Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 1:6-12

"Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, that Satan also came among them. And Jehovah said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And Jehovah said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? for there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and turneth away from evil. Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath, on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will renounce thee to thy face. And Jehovah said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thy hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah." — Job 1:6-12 (ASV)

After Job’s prosperity is listed, his adversity is presented. The cause of his adversity is introduced first. Lest anyone think that the trials of righteous people happen apart from divine providence—and thus conclude that human affairs are not subject to it—the author first explains how God cares for and governs human affairs. This is set forth in symbol and allegory, following the usual practice of Holy Scripture, which describes spiritual things using images of physical things, as is clear in Isaiah, where he says, I saw the Lord sitting upon a high and lofty throne (Isaiah 6:1), and also at the beginning of Ezekiel and in many other places.

Now, even though spiritual realities are understood through images of physical things, what the author intends to reveal about them through these sensible images pertains not to the mystical sense, but to the literal sense. The literal sense is what is first intended by the words, whether they are used literally or figuratively.

One should understand that divine providence governs things in such an order that lower things are directed by higher things. For physical bodies, which are generated and decay, are subject to the motion of the heavenly bodies. In the same way, lower reasoning spirits united to mortal bodies—that is, human souls—are directed by higher, incorporeal spirits. The tradition of the Church teaches that among these incorporeal spirits, some are good. Guarding the purity in which they were created, they enjoy divine glory and never turn from the will of God. These spirits are sometimes called “angels” in the Scriptures, which means “messengers,” because they announce divine things to humanity. Sometimes they are called “sons of God,” inasmuch as they are made like God by participating in His glory.

However, there are also some spirits who are evil—not by nature or creation, for God is the author of every nature and the supreme good cannot cause anything but good—but through their own fault. Spirits of this kind are called “demons” in the Scriptures, and their leader is called the “devil,” as though he fell from on high (deorsum cadens). He is also called “Satan,” which means “adversary.” Therefore, both kinds of spirits move people to act: the good spirits move them to good deeds, and the evil spirits to wicked deeds. Just as people are moved by God through these spirits, so too are the things done by people said in the Scriptures to be brought to divine consideration through the mediation of these same spirits. Thus, to show that both the good and evil things people do are subject to divine judgment, the text continues, Now on a certain day when the sons of God came to assist in the presence of the Lord, Satan also was among them.

It should be understood that the angels, who are here called “sons of God,” are said to assist in the Lord’s presence in two ways. First, inasmuch as God is seen by them, as Daniel says, A thousand thousands ministered before him and ten thousand thousands assisted in his presence (Daniel 7:10). Second, inasmuch as the angels themselves and their acts are seen by God, for those who “assist in the presence of a Lord” both see him and are seen by him. In the first sense, it is fitting only for those angels who are blessed and enjoy the divine vision to assist in God’s presence. This is not fitting for all of them, but only for those among the higher angels who enjoy the divine vision more intimately and, according to the opinion of Dionysius, do not go out to perform external ministries. For this reason, the angels assisting in God’s presence are distinguished from the ministering angels in the text of Daniel already cited.

In the second sense, however, it is fitting not only for the good angels but also for the wicked ones and even for humans to assist in God’s presence, because whatever is done by them is subject to the divine gaze and examination. Because of this, the text says, when the sons of God came to assist in the presence of the Lord, and Satan also was among them. Although the things under the care of both good and bad angels are continually subject to divine sight and examination—and so the sons of God always come to assist in God’s presence with Satan among them—the text nevertheless says, “on a certain day.” This is according to the usage of Scripture, which sometimes designates things that are above time through things that are in time. For example, at the beginning of Genesis, God is said to have spoken on the first or second day, even though His act of speaking is eternal, because what He spoke happened in time. So now, since the event the author is discussing took place at a specific time, those who perform this action are said to assist in God’s presence “on a certain day,” even though they never cease to do so.

One should also consider that the things done through good angels are referred to God’s judgment differently than those done by wicked angels. The good angels intend for their actions to be referred to God. Thus, the text says that the sons of God “came to assist in the presence of the Lord,” as if by their own movement and intention they subjected everything to divine judgment. The wicked angels, however, do not intend for their actions to be referred to God; the fact that whatever they do is subject to divine judgment happens against their will. Therefore, the text does not say that Satan came to assist in the Lord’s presence, but only that Satan was among them. He is said to be “among them” both because of the equality of their nature and also to convey indirectly that evil is not done from God’s primary intention but comes upon good people almost by accident.

There is a difference, then, between the things done through good angels and those done through wicked angels. The good angels do nothing unless they are moved to do it by divine command and will, for in all things they follow the divine will. But the wicked angels dissent from God in their will, and so the things they do are hostile to God in their intention. Because we do not usually ask about things we ourselves do, but only about things that happen apart from us, the text does not say that the Lord asked anything of the sons of God, but only that He questioned Satan. So the text continues, The Lord said to Satan: Where do you come from? Note here that the Lord does not say to him, “What are you doing?” or “Where are you?” but Where do you come from? This is because the deeds administered by demons sometimes arise from the divine will, as when God punishes the wicked and tests the good through them. But the intention of demons is always evil and hostile to God. Therefore, Satan is asked, Where do you come from? because his intention, from which his entire act proceeds, is hostile to God’s.

One should note that “to speak” can be understood in two ways: sometimes it refers to the inner concept of the heart, and sometimes to the word by which this concept is expressed to another. In the first sense, God’s act of speaking is eternal and is nothing other than generating the Son, who is His own Word. In the second sense, God speaks some things in time, yet in diverse ways corresponding to those with whom He speaks. For God at times spoke to people, who have physical senses, with a physical sound formed in some created medium, like the voice that said at the baptism and transfiguration of Christ, This is my beloved Son (Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5). Sometimes He has spoken through an imaginary vision, as one reads so often in the Prophets. And sometimes He has spoken through intellectual expression. God should be understood to have spoken in this way with Satan, insofar as He made him understand that the things he did are seen by God.

Therefore, just as God’s speaking to Satan informs Satan of something, so Satan’s answer to God certainly does not inform God of anything. Instead, it shows that Satan understands that everything about him is open to divine scrutiny. According to this manner of speaking, the text says, Satan answered the Lord: I have prowled about the earth and I have run through it. When the Lord says to Satan, Where have you come from?, God examines the devil’s intention and actions. When Satan answers, I have prowled about the earth and I have run through it, as if giving an account of his actions to God, both statements serve to show that everything Satan does is subject to divine providence.

In prowling over the earth, Satan shows his craftiness in seeking out those he can deceive. With this in mind, 1 Peter 5:8 says, Your adversary the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. This “prowling about” fittingly shows his craftiness, just as a straight path shows simple justice. For a straight (or right) line is “that whose middle does not deviate from its ends.” Therefore, because the action of the just does not diverge from its principle—which is the will—and its intended end, straightness (or rightness) is fittingly ascribed to the just. The work of the crafty, however, is to pretend one thing and intend another. Thus, what they show in their deed deviates from a straight path, as it agrees with neither their true will nor their ultimate end. So the crafty are rightly said to “prowl about,” and because of this,Psalms 11:9 says, The impious are prowling about.

One should know, however, that although the devil applies his craftiness against everyone, good and wicked alike, the effect of his cunning takes hold only in the wicked, who are rightly called “the earth.” For since a person is composed of a spiritual nature and earthly flesh, human evil consists in abandoning the spiritual goods to which one is ordered by a mind endowed with reason, and instead clinging to earthly goods that befit one’s earthly flesh. Therefore, wicked people are correctly called “earth” inasmuch as they follow an earthly nature. Satan, then, not only prowls about but also “runs through” this kind of “earth,” because he brings the effect of his malice to completion in them. The completion of his progress is designated by his “running through” them, just as God, on the contrary, is said to “run through” the just. So Saint Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:16, I will live in them and walk along with them.

There can also be another interpretation of this passage. There are three states of the living. Some are above the earth, that is, in heaven, like the angels and all the blessed. Others are on the earth, like all people living in mortal flesh. And some are under the earth, like the demons and all the damned. Satan neither prowls about nor runs through the first group, because there can be no malice in the citizens of heaven, just as there can be no evil of nature in the heavenly bodies. He prowls about among those who are in hell but does not “run through” them, because he already has them totally subject to his malice, so it is not necessary for him to use craftiness to deceive them. However, he prowls about and runs through those who are on earth, because he strives to deceive them with his craftiness and to draw some of them into his malice—those who are especially designated by the term “earth,” as I have already explained.

The idea that worldly people are designated by the term “earth” is shown clearly enough by the fact that the Lord seems to separate Job from the earth, even though he is living on it. For when Satan had said, I have prowled about the earth and I have run through it, the text adds, And the Lord said to him: Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth? It would seem pointless to ask whether the one who claimed to have prowled and run through the earth had considered Job, unless God understood His servant Job to be outside the “earth.”

God clearly shows in what respect Job is separated from the earth by calling him my servant Job. Humanity has been created, as it were, as a mean between God and earthly things; with the mind, one clings to God, but with the flesh, one is joined to earthly things. Furthermore, just as any mean recedes from one extreme the closer it approaches the other, so the more a person clings to God, the more removed they are from the “earth.” To be a servant of God means to cling to God with the mind, for it is characteristic of a servant not to be his own master. The one who clings to God in his mind directs himself to God as a servant of love, not of fear.

Note that earthly affections imitate, in a remote sense, the spiritual affections by which the mind is joined to God, but they can in no way achieve a complete likeness. This is because earthly love—and consequently every affection—falls short of the love of God, for love is the principle of all affection. So after God fittingly said, Have you considered my servant Job, He continues, there is none like him on earth, because nothing among earthly things can equal spiritual things. However, this passage can also be understood in another way. In each saint, there is some preeminent virtue for a special purpose. This is why we sing in the Church for each of the Confessors, “There is found none like him who kept the law of the Most High”—except for Christ, because everything existed in Him in the most perfect and excellent way. In this way, the text can be understood to mean that no one living on earth was like Job, in that he excelled in some particular application of virtue. The text then shows in what way Job was a servant of God and unlike anyone else on earth when it adds, He is a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil. This will not be dealt with here because it has already been commented on.

Consider that God not only orders the lives of the righteous for their own good, but He also presents them for others to see. Yet, those who see this example are not all influenced by it in the same way. The good, who consider the life of the righteous as an example, profit from the experience. The wicked, however, if they are not corrected by this example to become good, revolt against the righteous life they have observed. They are either tortured by envy or they try to ruin that life with false judgments, as the Apostle Paul shows in 2 Corinthians 2:15, For we are the good odor of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one the stench of death to death; to the other the smell of life to life. Thus, God wants the lives of the saints to be considered not only by the elect for the progress of their salvation, but also by the wicked for the increase of their damnation. For the life of the saints shows the perversity of the impious to be blameworthy, as Wisdom 4:16 says, The just man who has died condemns the impious who are alive. Therefore, the Lord says to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job..., as if to say: “You prowl about and run through the earth, but you can consider my servant Job and marvel at his virtue.”

Perverse people, whose prince is Satan (who acts in their place here), usually accuse holy people of not acting from a right intention, because they cannot find fault with their lives. Scripture expresses this, saying, Turning good to evil, he lies in ambush and he will put the blame on the elect . This appears in what follows: Then Satan answered the Lord: Does Job fear God in vain? This is as if to say: “I cannot deny that he does good things, but he does not do them from a right intention—that is, out of love for You and for the good itself. Rather, he does them because of the temporal goods he has received from You.” So he says, Does Job fear God in vain? For we are said to do something “in vain” when we cannot hope to attain what we intend. “Job serves You because of the temporal goods he has gained from You, so it is not in vain that he fears You in his service.”

Satan shows that Job has attained temporal prosperity in two ways. First, regarding his immunity from evils, because he has been preserved by God from all adversity. This is what he means when he says, Have you not fortified him with a wall?—that is, have you not protected him as a hedge or wall protects? This protection extends to “him” as a person, “his house” as his family and children, and “all that he has” as all his possessions. Satan adds, “in a circle,” to show a perfect immunity, because what is entirely surrounded by a wall in a circle cannot suffer an attack from any direction. Second, he shows Job’s prosperity regarding the multiplication of his goods, saying, You have blessed the work of his hands. Because God makes all things by His word, the blessing of God imparts goodness to things. Thus, God blesses someone’s works when He brings them to a good and fitting end. Because some goods come to a person without his own effort or intention, Satan adds, and his possessions have increased on the earth.

So Satan unjustly disparages the deeds of Job, as though he did them with the intention of gaining earthly goods. It is clear, then, that the good things we do should not be directed toward earthly prosperity as a reward; otherwise, it would not be a perverse intention to serve God for the sake of temporal prosperity. The contrary is also true: temporal adversity is not the proper punishment for sin. This question will be the theme dealt with throughout the entire book.

Satan wants to prove that Job served God because of earthly prosperity by using an argument from opposition. For if Job ceased to fear God after his earthly prosperity ended, it would become clear that he had feared God only for the prosperity he was enjoying. So he adds, Put forth your hand just a little and touch all that he has—that is, by taking it away—and see if he will not bless you to your face. The word for “bless” (benedixerit) is used here as a euphemism for “curse,” meaning he will curse You openly. (The Hebrew idiom is a form of oath, literally, “if he does not... [then let me be cursed]”). Note that even the hearts of truly righteous people are sometimes badly shaken by great adversity, but the deceitfully righteous are disturbed by even a slight adversity, like people having no root in their virtue. Satan, therefore, wants to insinuate that Job was not truly righteous but only pretending to be. Thus, he says that if Job were touched by even a very small adversity, he would murmur against God—that is, blaspheme Him.

He distinctly says, to your face, to indicate that even in prosperity Job was, in a certain sense, blaspheming God in his heart by preferring temporal things to the love of God. But when his prosperity is taken away, he would blaspheme God “to his face”—that is, openly. The expression, if he will not bless you to your face, can also be understood in another way, where “bless” (benedixerit) is taken literally. The sense would be this: “If You should touch him even a little by taking away his earthly prosperity, may misfortune befall me if it does not become clear that he was previously blessing You not from his true heart, but only ‘to your face’—that is, merely keeping up appearances before others.”

Because, as I have said, God wills the virtue of the saints to be known to all, both the righteous and the wicked, it pleased Him that just as all saw Job’s good deeds, his right intention should also be clearly shown to all. So He willed to deprive Job of his earthly prosperity so that when Job persevered in the fear of God, it would become clear that he feared God from a right intention and not for the sake of temporal things. Note that God punishes wicked people through both good and wicked angels, but He never sends adversity on good people except through wicked angels. So He did not will for adversity to be brought on Job except through Satan. Because of this, the text continues, And the Lord said to Satan: Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not extend your hand against him. From this text, we are clearly given to understand that Satan cannot harm righteous people as much as he wants, but only as much as he is permitted. Consider also that the Lord did not command Satan to strike Job but only gave him the power to do so, because, as it is said, “The will to do harm is in each wicked person from himself, but the power of harming comes from God.”

From what has been said, it is clear that the cause of Job’s adversity was so that his virtue could be made clear to all. Thus, Scripture says of Tobias, Thus the Lord permitted him to be tempted so that an example might be given to posterity of his patience, like blessed Job . Be careful not to believe that the Lord was persuaded by Satan’s words to permit Job to be afflicted. Rather, God ordered this from His eternal disposition to make Job’s virtue clear in the face of the false accusations of the wicked. Therefore, the false accusations are presented first, and the divine permission follows.