Commentary Par XIX 79-90

Up until now we have probably been sympathizing with the protagonist's unwillingness to embrace the justice that would condemn such an essentially admirable human being who, through no fault of his own, has not heard the Word. Suddenly the Eagle pounces on Dante (his 'tu' is most personal, where in most of the rest of his long speech [vv. 40-90], with the exception of five other second-person singular pronouns or verbs within four lines [[Par XIX 67-70]], he seems to be thinking of all mortals, three times addressing us as 'voi').  'Who are you, Dante, to judge God's judgment?'  Further (and now the Eagle resorts to third-person attack, Dante being offhandedly treated as a caviling subtilizer), is he not aware of what the Bible says?  See the discussion of a passage in Romans (9:20) in C.Par.XIX.79-81.