1. What is to be premised concerning this Book. — Since this is the last book of this work, and, the more difficult passages having been treated, what remains is less obscure, it is pleasing to run through this more indulgently and more relaxedly. For as though the great sea has been traversed, we now behold the shore, and, lowering the sails of our intent, we are not carried by the same impetus as before, yet still by the impulse of that former breeze. The wind, as it were, of our anxiety has fallen, yet its force, now more tranquil than itself, drives us on to the station of the shore.
Therefore, after the Lord had shown to His faithful servant how strong and how cunning is his enemy Leviathan, when He had subtly laid open his powers and deceits, blessed Job answered to both, saying: