Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 23:1-17

"Then Job answered and said, Even to-day is my complaint rebellious: My stroke is heavier than my groaning. Oh that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat! I would set my cause in order before him, And fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which he would answer me, And understand what he would say unto me. Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? Nay; but he would give heed unto me. There the upright might reason with him; So should I be delivered for ever from my judge. Behold, I go forward, but he is not [there]; And backward, but I cannot perceive him; On the left hand, when he doth work, but I cannot behold him; He hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him. But he knoweth the way that I take; When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held fast to his steps; His way have I kept, and turned not aside. I have not gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. But he is in one [mind], and who can turn him? And what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. For he performeth that which is appointed for me: And many such things are with him. Therefore am I terrified at his presence; When I consider, I am afraid of him. For God hath made my heart faint, And the Almighty hath terrified me; Because I was not cut off before the darkness, Neither did he cover the thick darkness from my face." — Job 23:1-17 (ASV)

In his discourse, Eliphaz proposed two charges against Job (Job 27:5, 12): first, that he had been punished because of his very great evil, and second, that he had doubted or even denied divine providence. Men are often saddened when false charges are made against them. Since Job did not see these things in himself, he says, “Now also my speech is bitter,” as if to say: As you saddened me before with your reproaches, you do so even now, compelling me to speak with bitterness. When a new affliction is added to someone already afflicted, the first afflictions come back to mind and aggravate the present lament. So he continues, “the hand”—that is, the power—“of my wound”—meaning the adversity I previously suffered—“has now made my lament greater,” because it makes the present pain more severe.

First, then, he begins to answer the reproach that he was punished for his own malice. Now, Job recognized that he had been punished by divine judgment, for he has already said, God confines me with the wicked (Job 16:12). Therefore, to search for the reason why he has been punished is to investigate the reason for divine judgment, which certainly no one can know but God alone. From this, it is clear that Eliphaz had presumptuously asserted that Job had been punished because of malice. So Job does not want to argue about this with Eliphaz, but turns the debate to God, who alone knows the reason for His judgment.

Job could consider himself oppressed by divine judgment if he had been punished for great malice. Those who have been burdened by a judge usually approach the judge first. They cannot do this unless they find his bench, and they cannot do this unless they know him beforehand, for no one can find something he is seeking if he is altogether ignorant of it. Thus he says, Who will grant me the ability to know him, find him, and approach his throne? (Job 23:3). He knew that God exceeded his knowledge, and so he could not perfectly find the way by himself to God’s throne, which represents the full knowledge of His judgment.

One who has been burdened by a judge generally demonstrates the justice of his case to him when he comes into his presence. So he says, “I will put judgment before him,” as if to say: I will propose what the just judgment of my case ought to be. “I will fill my mouth with rebukes,” with loud complaints, but not because I believe that divine judgment is unjust, but only as someone making an inquiry. This is like how debaters make objections against their opponents' arguments to understand the truth more fully. And so he says, “to know how he answers me.” This relates to knowing the truth of the answer. “To understand what he says to me,” relates to understanding the meaning of the words. For a person cannot know whether something said to him is true unless he understands what is said.

In the previous chapters, Job’s friends had frequently referred to divine power and grace in order to uphold divine judgment. As Zophar said in Chapter 11, He is higher than the heavens and what will you do? (Job 11:8), and in the verses that follow. So Job excludes this objection when he says, “I do not want him to argue with me with his great strength, nor crush me with the greatness of his power.” This is as if to say: Your answer, which only proposes God's power and greatness against me, does not satisfy me. For just as He is most powerful and greatest, He is also most just and loves equity. So he then says, “Let him propose fairly what he has against me”—that is, let him give an explanation based on equity—and it will then be clear that I have not been punished for malice. So he says, “and my claim will be victorious”—the claim in which I argue against you, maintaining that I am not being punished for my sins.

Lest anyone think that he said, Who will grant me the ability to know him, find him, and approach his throne? (Job 23:3) because he believed God was confined to a physical place or could be fully known through creation, he then says, “If I go to the East, he does not appear.”

Consider that according to Aristotle, there are six different positions in the heavens: up and down, right and left, and front and back. The principle of motion for the whole firmament appears clearly in the East. In every animal, motion begins from the right. Therefore, if we imagine the motion of the firmament as the motion of an animal, we must place the right side of heaven in the East, the left in the West, “up” toward the South, and “down” toward the North. The front would be in the Northern Hemisphere and the back in the Southern Hemisphere. This is like imagining a man moving the heavens with his right hand from the East toward the Northern Hemisphere. The consequence would be that his head would be toward the South and his feet toward the North; his front would face the Northern Hemisphere, and his back would face the Southern Hemisphere.

However, others considered the order of the heavens' motion more than the analogy of the human body. They placed the “higher” part of heaven in the East, because the motion begins there. They placed the “right” part of heaven in the South, the direction toward which the planets appear to move from our perspective. By opposition, then, the “lower” part of heaven is in the West, and the “left” part is in the North. Job's words seem to follow this second model, for he contrasts left and right with East and West.

So, one can simply understand that God is not contained in any part of the heavens as if in a place. The meaning would be, “I go to the East and he is not there”—that is, he is not found there as if he existed in that place. “If I go to the West, I will not perceive him,” as though he were nearer or contained there. “If I turn to the left”—that is, toward the North—“what will I do? I will not grasp him,” since he is not materially located there. “If I turn to the right”—that is, toward the South—“I will not see him,” as though he existed there.

Alternatively, these words can be understood not to exclude God's local presence, but to show that He cannot be adequately investigated through lesser effects. Among all the effects apparent in physical things, the most universal and greatest is the motion of the celestial sphere. Although the principle of this motion clearly appears to be in the East, it still does not adequately demonstrate the infinity of divine power. So he says, “If I go to the East”—that is, in the progress of my consideration, reflecting on the principle of the celestial sphere's motion—“he does not appear” adequately in this consideration.

The second effect of divine power in physical things is the motion of the planets, which is contrary to the motion of the celestial sphere. Its beginning is therefore found in the West. One cannot adequately consider divine power from this motion either, and so he continues, “If I turn to the West”—that is, if I go to the West considering the motion of the planets—“I will not perceive him.” He says “perceive” because this motion is understood more from the changing position of the planets than from what is visible to the eye. From the North, there seems to be no principle but darkness, because the sun never appears from that direction. Darkness impedes action, according to John: Night comes when no one can work (John 9:4). And so he says, “If to the left”—if I proceed with my reflection—“what will I do?” For I find nothing there but the absence of action, and so no trace is given by which to know Him. So he adds, “I will not grasp him,” in any way at all.

In the South, we find the principle of light because of the luminous bodies that appear to us from that direction. So he continues, “If I turn”—by consideration—“to the right,” to the southern part of the sky, “I will not see him.” This is as if to say: I will find physical light there, yet He cannot be seen through it. Although He is hidden from me in this way, the things that happen to me are not hidden from Him. And so he continues, “But he knows my way”—the whole course of my life. Job seems to say this in response to what Eliphaz had said about wicked men, as if attributing this position to Job: The clouds are his hiding place and he does not see ours (Job 22:14).

Since someone might object, “If he knows your way, then he punished you for your sins,” he answers, “and he will test me as gold that passes through fire.” Here he clearly introduces the reason for his adversity: it was brought on him so that he might appear proven before others. Just as gold that can withstand fire is proven, and just as gold does not become true gold by the test of fire but its truth is clearly shown to people, so Job has been tested by adversity—not so that his virtue might be revealed to God, but so that it might be clearly shown to others. Moreover, he says, “he will test,” referring to the future, as if to show that because of his patience, he is ready even for future testing.

He proves by the righteousness of his life that he was not punished for previous sin. Here it should be noted that each thing is shown to be right when it conforms to its own rule. There are two rules for human life. The first is the natural law, impressed on the minds of people by God, by which a person naturally understands what is good from its likeness to divine goodness. In this, we should note several things:

1. First, a person imitates the operation of divine goodness according to their ability in their affections and works, as Matthew says, Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48), and Ephesians, Be imitators of God as his dearest sons (Ephesians 5:1). So he says, “My foot”—the affection by which we proceed to act—“has followed”—by imitation—“his footprints,” some small similarity to the divine goodness in action.
2. Second, one must take care to imitate God with one's whole mind, and so he continues, “I have kept his way,” because I was careful not to deviate from it.
3. Third, a person must persevere in this and remain fixed in it completely, not partially. And so he then says, “and I did not turn aside from it”—that is, I did not depart from it in any part of myself.

The second rule of human life is the external law transmitted by divine inspiration. A person sins against this law in two ways:

1. First, through contempt. Against this, he says, “I have not departed from the commandments of his lips.” For some precepts had been divinely given to Noah and perhaps to other holy men on whose lips God spoke.
2. Second, through ignorance or forgetfulness. Against this, he says, “and in my bosom”—in the hidden part of the heart—“I have hidden the words of his mouth,” according to Psalm 118: In my heart I hid your words to not sin against you (Psalms 118:11).

In response to the objection that this proof, based on the righteousness of his life, is not fitting, he consequently shows that the most certain and demonstrative proof cannot be offered concerning divine judgments because of the incomprehensibility of the divine will. So he then says, “Truly he is alone,” as if to say: There is no other creature like or equal to Him who can comprehend Him, and consequently His will. So he then says, “and no one can perceive”—that is, know with certainty—“his thoughts,” meaning the dispositions of His judgments. Just as the order in His judgment cannot be fully understood, neither can it be resisted by any creature. The text continues, “whatever his soul (that is, his will) willed, he did,” for no one is able to resist. Moreover, it sometimes happens, especially with a wise person, that he has governed his own will according to his virtue but cannot do anything else. But he shows this is not true of God when he says, “When he has accomplished his will in me, many other similar things are before him,” as if to say: The reason He does not bring more adversity against me is not because He cannot do more, but because He does not will to. “On that account”—because I consider that He can do more and I cannot tell whether He wills to do more—“I am disturbed” with the anguish of fear. So he then says, “when I consider him”—that is, His power—“I am overcome with fear” that He is going to test me with even more severe adversity.

He expresses the cause of this anxious fear, which is the blow from God he has experienced. So he says, “God softened my heart,” as if dissolving it into liquid by taking away the strength of security. “And the Almighty threw me into confusion,” for by His omnipotence He has brought the anguish of sadness over my present evils and fear of future ones. He then shows why he fears the future, even though he is not conscious of any guilt on his part, saying, “For I have not been silenced by adversity because of the darkness hemming me in.” This “darkness” refers to the errors and sins that are said to “hem one in” when they are confirmed in a person's spirit, for example, when one sins from malice. Malice is sometimes not confirmed in a person; instead, they are impelled to sin by a sudden passion, such as sinful desire or anger. Job excludes this from himself, saying, “nor has the dark covered my face.” For truly, the eye of reason is darkened when its judgment is deceived in a particular act because of passion.