22; Ps. 38 (37), 9. 11.