Commentary on Job 1 part 15/19

'But be judged before him, if you are able to praise him as he is.'

'To be judged' -- seeing that you are not even able to hymn him worthily? 'And now he is not one who visits us in his wrath, nor has he taken great note of transgression.'

For this reason, therefore, since he does not continually visit us with the wrath owed to the unjust, but, as though unaware, does not severely punish our transgressions, men take his forbearance and longsuffering as an occasion for contempt.

But by saying 'and now' he showed that even if he does not punish immediately, he will nevertheless one day render to each according to his due.

'And Job opens his mouth in vain; in ignorance he multiplies weighty words.'

Job, he says, not comprehending God's greatness and longsuffering and his incomprehensible judgments, and that a man cannot even praise God worthily, let alone be judged against him, utters weighty and unseemly words.

And Elihu rightly does not condemn Job as suffering because of impiety, and he also rightly glorifies God's majesty and forbearance; yet he neither understood the intent from which Job uttered his words, nor did he recognize the cause of the irremediable evils into which the righteous man had fallen.

And Elihu, adding still further, says:

'Wait for me yet a little, that I may teach you;'

'for there is yet speech in me.'

Preview of the chapter: Here Elihu teaches concerning the righteousness of God, which renders to each according to his due, and concerning his majestic power and incomprehensible wisdom.

He establishes his discourse concerning God's incomprehensible wisdom from the storms and thunders that occur in the air, and from the wild beasts and cattle -- how some work by day and have the night for rest, while others were allotted the day for quiet, so that they would not run into men, but wander about by night seeking food.

And that God uses the waters, at one time for the discipline of men, at another for their benefit.

And that he brings forth light out of darkness, and, by the withdrawal of light, produces night.

And he says that it is easy for all to grasp from creation how incomprehensible the wisdom of God is.

Having magnificently expounded on the incomprehensible wisdom and providence of God, he brings his discourse to the conclusion that God must be feared.

By declaring God to be just and one who defends the righteous, he wrought comfort for Job, so that, as a righteous man expecting to obtain a good and righteous God, he might recover himself; but by declaring him great and mighty and incomprehensible, he attempted to lead the righteous man into fear, so that he would no longer contradict anything, but would yield in silence to the incomprehensible judgments of God.

So, since Elihu marvelously expounded, especially toward the end, on the wisdom and majesty of God, Job made no reply, and God became of one accord with his words, as one can learn from the divine utterance that follows.

The words: 'Wait for me yet a little, that I may teach you;'

'for there is yet speech in me.'

'Taking up my knowledge from far off,'

Since I still have things to say about God, and I wish to take up my discourse at greater length and expound it with knowledge and understanding, await also what is now being said by me.

'But in truth I will speak just things by my deeds, and you unjustly understand words that are not unjust.'

The word 'my' goes with 'just things,' so that he means:

The plea of my justice, which I am now about to state, I confirm by demonstrating it through the works of God -- that what I know, I understand in truth, and, having conceived nothing unjust, I do not utter unjust words.

'But know that the Lord will not reject the guileless.'

Know, therefore, that God never abandons, outside his own oversight, the one who lives in innocence.

'Mighty in strength of heart, he will not give life to the wicked.'

The soul is given life by partaking of divine knowledge, whereas the death of the rational soul is ignorance {and its punishments}.

The mighty and strong God, he says, will not give life to the souls of the impious, because they have chosen to live in ignorance.

But by punishing the impious according to his just judgments, he defends the poor who are wronged.

'He will not take his eyes off the righteous.'

The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their supplication.

'And with kings he seats them upon the throne unto victory, and they shall be exalted.'

According to the plain sense, there are times when God deems the righteous worthy of such honor even among men, that he even seats them together with kings, grants them victory over their enemies, and raises them to a high position.

But according to a deeper sense, those who are poor and righteous according to God, together with those who are great in virtue, will be enthroned with the King of heaven, having conquered the intelligible enemies and been exalted.

'And if they are bound in fetters, held fast in the cords of poverty, he will declare to them their deeds and their transgressions, in which they have prevailed by their own strength.'

But having made the unjust into prisoners and bound them with poverty through misfortunes, he brings them to remembrance of their own deeds and transgressions, which they committed by their own strength.

'But he will hearken to the righteous.'

This is connected to what was said above, so that it reads thus:

'He will not take his eyes off the righteous, but he will hearken to the righteous.'

'And he said that they will turn away from injustice.'

For God, he says, caring even for the unjust, presses them with bonds and poverty, so that, coming to a realization of their sins, they may turn away from injustice.

'If they hearken and serve, they will complete their days in good things, and their years in prosperity.'

He speaks of God's corrective discipline through deeds as a kind of audible admonition that brings those disciplined to a realization.

If, then, he says, having heard this soul-profiting lesson, they serve God, they will live in prosperity and an abundance of good things.

'But he does not save the impious, because they do not wish to know the Lord, and because, being admonished, they were disobedient.'

God does not save the impious, not because he himself becomes the cause of their destruction, but because they themselves have made themselves the cause of it, neither willing to recognize God by the innate and natural reason within them, nor wishing to become obedient to God's corrective discipline and admonition.

'And the hypocrites in heart will store up wrath.'

Those who are hypocrites in heart, wearing the outward form of piety, while inwardly being ravening wolves, themselves appoint and determine for themselves the divine wrath.

'They will not cry out, because he has bound them.'

But these hypocrites do not look up to God and turn back, since hypocrisy has bound them fast.

'So let their soul die in youth, and their life be wounded by angels, in return for their having oppressed the weak and powerless.'

For this reason, he says, they even die untimely, being wounded by death-bringing angels.

Or else they die together with their youthful lusts, being about to be tormented by avenging angels.

on account of the afflictions and injustices which they wrought against those weaker than themselves.

'But God will determine the judgment of the meek.'

For this is what 'he will set forth' signifies, that is:

He will not overlook them when they are wronged.

By 'the meek' you should understand either those who are righteous by choice, or also all those who are wronged and who keep silence on account of weakness.

And it deceived you, out of the mouth of an enemy.

Having inserted in the middle the words 'and he will set forth the judgment of the meek,' he added this with reference to the person of the hypocrites, because the hypocrites are punished for deceiving men by their own hostile mouth, speaking one thing with the tongue while holding another in their mind.

And having stated the common truth as if concerning a particular person, he said:

Since hypocrites are by nature inclined to deceive.

The deep—a flood is beneath it.

If indeed the discourse concerns the hypocrites, he says, they resemble abysses, deliberating deeply and treacherously.

And just as the outpouring of waters hides beneath itself the submerged rocks and brings hidden danger to those who sail, so too the intention of these men, being overshadowed by the pretense of hypocrisy, causes those who trust in it to be shipwrecked.

Amid the discourse on God's wonder-working, this saying has been inserted: 'beneath the abyss,' he says, 'there is nothing supporting the flood.'

And it is truly marvelous that it is founded upon a fluid mass.

And your table came down full of fatness, and judgment shall not fail from the righteous.

'And the judgment of the righteous,' he says, 'does not fail'—that is:

God apportions to them what is according to their worth, just as he also spreads out for them a table full of fatness—primarily the spiritual table of knowledge, but also, perhaps, as a certain consequence, the table of goods perceived by the senses.

But wrath shall be upon the ungodly, because of the ungodliness of the gifts which they received in ungodliness.

But divine wrath awaits those who take bribes.

But when you hear of 'wrath' and 'anger' concerning God, do not suppose that passion is present in the divine nature—for God punishes without passion and without anger; but since anger and wrath correspond to fear, and one fears someone stronger than oneself who is enraged and angry, Scripture uses these terms to lead us toward the fear of God.

Let not your mind willingly turn away from the entreaty of the powerless who are in distress.

Do not willingly turn aside from the straight path, when the powerless who are in distress need your help; rather, come to their aid according to your ability.

And all who strengthen might.

Do not prolong the night, so that peoples might rise up in their place.

But take heed, lest you do improper things.

For on account of this you were delivered from poverty.

Just as, he says, one must not overlook the powerless, so too one must not lie in wait against the powerful at night with a multitude and greater numbers of people, and drive them out of their own possessions.

He teaches that it is fitting to maintain equity and justice toward both the powerful and the powerless, and neither to overlook the powerless when they are wronged, nor to drive out the powerful by force from their own possessions.

Therefore one ought, with all vigilance, to abstain from improper deeds.

But others have interpreted it thus:

Do not, he says, prolong your sleeping through the whole night, lest, having cast out the good thoughts that strengthen the power of the soul, you introduce in their place other base and improper ones for yourself.

Take heed, therefore, not to do improper things.

According to the letter is the first interpretation, but according to the inner sense is the second.

And from such deeds, those done according to righteousness, he says, you will be raised up to a height of understanding, no longer thinking anything lowly, poor, or grovelling.

Behold, the Mighty One shall prevail in his strength.

For who is a ruler like him? From the discourse concerning the righteousness of men, he passes to the discourse concerning the strength and righteousness of God, joining to it also the discourse of his majesty and wisdom, and of the untraceable works of divine providence.

Observe, then, he says, how the mighty God works all things powerfully and with divine power, and there is none who can be compared to his power.

And who is he that examines his works, or who is he that says:

'He has done unjust things'? But even though he is so great in strength, he does not act improperly as though possessing unchecked authority, nor can anyone, searching out his works, demonstrate that anything has been done unjustly. So that, even if it is not possible to examine and search out the deeds of God—for they are untraceable and incomprehensible—nevertheless it is fitting to believe with a pious mind that there is nothing unjust with the righteous God.

Remember that his works are great, over which men have had dominion.

Consider, then, the greatness of God's works concerning creation—of quadrupeds, reptiles, sea creatures, birds, which the earth variously brings forth—of all these, over which men were appointed to rule from the beginning.

Let us make man according to our image and likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven.

You have put all things under his feet, sheep and all oxen, and so forth.

And for the sake of man, and of the creation appointed under his rule, there arose the need for rains, which he mentions in what follows.

Every man has seen it.

For every man has knowledge concerning God, even if the accounts of his works have become known only in part to a few.

How many mortal men there are who are wounded.

For all are wounded by the sting of sin, that is, by death.

Behold, the Mighty One is great, and we shall not know him.

For no one knows the things of God, except the Spirit of God that is in him.

The number of his ways is even boundless.

But even the number of his ways is boundless and incomprehensible to us.

But the drops of rain are numbered by him.

Nothing escapes the knowledge of God, but he knows even the number of the raindrops.

And they will be poured out as rain into a cloud.

And not without measure, but by number, the rain is poured out through the clouds.

And from the clouds flow the meltings, that is, the droplets.

For he calls these 'ancient things,' from the fact that old things melt away.

Or else he calls them 'ancient things' because these have come to be in this manner from the beginning and of old, according to the divine ordinance.

And clouds overshadowed him amid countless thunders.

Storms occur in the air when a massing of clouds takes place.

And if one comprehends the outspreading of a cloud, the evenness of his tabernacle, behold, he stretches his light over it.

If it is granted to men to come to understanding, they will see how, when a small cloud has first appeared, the thickening mass of clouds spreads over the whole sky—for he calls the sky a 'tent,' as Isaiah also says:

'Who set up the heaven as a vault, and stretched it out as a tent to dwell in'—and how also over this thickened mass he stretches out the 'ēdō'; now 'ēdō' is interpreted as:

'His light'—for thus Symmachus has rendered it; but other copies have 'bow' instead of 'ēdō.' If, then, a man comes to understand how, when there is a massing of clouds, the sun's rays, striking upon the thinned-out part of the clouds, produce the bow which is called by most people 'iris'—concerning which Moses also said:

'Behold, I set my bow in the cloud as a sign that there shall be no flood'—he will marvel at the wisdom of the Creator, how in the density of the clouds he brings about the beneficial need of rain for men, while in the thinning of the clouds he causes the bow to appear, consoling those on earth, that indeed he will not flood them with the downpour, but restrains the immoderate rush of the waters according to his own promise.

And he covered the roots of the sea.

For no one knows; for by these things he judges the peoples.

Either he says this: that the bow extends as far as the sea; or, that God covered the roots of the sea.

For no one knows by what the sea is held up, or upon what its rings are fixed.

And the things that hold up the rings are called 'roots.'

And by these wonders God judges and punishes men, perhaps through the bringing of the sea, or of hail, and such things.

Symmachus rendered it: 'he will provide very abundant food.'

Now according to the plain sense he says 'strong and abundant food,' meaning:

the service of the rains produces abundance of fruits.

But according to the deeper sense, the food will be the knowledge of God, for the one who is strong and able to know his wonder-working.

For the light has no place anywhere to hide.

And he gave command concerning it, that it should go forth to meet him.

He interpreted it: 'and he will command it so as to meet him.'

For, he says, in covering the light and bringing about night, he commands it to go and meet him, so as to say that both night and day succeed one another by his will.

he will report concerning it to his friend.

He rendered it: 'he will report concerning this to another who is his own'; that is:

Does he take counsel with someone about the making of these things, or does he communicate such coverings to another of his own? — so that the reading may be taken as a question.

But it is also possible to understand it this way: that if God grants someone the knowledge concerning these things, he thereafter calls that person his friend and no longer a servant, just as the Savior also said to his disciples:

he rendered it 'zeal concerning injustice.'

Does God take counsel with someone else concerning his own creation, and how he is moved to zeal and punishes the unjust? Or also thus:

'possession,' also concerning injustice, meaning:

God will declare to his own friends, so that they may acquire his wisdom and not unjust things:

'Acquire,' he says, 'wisdom, and not silver.'

And because of this my heart was troubled, and has been shaken from its place.

Therefore, from this contemplation, my soul, being unable to gaze upon the incomprehensibility of God's wisdom, was troubled and underwent commotion, and slipped from its own standing and was shaken out of place.

Having suffered something like this, the divinely-inspired Paul also uttered a cry of wonder:

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and untraceable his ways!

Hear a report, Job, in the wrath of the Lord's fury, and discourse will come forth from his mouth.

Come to full awareness; open the hearing-faculty of your soul, and, as though hearing a perceptible voice, learn thoroughly the things that come upon men from the wrath of God.

For it is possible, from these events, as from a kind of divine teaching and discourse proceeding from the mouth of God, to be instructed in the things brought about by divine movement — such as the damages from hail, the excessive rains, the droughts, and the destruction of the crops.

For through such things God, all but uttering a voice, teaches us his own power and wisdom and leads us to fear.

Such things, then, are for us a discourse, a pattern, and a teaching that prepares the one who considers them to fear God.

Under the whole heaven is his dominion.

And the dominion of God extends as far as the regions below the whole heaven, that is, even as far as the things beneath the earth, and the affairs concerning us are not without a ruler, without a pilot, and without an overseer.

and his light is upon the extremities of the earth.

For as soon as day dawns, the extremities of the earth are illumined.

After him a voice will cry out; he will thunder with the voice of his insolence.

Instead of 'his insolence,' Aquila rendered 'his preeminence,' that is:

Wishing to set forth the majesty of God, Scripture appointed the sounds of thunder as certain great and fearsome attendants following him, just as would follow some general or even a king.

Whenever, then, he says, God wishes to give command to those who follow him, immediately the voices through thunder break forth — either signifying his threat, when he wishes to chastise certain unjust men, or indicating his preeminence and superiority.

But according to a loftier sense, all the things accomplished around the air and about us are said to be 'behind' God — as also heaven and earth and all things seen — the accounts and causes of which, and how they came to be, Moses the hierophant, having been taught by God, is said to have seen as the 'hinder parts' of God.

For man cannot, in this life, see the accounts concerning the incorporeal beings, and whatever else is deeper in wisdom — which are called the 'face' of God.

Therefore it was also said to Moses:

No one shall see my face and live.

But it is also possible to understand 'behind him' according to a simpler sense, meaning:

For as soon as he wills, the deed follows upon the willing.

and he will not hold them back, because he will hear his voice.

For since thunders often occur either before rain or after rain, and often an immoderate rain breaks forth for the discipline of men, he says that those who are about to be harmed by the downpour have nothing to offer in exchange so that the voices from the thunders might not occur and be heard — meaning that man is not able to withstand the divine command.

But Symmachus rendered it thus:

'and it will not be traced when its sound is heard,' meaning:

No one is able to track down and comprehend how or why the sound of the thunder came to be.

The Mighty One will thunder wonders with his voice.

By sending forth the thunder, God brings it to pass for the astonishment of those who hear.

And he called the thunder 'the voice of God,' because it comes about at his command.

'Measures' means boundaries, so that some things minister to men, while others are not subjected to them.

...that some creatures rest by night, others by day, in an orderly manner, so that they might cease from their assault upon men.

In view of all these things, does not your mind stand amazed, and is not your heart severed from your body?

Are not these things, he says, sufficient to amaze the mind and to change it? — meaning:

to separate the soul from the body.

And he did great things, which we did not know.

Symmachus interpreted it: 'doing great things, and we shall not know them.'

'Which we did not know,' then, meaning:

Great indeed are the works of God, but we are not able to know the reasons for them.

and storm, that there may be rain, and storm of the rain of his might.

And, he says, the pouring out of rains in the storm, and the sending of the snow, show forth the might of God.

He seals up the hand of every man, that every man may know his own weakness.

And the extreme storm seals up and, as it were, binds fast the hands of men, and hinders them from their works, so that each of us may come to recognize human weakness.

But according to a deeper sense he says that God secures knowledge according to the capacity of each, so that both the one who has received much and the one who has received little knowledge, understanding that not all know alike even though being of the same nature, might thereby learn the weakness of nature, and might be taught that it is God who supplies to each according to measure and according to what is expedient for us:

For if knowledge were natural, we would know alike, on account of our being of the same substance.

Such knowledge, then, comes about from the hand of God.

And the wild beasts entered under shelter, and rested in their lair.

And because of the coldness of the air, the wild beasts hide themselves under thickets and in caves.

Out of the chambers come pains, and from the extremities comes cold.

'Chambers' means the innermost, the hidden places.

And by 'pains' he means those that come from chill and cold.

From the innermost and hidden places, then, comes the painful cold.

And from the breath of the Mighty One he will give frost.

Frost, he says, is formed by means of the wind.

He called the wind 'the breath of the Mighty One,' since it comes to be at God's command.

And he pilots the water as he wills.

He uses the water as he wishes, according to his own wisdom, just as one skilled in the art of navigation sits at the helm.

'And a cloud casts down upon the chosen one.'

Other copies have 'strikes with terror' instead of 'casts down.'

Whether the word is 'casts down' or 'strikes with terror,' he means that the whirling and thickening of the air and the massing of the clouds cause the chosen one — that is, the person of understanding — to grow dizzy and be struck with amazement at such wonders.

But Symmachus rendered it as follows:

'But the cloud will also press down upon the fruit' — instead of:

This happens when a cloud overshadows the fruits of the earth.

So by 'the chosen one' he means the fruit, and 'casts down' means 'overshadows,' according to Symmachus's understanding.

'The cloud will scatter his light.'

Either he means this: that the air, being filled with clouds, scatters and hides the light;

or that the sunlight, shining forth, scatters the gloom of the air caused by the clouds;

or that the clouds, colliding with one another, send forth light, meaning that the clouds also become the causes of lightning.

'And he himself turns about the circling courses.'

He says that God himself traces these things out in a circle, and it happens in due season, as he commands;

or that God turns around about them in a circle, instead of:

'He goes about through all things, being present everywhere on account of the all-encompassing nature of his essence;'

or that God himself leads the clouds around in every direction in a circle.

'In theeboulathoth' (that is, by his guiding counsels) for his works.

Symmachus interpreted it thus:

'to work them' — meaning that:

He pilots the water as he wills, for our governance and administration.

But in other copies we found it as follows:

'Having set his works in the lowest regions.'

Such a reading signifies that God works these things for the sake of those below, that is:

Whatever he commands them, these things have been ordained by him upon the earth.

The things from the air come to pass upon the earth according to the commands and ordinances of God.

Or he also means this: that all things from him are not new or recent, but have been happening thus from him from the beginning;

or that they were manifest to him even before they came to be, according to the principles of foreknowledge.

'Whether for discipline, or for his land, or for mercy, he will find him.'

And these things happen either for the disciplining and turning back of sinful men, or for the fruitfulness of the earth. And through mercy: often God, having mercy on men, has dissolved scorching heat and burning flame by sending rain — not on account of the earth's need, but so that he might dissipate the heat of the air; or, in whatever way, so that he might show mercy to men.

So one will find him doing these things for these reasons:

either for discipline and conversion, or for the fruits of the earth and its produce, or for other reasons unknown to us, but altogether for mercy toward men.

It is also possible to understand it this way: that these things happen either for the instruction of those deemed worthy of knowledge, or for the existence and continuance of the very things created by him.

And through such things we come to know and find God;

but often some have found him by the grace of mercy, without having knowledge, but obtaining him from grace alone, as the thief did.

'Give ear to this, Job; stand still; be instructed as to the power of the Lord.'

Pay diligent attention; lay up in your mind what has been said, receiving the words through your ears.

'I know that the Lord established his works, having made light out of darkness.'

'And he knows the distinguishing of the clouds.'

So I know, he says, that it is God who works these things, and who distinguishes the clouds as he wills, according to his own knowledge.

But other copies have it as follows:

'Do you know when God established his works, to make light out of darkness? Do you also know the distinguishing of the clouds?' But Symmachus rendered it thus:

'Will you indeed know when God ordained concerning them, having made light out of darkness?' And this is the sense:

Were you present alongside God as he created the world, when darkness was borne upon the water and the first voice of God was uttered, saying:

'Let there be light,' when he ordered all his works as he willed? Therefore yield to the wisdom of God and to his unattainable judgments.

He says these things, as he supposes, to instill fear in Job — Job, who had never abandoned that holy, sanctifying fear of God which is of equal power to love, and who had said with his own mouth:

'But had I not feared the hand of the Lord...'

'The downfalls of the wicked are extraordinary; but as for you, your robe is warm.'

It is indeed worthy of wonder, he says, how God punishes the wicked by means of the air, and how, after the frosts, after the rains, summer comes, so that one needs a summer garment suited to the season, so as not to be troubled by the heat.

But it is also possible to understand this according to a loftier sense: