Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, and answer thou me.

“Since Job was overwhelmed by his dejection, God encourages him with his words, so that he may pay attention to what is said now, and he introduces his speech in the form of questions, which is the best means to convince. Above all, he shows that he does everything with wisdom and intelligence, and therefore it would have been inconsistent with God, who did so many things with wisdom and intelligence, to neglect the human beings for whom he has created everything, even when they are wretched, as in this case. "What do you say?" God asks.”

“Gird up thy loins as a man. Holy Scripture is wont to call those persons 'men,' who follow, doubtless, the ways of the Lord with firm and steady steps. Whence it is said by the Psalmist, Do manfully, and let your heart be strengthened. [Ps. 31, 24] Whence Paul says, Lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees. [Heb. 12, 12] Whence also Wisdom in the Proverbs, Unto you, O men, I call. [Prov. 8, 4] As if She were saying openly, I do not speak to women, but to men: because they who are of an unstable mind, cannot at all understand My words. But to gird up the loins is to restrain lust either in work, or in thought. For the delight of the flesh is in the loins. Whence it is said to holy Preachers, Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning. [Luke 12, 35] For by the loins is designated lust, but by lights the brightness of good works. They are commanded therefore to gird their loins, and to hold their lights. As if they heard openly; First, restrain lust in yourselves, and then set forth from yourselves examples of good works to others. But since we have known that blessed Job was endowed with such great chastity, why is it said to him after so many scourges, Gird up thy loins as a man, (that is, as a bold man restrain thy lust,) except that there is one lust of the flesh, with which we pollute our chastity, but another lust of the heart, by which we boast of our chastity? It is said therefore to him, Gird up thy loins as a man: in order that he who had first overcome the lust of corruption, should now restrain the lust of pride; and that he might not, from priding himself on his patience or his chastity, become more fatally lustful before the eyes of God within, the more patient and chaste he appeared before the eyes of men. Whence it is well said by Moses, Circumcise the foreskins of your heart; [Deut. 10, 16] that is, after ye have restrained lust in the flesh, lop off also the superfluities of thoughts. It follows, I will question thee, and answer thou Me. Our Maker is wont to question us in three ways; when He strikes us with the severity of the rod, and shews what great patience either exists in, or is wanting to, us. Or when He enjoins certain things which we dislike, and lays open our obedience, or disobedience. Or discloses to us some hidden truths, and conceals others, and makes known to us the measure of our humility. For He questions us by the scourge, when He assails with afflictions the mind which has been properly subject to Him in a time of tranquillity. As the same Job is both praised, on the evidence of his Judge, and yet is given up to the blows of the smiter, in order that his patience might be the more truly manifested, the more severely it had been examined. But He questions us by enjoining hard things, as Abraham is ordered to go out of his own country, and to go whither he knew not; [Gen. 12, 1] to lead his only son to the mountain, and to offer up him, whom he had received, when old, as a consolation. For it is doubtless said to him, when making a good reply to the question, that is when obedient to the command, Now I know that thou fearest God. [ib. 22, 12] Or as it is written, The Lord your God trieth you, to know if ye love Him. [Deut. 13, 3] For God's trying us, is His questioning us with mighty commands. His knowing also, is His making us know our own obedience. But God questions us by disclosing some things to us, and shutting out others, as is said by the Psalmist, His eyelids question the sons of men. [Ps.1l, 4] For, when our eyelids are open, we see; when they are closed, we behold nothing. What do we understand then by the eyelids of God, but His judgments? Which in one respect are closed to men, and in another are opened, in order that men who know not themselves, may become known to themselves; so that, while they comprehend some truths in their understanding, and are not at all able to understand others, their hearts may secretly examine themselves, whether the Divine judgments do not stimulate them, when concealed, or puff them up when laid open. For Paul was proved by this questioning, who after he had tasted inward wisdom, after the barrier of paradise had been opened, after the ascent of the third heaven, after the mysteries of Heavenly words, still says, I count not myself to have apprehended. [Phil. 3, 13] And again; I am the least of the Apostles, that am not meet to be called an Apostle. [1 Cor. 15, 9] And again; Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God. [2 Cor. 3, 5] Paul then, when questioned by the open eyelids of God, answered rightly, for he both reached to heavenly secrets, and yet stood sublimely in humility of heart. And again, when he was discussing the secret judgments of God concerning the rejection of the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles, and could not attain to them, he was questioned, as it were, by the closed eyelids of God. But he returned a thoroughly right answer, who in his ignorant state, wisely bowed himself down to God, saying, O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how incomprehensible are his judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been His counsellor? [Rom. 11, 33. 34.] For, lo! when questioned by mysteries hidden, as with closed eyelids, he gave fitting and right answers. For knocking at the entrance of the mystery, because he could not through his knowledge be admitted to inward things, he stood before the gates in humble confession, and that which he could not comprehend within, he praised with dread without. Whence blessed Job is now also, after the questioning of the rod, examined by the questioning of the word, to make him consider the things which are above; and in order that, when he does not comprehend them, he may turn back to himself, and learn how he is almost nothing, in comparison with heavenly things. Let him hear therefore, I will question thee, and answer thou Me. As if it is more plainly said, I rouse thee by My words to consider sublime truths, and whilst thou perceivest that thou knowest not those things that are above thee, I make thee better known to thyself. For then thou answerest Me truly, if thou understandest what things thou knowest not.”

“"But the Lord answering Job," etc. The disputation of Job and his friends concerning divine providence having been set forth, Eliud had taken upon himself the role of one determining the matter, refuting Job in certain respects, and in certain respects his friends; but because human wisdom does not suffice to comprehend the truth of divine providence, it was necessary that the aforesaid disputation be settled by divine authority. But because Job thought rightly concerning divine providence, yet in his manner of speaking had gone to excess, to such a degree that scandal thereby arose in the hearts of others, who thought that he was not showing God the reverence due to him, therefore the Lord, as the one determining the question, both refutes Job's friends for not thinking rightly, and Job himself for his disordered manner of speaking, and Eliud for his unfitting determination. Hence it is said, "But the Lord answering Job," because indeed this response was made on his account, although he had not been the one speaking immediately before. The manner of the response is shown when it adds "out of a whirlwind," which indeed can be understood literally, so that it is said that the voice of God was formed miraculously in the air with a certain disturbance of the air, just as is read to have happened on Mount Sinai (Exodus 20:18), or just as a voice came to Christ when some said that it had thundered, as is read in John 12:29; or it can be understood as spoken metaphorically, so that this response of the Lord be an interior inspiration made divinely to Job himself, and thus it is said that the Lord answered him "out of a whirlwind" both on account of the disturbance which he was still suffering, and also on account of the obscurity of the whirlwind, because indeed we cannot clearly perceive divine inspiration in this life but only under a certain shadowing of sensible likenesses, as Dionysius says in chapter 1 of the Celestial Hierarchy; and the Lord also signified this if he made his voice sensibly heard out of a bodily whirlwind. Now the disputation having been settled, as it were, by a judicial sentence, nothing further remains to be said unless the sentence of the determination be disproved; and therefore the Lord first disapproves the determination of the disputation which Eliud had made. He disapproves it because he had wrapped up the true statements which he had proposed in many false and frivolous words; hence it follows: "Who is this that wraps up sentences in unskillful words?" Eliud had indeed uttered true statements in arguing against Job for having said that he wished to dispute with God, and for having called himself just to such a degree that he seemed almost to derogate from the justice of the divine judgment; but he had wrapped up these statements in many presumptuous and even false words, as is clear from what was said above, which are here called "unskillful words" because all disorder seems to proceed from a defect of reason. Thus, therefore, with Eliud's determination excluded, the Lord himself begins to determine the disputation, and first he rouses Job to attention when he says, "Gird up your loins like a man," which is spoken metaphorically: for men are accustomed to gird up their loins in order to be ready for a journey or for any action; hence the Lord wished him to be ready to consider what was being said to him, with every impediment removed. Hence he pointedly makes mention of the girding of the loins, because by the loins is understood carnal pleasure, which especially impedes spiritual hearing, according to that saying of Isaiah 28:9: "Whom shall he teach knowledge, and whom shall he make to understand the hearing? Them that are weaned from the milk, that are drawn from the breasts." He first begins, in his determination, to argue against Job for having seemed to speak presumptuously in provoking God to dispute; and because above, in chapter 13:22, he seems to have given God a choice between two things when he said, "Call me, and I will answer you: or else I will speak, and you answer me," since Job had already spoken enough, the Lord as it were chooses the other part when he adds, "I will ask you, and answer me"; which questioning of God is indeed not that he may learn, but that he may convict man of his ignorance. Now he questions him about his own effects, which lie ready to human senses, since when man is shown to be ignorant of these, he is all the more convicted of not having knowledge of the more sublime things. Among the other sensible effects, he begins to ask about the principal parts of the world, among which the earth is better known to us as being nearer; beginning to ask about it, he says, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?" Rightly does he compare the earth to a foundation, because just as the foundation is the lowest part of a building, so too the earth is the lowest of bodies, which lies beneath all others. And because the earth is especially the matter of the human body, and matter precedes in time that which is made from it, and much more does the reason of the artificer who established the matter precede it, therefore he pointedly says, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?" As if he were to say: you cannot know the reason of the founding of the earth, because when the earth was founded you did not yet exist in the nature of things. Now it is to be considered that certain of the ancients did not attribute the position of the earth and of the other elements to any ordaining reason, but to the necessity of matter, according to which heavy things settle beneath light ones. But so that this opinion may be excluded, the Lord consequently compares the founding of the earth to the founding of a building, which is done according to the reasons of the builder; and likewise the founding of the earth was made according to divine providence, which human intelligence is not able to comprehend, and this he signifies when he adds, "Tell me, if you have understanding," as if he were to say: you cannot indicate the reason of these things because your intelligence does not suffice to grasp them. Now it is to be considered that the artificer, in the founding of a building, disposes of four things. First, indeed, how great the foundation ought to be; and likewise it was disposed by divine reason how great the quantity of the earth ought to be, and not greater or less, and as to this he adds, "Who has set its measures," namely according to all its dimensions; and pointedly he says "has set": for the species of earth does not of necessity require such a quantity, but this quantity was imposed upon the earth by divine reason alone, which man cannot know, and therefore he adds, "if you know," because indeed man can neither know nor indicate this. Second, the artificer by his own reason disposes the determined position of the foundation, which he comprehends by the extension of the measuring line; hence he adds, "Or who stretched the line upon it," by which is signified the reason of the divine disposition designating the determined position of the earth among the parts of the universe. Third, the quantity of the foundation and where it is to be placed having been thought out, the artificer disposes in what it may be firmly placed, and as to this he adds, "Upon what are its bases founded," namely of the earth, because it is founded upon the center of the world. Fourth, the three aforesaid things having been thought out, the artificer now begins to lay stones for the foundation, and first the cornerstone, to which the different walls are joined; and as to this he adds, "Or who let down," that is, sent down, "the cornerstone thereof," by which is signified the very center of the earth to which the different parts of the earth are joined. Now man is accustomed to place the foundation of a building on account of the need for habitation; but that it may be shown that God did not lay the foundations of the earth out of need, he adds, "When the morning stars praised me together," as if he were to say: although the habitation of heaven was present to me, whose stars praise me, yet I founded the earth not out of need of servants who might inhabit it, but from will alone. Now this is not said as though heaven were made before the earth, especially since it is read in Genesis that in the beginning God created heaven and earth, whereas the stars of which mention is here made are read to have been made on the fourth day; but this is said to show that in the order of nature heaven and the stars are prior to the earth, as the incorruptible is prior to the corruptible, and the mover to the moved. He says "morning stars," that is, newly established, just as among us those stars are called morning stars which are accustomed to appear at the beginning of the day. Now that the morning stars are said to praise God can be understood in one way materially, inasmuch as, on account of their brightness and nobility, they were matter for divine praise, even if not for men, who did not yet exist, at least for the angels, who already existed; in another way, according to those who say the heavenly bodies are animated, the stars at the beginning of their institution praised God not with vocal praise but with mental praise; which can also be referred to the angels, by whose ministry the heavenly bodies are moved, so that what follows, "and all the sons of God made a joyful melody," may be referred to the angels of the highest hierarchy, whom Dionysius says are stationed in the vestibules of the deity; and therefore he pointedly attributes praise to the former as inferior, but to the latter, as superior, jubilation, which implies a certain excellence of praise. Having set forth, then, the matter concerning the founding of the earth, he next adds concerning the waters which lie immediately above the earth. Now the natural order of the elements would seem to require that water surround the earth on every side, just as air surrounds the earth and water on every side; but by divine disposition it was brought about, for the generation of men, animals, and plants, that some part of the earth should remain uncovered by the waters, God by his own power holding back the waters of the sea within fixed bounds. Hence he adds, "Who shut up the sea with doors," that is, with fixed boundaries? Now there were some who thought that some part of the earth was dried up by the action of the sun, but the Lord shows that it was so disposed from the beginning that the sea should not cover the earth on every side. Now he describes the production of the sea under the likeness of the birth of a living thing, namely a child, because water is most formable into living things, hence also the seeds of all things are moist. Now a child first indeed comes forth from his mother's womb, and this he signifies when he says, "When it broke forth as issuing out of a womb." Now he uses the word "breaking forth" in the production of the sea, because it is indeed proper to water to be, as it were, continually in motion; and it is said "as issuing out of a womb," not that it took its origin from some other bodily matter, but because it proceeded from the hidden recess of divine providence as if from a certain womb. Second, the child once born is clothed, and as to this he adds, "When I made a cloud its garment": for since clouds are generated from vapors resolved out of water, it follows that in maritime places clouds of this kind are multiplied the more. Third, the child once born is wrapped in certain swaddling bands, and as to this he adds, "And wrapped it in darkness as in swaddling clothes of infancy"; and by "darkness" may be designated vapors not lifted up nor condensed into clouds, but darkening the air over the surface of the sea; and perhaps he alludes to what is said in Genesis 1:2, that "darkness was upon the face of the deep." These things, then, having been set forth which pertain to the new production of the sea, he explains its confinement, as if he were to say: when the sea was newly made, then "I compassed it with my bounds"; and he seems to set down three things pertaining to the confinement of the sea, the first of which is signified when he says "with my bounds," that is, set by me; the second is signified when he says, "and I set a bar"; the third when he says, "and doors." Now these three pertain to the command of the divine power; hence, as if expounding what was said, he adds, "And I said: Hitherto shall you come," which pertains to the notion of bounds, for a bound is the end point of motion; "and no further," which pertains indeed to the bar by which someone's advance is impeded; "and here you shall break your swelling waves," which pertains to the doors, which are set up for this, that someone should not go out or come in indiscriminately but according to a fixed rule; so also the sea does not overstep its shore indiscriminately, but according to a certain measure of its swelling waves. After the earth and the waters he proceeds further to the air, which by its appearance is continuous with the heaven; now the first disposition common to the whole body which lies above the water and the earth is the variation of night and day, which come about according to the diurnal motion, which is the first of motions; and therefore he next says, "Did you since your birth command the morning?" As if he were to say: is it by your command that night and day alternate upon the earth? For the dawn is a certain boundary of day and night. And he pointedly says "since your birth," just as above, when he was speaking of the earth, he had said "where were you?" Because just as the earth is chiefly the material principle of man, so too the highest heaven, which by its motion varies day and night, is the chief principle of the human body among bodily causes. Now it is to be considered that the brightness of the dawn, or of the aurora, is diversified according to the different degrees of elevation of the signs through which the sun passes: for when it is in a sign of swift ascension, by which it rises quickly, the dawn lasts a short while; but when the sun is in a sign of slow ascension, it lasts longer; and there is a fixed measure of place from which, the sun being there, the brightness of dawn begins to appear; and this is what he adds, "and showed the dawn its place?" As if he were to say: have you appointed the places in heaven from which the dawn shines forth? As if to say, no. And from all these things it is given to be understood that your reason falls short of the comprehension of the divine works; whence it is clear that you are not fit to dispute with God. "Did you hold the extremities of the earth shaking them," etc. After the Lord has enumerated the principal parts of bodily creation, namely the earth, the sea, and the heaven, he here begins to pursue the marvels of the divine works which appear in the disposition of the aforesaid three parts of the world. And he begins from the earth, in which what chiefly appears wondrous is what happens concerning an earthquake, of which he speaks metaphorically after the likeness of a man who, holding some body, shakes it; hence he says, "Have you held," that is, comprehended by your power, "shaking the extremities of the earth?" Which is not to be understood as though the whole earth were shaken at once in an earthquake, but because certain extremities of the earth are shaken. Now all things which happen in bodily creation redound to the utility of men: earthquakes, then, and other such terrible things are useful for this, that men, terrified, may desist from sins; hence he adds, "and have you shaken the wicked out of it?" And he speaks after the likeness of a man who shakes out a garment in order to shake dust or a moth out of it: so too God seems to shake the earth in order to shake sinners out of it, sometimes indeed through death, sometimes through the amendment of life. Now it is accustomed to happen in an earthquake that certain things are openly split apart, such as walls or something of this sort; and as to this he adds, "the seal shall be restored as clay": for clay, when it is divided, is easily reintegrated into the same disposition; so too some seal, say in a wall or in anything else of this sort, which seemed to be altered by the opening of the wall, is sometimes by divine power restored to its former state. It also happens sometimes that towers and trees and other such things are shaken by an earthquake and do not fall; and as to this he adds, "and it shall stand as a garment," namely, that if it is shaken it does not lose its former integrity. Now it happens sometimes, on the contrary, that men either swallowed up by the earth or crushed by walls falling in an earthquake die; and as to this he adds, "their light shall be taken away from the wicked," namely through death. It also happens sometimes that the strongest fortifications and towers are cast down by an earthquake; and as to this he adds, "and the high arm shall be broken," that is, some very strong fortification, or some powerful friend in whom a man trusts as in his own arm. These things, then, having been set forth concerning the earthquake and its effects, he proceeds to the disposition of the middle element, namely the sea, in which hidden and wondrous things appear to men. First, indeed, those things which are in the depth of the sea, such as the dispositions of the fish living in the sea; and as to this he says, "Have you entered into the depth of the sea," so as to know the animals which lie hidden in it? Another thing which appears hidden and wondrous in the sea is the disposition of the earth lying beneath the waters of the sea; and as to this he adds, "and walked in the lowest parts of the deep," that is, in its lowest parts? After the disposition of the earth and the sea, he proceeds to the disposition of the heaven, under which the air also is contained, and in this he lingers more at length on account of the many wonders which appear in it; and first he begins from the disposition of light and darkness, which commonly regards the whole upper body. Now it is to be considered that the heavenly bodies act upon these lower things by their light, since light is, as it were, the active quality of the heavenly bodies, just as heat and cold are of the elements; and therefore the effect of the heavenly bodies on these lower things is joined with the consideration of light and darkness. Now among the other effects of the heavenly bodies on these lower things, the more common is generation and corruption, and from this he begins, saying, "Have the gates of death been opened to you?" For death is the corruption of a living body, and thus properly pertains to man, to whom the present discourse is directed; now the gates of death are the causes of corruption as regards the powers of the heavenly bodies, through which one first proceeds to such an effect; but it is most difficult to know what is the period of life and duration of any thing, and therefore the gates of death are not opened to us, because we cannot know in the heavenly bodies the proper cause of the corruption of each thing. Now darkness is fitting to death, both because through death man is deprived of bodily sight, whose knowledge is by light, and also because after death man goes, as it were, into oblivion as into a certain darkness; and therefore he adds, "and have you seen the darksome doors?" So that it may be understood that he calls by the same name, on account of the property of death, "darksome doors," what he had before called the "gates of death"; or what he says, "darksome doors," can be referred to another effect of the heavenly bodies, which is the darkening of the air, so that what he said of the gates of death be referred only to living bodies, but what he said of the darksome doors, to transparent bodies. Now he adds concerning the diversity of heat and cold about the earth, saying, "Have you considered the breadth of the earth?" Where it is to be considered that, according to the astronomers, the length of the earth is measured according to the progression from east to west, but its breadth is measured from south to north, because in any given thing the greater dimension is called the length, and the lesser dimension is called the breadth; now it is proven by experience that the dimension of the earth inhabited by us is greater from east to west than from south to north, hence the breadth of the earth is taken according to the progression from south to north, in which progression there is a diversity of heat and cold, because the more one approaches the south in our habitable region, the hotter the place is, on account of the nearness of the sun; hence what is said of the breadth of the earth can be referred to the diversity of hot and cold places. These things, then, having been set forth which pertain to the effect of celestial light in these lower things, he makes mention of light itself when he adds, "Tell me, if you know all things," namely, so that you may be fit to dispute with God, who knows all things, "in what way light dwells." Where it is to be considered that light is found in the luminaries of the world, which are for this reason called luminaries because they are the vessels of light; but because "way" refers to motion, the question of the way in which light dwells refers to the motion of the luminaries; now it exceeds human knowledge how the luminaries are moved, which is shown by the different opinions of men concerning their motions, some asserting that they are moved by eccentrics and epicycles, others by the motions of different spheres. And just as light is caused from the motion of the luminaries as they move in the upper hemisphere, so too darkness proceeds from their motion as they move in the lower hemisphere, which also has the same difficulty; hence he adds, "and where is the place of darkness." Now the motion of any body cannot be perfectly measured unless the way through which it travels is known, because magnitude is measured by motion and motion by magnitude, as the Philosopher says in Book IV of the Physics; and therefore, since the way of the motion of the luminaries cannot be known with certainty by man, it follows that neither can the measure of their motions be perfectly known; hence he adds, "that you may lead each one," namely light and darkness, "to its bounds," showing, that is, the reason of the appearance and hiding of each of the luminaries as to their beginning and end; and also as to the middle, to which pertains what he adds, "and that you may understand the paths of its house," namely of light: for when it moves at noon around the summit of heaven, then it as it were walks through the paths of its own house; but its bounds are at its rising and its setting. Now according to the motions of the heavenly bodies are measured the durations of the lower bodies and the times of generation and corruption, as Dionysius says in chapter 4 of the Divine Names; and therefore, those causes being unknown, it follows that these effects are unknown, and therefore he adds, "Did you know then that you should be born?" As if he were to say: could you have foreknown, by considering the motion of heaven, the time of your birth? And indeed you could not have done this, because before you were born you did not exist; but neither could any other man have foreknown this, on account of the weakness of human knowledge: for God speaks to Job in the person of all men. And just as you could not foreknow the time of your birth, so you cannot foreknow the end of your life; hence he adds, "and did you know the number of your days?" As if he were to say: you cannot know this from the computation of the celestial motions, of whose exact measure you are ignorant. These things having been set forth which pertain to the change of light and darkness, he proceeds to the various changes of the air according as the air is varied by storm and by fair weather, and he begins from snow and hail, saying, "Have you entered into the storehouses of the snow, or have you beheld the storehouses of the hail?" He calls the vapors lifted up on high, out of which snows and hails are generated, "storehouses of snow and of hail"; but because hails are of a coarser substance and are generated in a place nearer to us, the cold being driven to the interior of the cloud by the surrounding heat, therefore concerning hails he makes mention of sight, because they can be more subject to sight, but concerning snows, of entering, because on account of their fineness they can be more penetrated. Now God sometimes uses things of this kind for the correction of men, just as it was held above, in chapter 36:31, "by these he judges peoples"; hence he adds, "which I have prepared for the time of the enemy," that is, for the time in which vengeance is to be taken on enemies; against whom God uses these as if they were weapons of war; hence he adds, "against the day of battle," that is, of the actual conflict, "and war," that is, of the campaign in which preparation for battle is made. Now the storm of snow and hail having ended, fair weather follows, in which the brightness and heat of the air are prepared; hence he adds, "By what way is the light spread," which pertains to brightness, "the heat divided upon the earth?" Which pertains to heat. Where it is to be considered that above, when he was speaking of light as regards the very luminaries in which it dwells, he made mention only of its way, because indeed light completes its way through the motion of the luminaries whether it be storm or fair weather; but brightness and heat do not reach us from it except when the storm has ceased; now the degree of brightness is not sensibly diversified in different lands when the air is clear, but the degree of heat is sensibly diversified; and therefore he said that light is "spread," as it were poured out indifferently, but that the heat is "divided," as being distributed in different measure according to the diversity of places. Consequently he proceeds to certain effects of the winds in the air, from which, while rain is driven along, a downpour is caused; hence he says, "Who has given a course to the most violent shower?" For the violence of the course of the shower is from the strong impulse of the winds, which the divine power produces. Likewise, while the clouds are driven along by the winds, the sound of thunder is caused, on account of which this sound is not heard in one place, but as if of a certain body passing by; hence he adds, "and a way for the sounding thunder?" Now he adds the reason why the rains and clouds are driven along by the winds, when he says, "that it should rain on the earth without man in the wilderness," which indeed cannot be inhabited on account of the dryness of the earth: for rainy vapors are lifted up chiefly from moist places; hence if the clouds and rains were not driven by the winds, it would follow that it would never rain in dry places. Now it happens sometimes that certain places are irrigated by human industry, that is, when the rains cease; but this cannot happen there, hence he adds, "where no mortal dwells," and thus that land cannot be provided for by human industry. And on account of this God ordained that the clouds and rains should be driven by the winds, so that it might rain even in the desert places; hence he adds, "that it might fill," namely with rains, "the pathless and desolate land," that is, the earth through which man cannot pass, and destitute of human care; and thus by divine care alone it might "bring forth green grass," namely for the beauty of the earth and for the pasture of wild animals, which are also provided for by divine providence. Consequently he makes mention of rains without wind when he says, "Who is the father of rain?" That is, the efficient cause not out of necessity but out of the order of providence, which befits a father: for by God the sun and the other heavenly bodies are moved, which are the proximate efficient cause of the generation of rains. Now dew is generated from the same cause as rain, nor does it differ except according to the greater or lesser amount of matter; hence he adds, "or who has begotten the drops of dew?" He pointedly names "drops" so as to designate the smallness of the droplets. Now it is to be considered that just as rains congealed are snows, so dew congealed is hoarfrost; hence he adds, "out of whose womb came the ice?" Where it is to be noted that the cause of ice is cold, which is a feminine quality, whereas the cause of rains and dew is heat, which resolves and does not permit the vapor to congeal; but heat is a masculine quality; and therefore, pointedly, concerning the generation of rain and dew he has used the name of father, but concerning the generation of ice he has used the name of womb, which pertains to the mother. Now from cold a twofold ice is caused: one indeed in the air, which pertains to the hoarfrost falling from heaven; hence he adds, "and the frost from heaven, who has begotten it?" Which he still attributes to a father, because so great a power of cold does not appear in hoarfrost as in the further degree of ice. But the other is ice which is generated in the lower waters, in which a greater force of cold appears; hence he adds, "the waters are hardened like a stone," namely, condensed into ice by vehement cold; and this sometimes proceeds so far that in the coldest lands even the seas are frozen, and this is what is added, "and the surface of the deep is bound fast," namely, the water which is on its surface, condensed by cold; for the cold of the air cannot break through as far as the depth of the sea. These things, then, having been recounted concerning the various changes of the air, he proceeds further to the unchangeable changes of the heavenly bodies, concerning which, first, in the fixed stars is considered the immobility of their configuration, because each of them preserves its own position such that one does not draw nearer to or farther from another; and this appears chiefly in neighboring stars, which are never joined together; hence he adds, "Shall you be able to join together the shining stars, the Pleiades?" The stars called the Pleiades are certain stars which shine in the head of Taurus, of which six appear quite close together, but the seventh is dimmer. Second, there is considered in the heavenly bodies the uniformity of the first motion, by which the whole heaven and all the stars in it are revolved once in a day and a night about the poles of the world; now this motion is more sensibly perceived from the stars near the North Pole, which are of perpetual appearance to us on account of the elevation of the pole above our horizon, among which stars the constellation of Arcturus is especially noted, which is the Great Bear, whose stars manifestly appear to move uniformly in a circle about the pole of the world; and as to this he adds, "or will you be able to scatter the turning of Arcturus," so that it may not circle about the pole? Third, there appears in the heavenly bodies a wondrous motion of the planets, in which, although it is altogether uniform, a certain irregularity appears to sense, and this can especially be perceived in the star Venus, which sometimes rises before the sun, and then is called the Lightbearer (Lucifer), and sometimes sets after the sun, and then is called the Evening Star. Now it is manifest that the stars which are always of slower motion than the sun begin first to appear in the morning before the sun's rising, because the sun by its own motion, by which it is moved from west to east, leaves them behind, as is clear in Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars; but the moon, which has a faster motion than the sun, always begins to appear in the evening, as if leaving the sun behind and going before it toward the east; but Venus and Mercury sometimes begin to appear in the morning, sometimes in the evening; but concerning Mercury, because it is rarely seen and is of small size, this is not so manifest; but in Venus it is apparent to all, hence it is manifest that it sometimes has a faster motion than the sun, sometimes a slower. From which the irregularity in the motion of the planets appears manifestly, and to designate this he adds, "Will you bring forth the Lightbearer," that is, Venus appearing in the morning, "in its time," that is, at a determined time, because this diversity always occurs at a fixed point; "and the Evening Star," that is, the same Venus appearing in the evening, "cause to rise over the sons of the earth?" And it is to be noted that by his saying "will you bring forth" and "cause to rise" is designated the new appearance of the star. Fourth, there appears wondrous in the heavenly bodies their order, position, and motion; hence he says, "Do you know the order of heaven," which indeed cannot be comprehended by man? Fifth, there is wondrous the disposition of the lower bodies according to the higher ones; and as to this he adds, "and can you set down the reason thereof on the earth," so that, namely, you may know the proper effects of each of the heavenly causes? Now the aforesaid effects of the divine power are indeed the greatest, yet the greatness of the divine power is not so apprehended by the multitude of common people in them as in thunder and lightning, and therefore he sets down these effects last; hence as to thunder he says, "Will you lift up your voice to the clouds?" For thunder is generated in a cloud, whose sound seems, as it were, the voice of God. Now after thunders great rains for the most part follow, on account of the condensation of the clouds from the commotion of the winds from which the thunder is caused; hence he adds, "and will a rush of waters cover you?" For the abundance of rain seems, as it were, to cover God, insofar as the heaven, which is called the seat of God, is hidden from us. Consequently he adds concerning lightning, saying, "Will you send lightnings," that is, will it be by your power that they move? "And will they go," as if, that is, they obey your command? Now the motions of lightnings are accustomed to be reflected from one place to another, and this he designates when he adds, "and returning shall say to you: here we are," as if in their return they are ready to obey the divine command again, so that they may be sent to another place. Now all these things are brought forward to show that man can attain neither to the wisdom nor to the power of God. "Who has put wisdom in the heart of man?" After the Lord has recounted the marvels of his effects as regards the principal parts of the world, which are the earth, the sea, and the heaven, and as regards their dispositions, he now proceeds to recount the marvels of his works specially as regards the various properties of animals. Among these, knowledge is preeminent, which indeed is found more perfectly in man than in the other animals; and therefore, beginning from man, he says, "Who has put wisdom in the inward parts of man?" By the "inward parts" of man are understood the inmost powers of his soul, namely intellect and reason, in which God has implanted wisdom, insofar as he has given man the light of reason: for he has naturally implanted certain seeds of wisdom and knowledge in his reason, in the knowledge of first principles. Now in other animals many indications appear of a certain natural prudence, but this is chiefly manifested in the cock, as in a known and domestic animal; hence he says, "or who has given the cock understanding?" "Understanding" is here taken for a certain natural estimation according to which it operates in the manner of one understanding, because this natural estimation of his is given to him by the divine intellect. Now in this the cock seems to have a certain likeness of understanding, that at determined hours it bursts forth into song, as if it knew the proportions of the celestial motions; hence he adds, "who has told," namely the cock, "the reckoning of the heavens," that is, the proportion of the celestial motions, so that from this it may be able to discern determined hours for crowing? Now watchmen are accustomed to declare the nearness of day, and of certain hours of the night, by a certain song or by the sound of some instrument; but it cannot be said that some sound of heaven is heard at determined times and is silent at other times, so that from this the cock might discern when to crow; hence he adds, "and who shall make the harmony of heaven sleep?" As if he were to say: the harmony of heaven does not fall silent like a sleeping watchman, so that from hearing it or its silence the cock might be instructed to crow. Now it is to be considered here that the Pythagoreans held that a harmonized sound arises from the motion of the heavens on account of the most fitting proportion of the celestial motions, and because they held the heavenly bodies to be animated, therefore such a consonance of sounds could be called the harmony of heaven; but Aristotle proves in Book II of On the Heavens that no sound proceeds from the motion of the heavenly bodies, and therefore we can here take "harmony" as metaphorically put for the mere fittingness of the celestial motions, which never come to rest. Now this kind of inspiration of wisdom or understanding, or even the harmony of heaven, existed from the beginning of the founding of the earth; hence he adds, "when the dust was founded in the earth," which refers to the position of the earth, which is placed at the bottom as in a foundation, "and the clods were fastened together," which refers to the moisture holding the parts of the earth together as one, lest, namely, the earth on account of its dryness should dissolve into dust. Then he proceeds to another property of animals, which is observed as regards the acquisition of nourishment, concerning which something wondrous appears in the lioness: for since the lion needs much food, it seems wondrous how in some region it can capture so much prey from the animals as suffices for itself and its cubs; hence he adds, "Will you take the prey for the lioness?" That is, will you prepare for her so great an abundance of prey that she may have enough for herself and her cubs? Hence he adds, "and fill the appetite of her whelps?" Now this does not seem very difficult when they range about through different places, but it is difficult when they remain in the same place, either on account of the necessity of nourishing their young, to which pertains what he says, "when they crouch in their dens," or because they lie in wait for other animals: "and lie in ambush in their coverts," namely, for animals to be caught. Something wondrous also appears among birds concerning the raven: for it is said that the raven does not feed its young hatched from the eggs until, perceiving them to be its own, it sees them turn black with feathers; hence for seven days it does not administer food to them, but they are sustained by God through the natural power implanted in them; hence he adds, "Who provides for the raven her food, when her young ones cry to God, wandering about," that is, looking here and there, "because they have no food," as if abandoned by their parents? Now this is not to be understood as though the young ravens know God, but this is said because every natural thing, by its own desire, in this very fact that it seeks some good, as it were intends to acquire something from God, who is the author of all goods.”

“Gird up now thy loins like a man,.... Like a man of valour that girds on his harness for battle: Job is bid to prepare for the controversy the Lord was entering into with him; and bring forth his strong reasons and most powerful arguments in his own defence. The allusion is to the custom in the eastern countries, where they wore long garments, to gird them about their loins, when they engaged in work or war. Job had blustered what he would do, and now he is dared to it; see Job 23:4; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me; put questions to him, to which he required a direct and positive answer. Jehovah takes the part of the opponent in this dispute, and gives that of the respondent to Job; since Job himself had put it to his option which to take, Job 13:22.”

“Loins, like one about to engage in an arduous task, (Haydock) or journey, (Calmet) to explore the ways of divine Providence. (Haydock) — Answer my reasons, if thou art able. (Calmet) — Hebrew, “make me know.” (Haydock) — Only the Creator hath perfect knowledge of all his works, as may appear by induction or example: 1. of inanimate; 2. of living things, ver. 39. (Worthington)”