Literal Commentary on Job (Expositio super Iob ad litteram)

"In his hands he hides the light," etc. Elihu has pursued above the matter of the change of the air which occurs according to dryness and rain, and according to the overspreading of clouds, out of which God flashes with his light; but now he pursues more fully the matter of that very light which is sometimes hidden by clouds and sometimes uncovered, and of the thunder which arises from the clouds, and he begins from the light, saying "in his hands he hides the light," that is, through the works of his power he brings it about that at times the light of the sun and stars is hidden by clouds; but because this hiding is not perpetual but only for a time, he adds "and he commands it to come again," namely, when the clouds depart; or these words can be referred to the darkening and lighting of the air through the setting and returning of the sun. Now it must be considered that sensible things are certain signs of intelligible things, whence through sensible effects we come into the knowledge of intelligible things; and among all sensible effects, light is the more spiritual, whence it is also more effective for leading into the knowledge of intelligible things, inasmuch, namely, as sight, whose knowledge is perfected through light, greatly aids intellectual knowledge. Therefore, because this sensible light is hidden from men and communicated to them by the power of God, it is given to be understood through this that with him there is a certain more excellent light, namely a spiritual one, which God reserves for men as the reward of virtue; whence he adds "he announces concerning it," namely the light signified by the bodily light, "to his friend," namely the virtuous man whom God loves, "that it is his possession," that is, that that spiritual light is a treasure which God reserves for his friends as a reward, "and that he can ascend to it," namely by deserving it through works of virtue and preparing himself to possess it; although this could also be expounded of bodily light — for the Platonists held that the souls of men were derived from the souls of the stars, whence when human souls preserve their dignity by living according to reason, they return to the brightness of the stars from which they flowed down; whence in the Dream of Scipio it is read that "the rulers and preservers of cities, having set out from here," namely from heaven, "return here." In which he also gives it to be understood that he did not place the final reward of virtue in temporal goods but in spiritual goods after this life. Now this is among all things most to be wondered at, that an earthly and corruptible man should be advanced to the possession of spiritual or heavenly things; and therefore he adds "at this," namely that man can ascend to the possessing of the light, "my heart was struck with dread," namely with the fear of admiration and stupor, "and was moved out of its place," so that, namely, he not only desires and longs for the things that seem connatural to him according to sensible life, but is also carried across to spiritual and heavenly things. Now after sight, which is cognitive of bodily light, hearing serves the intellect the most, inasmuch as it is perceptive of the words by which intellectual conceptions are expressed; and just as through the vision of bodily light man is led back into the knowledge and expectation of a certain higher light, so also through the hearing of bodily sounds formed by the divine power man is led by the hand to hear the spiritual teaching of God, whence he adds "he shall hear," namely man from God, "a hearing," namely of spiritual teaching, "in the terror of his voice," that is, in the sign of thunder, which is as it were a certain terrible voice of God. He expounds this aforesaid hearing when he adds "and the sound proceeding from his mouth": for the sound of bodily thunder is as it were formed by his hand, that is, by his power, but the sound proceeding from his mouth is the teaching of his wisdom, according to that word of Ecclesiasticus 24:5, "I came forth from the mouth of the Most High." And lest anyone should believe that God has no other, higher light than the bodily light of the heaven, he excludes this when he adds "he himself considers above all the heavens," as if to say: his vision is not below the heaven but above the heaven; but nothing is seen except in some light, because "everything that is made manifest is light," as it is said in Ephesians 5:13, whence it is necessary that the light of God be more excellent than that bodily light which is first found in the heavens; whence he adds "and his light," namely the intelligible light, "is above the bounds of the earth," that is, above every corporeal creature. And just as the bodily light of heaven is below him, so also the sound of bodily thunder is lower than he; whence he adds "after him," that is, beneath him, "the sound shall roar," namely of bodily thunder. Now he has another, spiritual voice, namely the teaching of wisdom, which is incomprehensible to man, concerning which he adds "he shall thunder with the voice of his greatness," that is, a voice which teaches his greatness; and not all hear this voice as they hear bodily thunder; and those who in some way hear it are not able to comprehend it, whence he adds "and it shall not be searched out," namely perfectly, "when his voice," that is, the teaching of wisdom, "has been heard," that is, perceived spiritually by some man. Now a voice of this kind is ordered not only to the teaching of the men who hear it, but also to the perfection of the natural works which come about by the command of divine wisdom, whence he repeats a second time "God shall thunder in his voice," that is, in the command of his wisdom, "marvelously," that is, by producing marvelous effects, and this is what he adds, "who does great things," namely according to their nature, "and unsearchable things," namely to human reason. Beginning his enumeration, he adds "who commands the snow," namely by the voice of his wisdom, "to come down upon the earth," because, namely, snow is generated by his command, and also rains and showers, whence he adds "and to the rains of winter," which abound namely in winter, "and to the showers of his strength," which are generated, namely, from some more vehement cause and with the force of wind. And because all things that happen among lower things are in some way ordered to men, therefore he adds "who seals up in the hand of every man, that each may know his own works"; for to the different works of men different dispositions of the air are fitting: for the work of night is one thing and that of day another, and again man performs one work in a time of fair weather and another in rainy weather; and what work is fitting to any given time man discerns according to the reason divinely given to him, and this is the sign which God has placed in the hand, that is, in the operative power, of all men, so that they may know how to distribute their works fittingly to the various times. And this providence extends even to the brute animals, which by a certain natural instinct perform different things at different times, whence he adds "the beast shall enter its den," namely in rainy weather, "and shall abide in its lair," namely at the fitting time. Then he shows the effects of the different winds; concerning which it must be considered that the south winds produce rains and storms, while the north winds cause cold in the air; now the south winds arise for us from the region that is toward the Antarctic pole, which is hidden from us as being sunk below our horizon by the same amount by which the Arctic pole is raised above the horizon; and therefore he says "from the inner parts a tempest shall come forth," as if to say: the tempest is caused among us by a wind proceeding from the part of the heaven that is always sunk below our horizon, which wind is indeed called the South wind. And as regards the North wind, he adds "and cold from Arcturus": for "arctos" in Greek means the northern part, whence the constellation of the Bear, which is always raised above the horizon, is called Arcturus, and from that quarter proceeds the North wind, which causes cold on account of the removal of the sun from that region of the sky. And so that this may be attributed to divine wisdom, he adds "when God blows, the frost congeals," as if to say: the North wind, which causes the frost, arises when God blows, that is, causing that very blowing; "and again," namely when God blows, that is, producing the South wind, "the waters flow most broadly," that is, most abundantly, namely the waters of the rains which are caused by the South wind. And so as to show that effects of this kind also are referred to the utility of men, he adds "the clouds desire the grain," as if to say: the clouds are ordered to the grain as to a certain end for the sake of which they are useful; now every thing desires its end, and for this reason he says that the clouds desire the grain, because, namely, from the clouds a benefit comes to the grain — either by reason of the rain descending from the cloud, which by watering the earth makes it fruitful for the production of grain, or also inasmuch as it is useful to the grain that it be at times overshadowed by clouds, lest it be dried up by the continuous heats of the sun. He appends another benefit of the clouds when he says "and the clouds scatter their light," which can be referred either to the light of flashes, according to what he had foretold above in the preceding chapter, "if he will stretch out the clouds and flash with his light," or it can rather be referred to the light which shines in the air from the rays of the sun reflected back to the clouds and in a certain way tempered by them: whence the brightness of the sun appears in the air before the rising of the sun and also after its setting, on account of the reflection of the sun's rays to the clouds, which are in a more sublime place, to which the sun's rays come more quickly and from which they depart more slowly. Having set down the benefit of the clouds, he describes their motion, saying "which range about on every side": for the clouds do not remain over only one part of the earth, out of which the vapors were raised, but by the impulse of the winds they are carried to different parts; now the winds are accustomed for the most part to make a certain circuit, following the motion of the sun, whence in the morning the east winds blow, and afterward the south winds, and finally toward evening the west winds; whence also, as a consequence, the clouds are moved in a certain circuit. And to show that this proceeds from divine providence, he adds "whithersoever the will of him who governs," namely God, "shall have led them," because, namely, the clouds do not always reach all parts of the earth, but sometimes this part, sometimes that, according to the disposition of God. Now from the clouds proceed different effects, such as rains, snows, hail, thunders, and the like; and just as it depends on the divine disposition to which part of the earth the clouds come, so also it depends on that same disposition what effect follows from the clouds, whence he adds "unto whatsoever he shall command them upon the face of the round world," as if to say: it depends on the divine command what effect follows from the clouds upon the earth. And because he had said "whithersoever the will of him who governs shall have led them," he expounds this when he adds "whether in one tribe," because it happens at times that clouds appear in one territory and do not appear in another, according to that word of Amos 4:7, "I rained upon one city, and upon another city I rained not"; and this happens in two ways: because sometimes clouds appear in the same region out of which the vapors are generated, which happens when by the impulse of the wind the vapors are not carried to distant places, and as to this he says "or in their own land," namely of the clouds, whence they arose; but sometimes they are carried to another region, and as to this he adds "or in whatsoever place of his mercy he shall have commanded them to be found": for it proceeds from the great mercy of God that he provides clouds and rains for some region at opportune times, and especially in hot lands where rains are more rare.

"Hearken to this, O Job," etc. After Elihu had narrated many marvels of the divine works, here he inveighs against Job, who seemed to accuse God of injustice, although he could not comprehend his works; and therefore he says "hearken to this, O Job," namely the things said by me concerning the greatness of the divine works, "stand," namely through rectitude of mind, "and consider," namely by yourself, "the wondrous works of God," namely those which are manifested in his works. Among these wonders he begins with the rains, which men indeed perceive by sense, but of which they cannot comprehend by knowledge their first origin, according as they are established by God; whence he adds "do you know when God commanded the rains," which fall upon the earth, namely, by divine ordinance? And after their falling, the air, which before was dark from the density of the clouds, once they grow thin, is rendered clear; whence he adds "to show," namely the falling rains, "the light of his clouds"? That is, the light of the sun shining through the clouds once rarefied, which had been hidden through the condensed clouds. Concerning the motion of these he adds "do you know the paths of the clouds," namely how and from what cause they are driven to different parts by the blast of the winds? Now the knowledge of the clouds is the beginning of the knowledge of all the changes of the air, such as winds, rains, snows, hail, thunders, and the like of this kind, and therefore he adds "great and perfect knowledge"? Great indeed because impressions of this kind occur in a more sublime body, but perfect because the knowledge of the clouds comprehends all understanding of the aforesaid impressions and of the effects which follow from them in these lower things. And because the clouds are driven by the winds, he consequently adds, concerning the effect of the wind, saying "are not your garments hot, when the south wind blows upon the earth"? For the South wind, because it proceeds from hot regions, heats the air, from whose heat man's garments can heat him the more; and he mentions the effect of the South wind by particular design, because it, coming as it were from below, gathers the vapors together and condenses them into clouds and moves them, whereas the North wind, coming as it were from on high, rather disperses them. And because the power of the heavenly bodies operates upon all effects of this kind, therefore he proceeds further even to the heavenly bodies, whence he adds "have you perhaps formed the heavens with him?" In this he expresses metaphorically the causality of God over the heavenly bodies; for just as a craftsman is the cause of a work of craft, so God is the cause of the heavenly bodies, but in one way and another: for the craftsman constitutes his work out of pre-existing matter, but the heavenly bodies could not be made out of pre-existing matter, but in their production the matter existed together with the form produced. And to distinguish the higher heavens from the heavens that are called aerial, he adds "which are most solid, as if founded of brass"; now it must be known that among us there are certain bodies which yield to what touches them and can be divided by things passing through, such as air and water and the like, but certain others do not yield to what touches them nor can be passed through, such as the bodies of stones and metals; and therefore, to show that the higher heavens are not divisible or passable after the manner of air and water, he compares them to brass rather than to the other metals, because men used it, for the most part, for such works. And lest perhaps Job should presumptuously say that he perfectly knows the works of God, he adds mockingly, saying "show us what we shall say to him," as if to say: if you are so wise that you know all the works of God, and that you can even dispute concerning these things with him, teach us, that we may be able to answer him; and he shows the necessity of this when he adds "for we indeed are wrapped in darkness," as if to say: we would greatly need you to show us the aforesaid things, because we are utterly ignorant of them. And because he himself had spoken much concerning the divine effects, lest this be imputed to him as presumption, as though he himself supposed that he perfectly knew the aforesaid things, to exclude this he adds "who shall tell him the things I speak"? As if to say: these things which I have spoken concerning his effects, no one can sufficiently narrate as befits him, namely, according to the excellence of his power. And if anyone should raise himself to such presumption as to suppose that he could sufficiently speak concerning God, danger would from this very thing threaten him; whence he adds "even if a man shall have spoken," namely as one wishing to comprehend the divine effects, "he shall be swallowed up," as if absorbed by the greatness of the matter of which he speaks, according to that word of Proverbs 25:27, "he who is a searcher of majesty shall be overwhelmed by glory." Or it can be understood otherwise, so that the sense is: not only can man not fittingly narrate the divine effects, but even if God himself shall have spoken them, namely by revealing them to man, man shall be swallowed up, as one not able to grasp so great a thing, whence it is said in Job 16:12, "I have many things to say to you which you cannot bear now," and in Deuteronomy 5:26 it is said, "what is all flesh, that it should hear the voice of the living God?" But lest anyone should believe that the knowledge of divine truth is to be withdrawn from man forever, to exclude this he adds "but now," that is, in the present time, "they do not see," namely men, "the light," that is, the brightness of divine knowledge: yet to the friend of God it is announced that he can at some time ascend to it, as was said above; and to this he brings in a likeness, saying "suddenly the air shall be gathered into clouds," on account of the gathering of vapors from the South wind, and from this the air is rendered dark; but darkness of this kind afterward passes away when the clouds are put to flight, whence he adds "and the passing wind," namely the North wind, "shall drive them away," as if to say: in this manner, although now he is wrapped in darkness, yet when death supervenes, which is as it were a certain passing of the wind, the aforesaid darkness shall be driven away. Now it happens at times that in some dark place something bright is found, just as the northern region is called dark on account of its distance from the sun, and yet in the northern regions much gold is found, which is the brighter among the other metals, and this is so because, on account of the cold of the surrounding air, the heat recurring to the inner bowels of the earth works there more effectively toward the generation of gold; and this is what he adds, "gold shall come from the North," as if to say: in the northern region gold more abounds. And just as in the darkness of the North the brightness of gold is found, so also amid the darkness of the ignorance of this life some, though obscure, refulgence of divine knowledge is found; whence he adds "and fearsome praise from God": for if nothing of the divine light shone in us, we could in no way praise him; again, if the divine truth shone upon us manifestly as at midday, we would praise him securely, but because in our present state something of the divine light shines upon us with a certain obscurity, we praise him with dread, just as a man does with dread that which he knows he cannot do perfectly; whence he adds "we cannot find him worthily," that is, so that through our finding we might arrive at knowing him as he is; which indeed happens on account of his excellence, whence he adds "great in strength," because, namely, his power exceeds all its effects infinitely, whence he cannot from them be worthily found. And lest it be believed that on account of the greatness of his power he uses violence alone in the governance of men, he adds "and in judgment," namely he is great, because his judgments are incomprehensible; nor is this on account of a defect of justice but on account of his excellent justice, whence he adds "and in justice," namely he is great. And on account of his greatness we can neither think of him worthily in mind nor speak of him sufficiently with the mouth, whence he adds "and he cannot be declared," namely worthily by man. And this is the reason why his praise is fearsome, whence he adds "therefore men shall fear him," namely however strong, on account of the greatness of his might, "and shall not dare to contemplate," as though presuming to know him fully, "all who seem to themselves to be wise"; and he says this by particular design, because the wisdom of man, however great it seems to them or to others, compared to the divine wisdom is as nothing.

Now it must be considered, from the aforesaid words of Elihu, that he partly agreed with Job and partly with his friends: for in this he agreed with Job, that he believed a future reward of the good after this life and punishment of the wicked; but with the friends of Job he agreed in this, that he believed all the adversities of the present life come about on account of sins, and that if anyone should repent of these he would return to prosperity. He also agreed with the friends of Job as regards the person of Job himself, because he thought him punished for sin, and that the justice which at first appeared in him had been feigned. He also took the words of Job wrongly, as did the others. Concerning the prosperity of the wicked in this world, he alone touches this cause, that they prosper on account of the sins of others; likewise also he alone seems clearly to touch upon the point that angels are intermediaries between God and men. Now Job does not respond to his words, first indeed because in the principal doctrines he agreed with him, in which his friends erred, whom he had above, in chapter 13:4, called "upholders of perverse doctrines." Now as to what Elihu felt concerning his own person, it was not so great a care to him that on this account he should wish to contend with Elihu, especially since he could prove the purity of his conscience in no other way than as above, namely by divine testimony; secondly, because out of a certain youthful presumption, after the manner of contentious men, Elihu was imputing to Job words which he had not said, or which he had said otherwise than Elihu took them: and therefore, that he might separate himself from contentions, he decided that it was better to keep silence and to commit the matter to the divine judgment.