Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 38:13-35

"That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it? It is changed as clay under the seal; And [all things] stand forth as a garment: And from the wicked their light is withholden, And the high arm is broken. Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death? Hast thou comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if thou knowest it all. Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And as for darkness, where is the place thereof, That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, And that thou shouldest discern the paths to the house thereof? [Doubtless], thou knowest, for thou wast then born, And the number of thy days is great! Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow, Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, Against the day of battle and war? By what way is the light parted, Or the east wind scattered upon the earth? Who hath cleft a channel for the waterflood, Or the way for the lightning of the thunder; To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; On the wilderness, wherein there is no man; To satisfy the waste and desolate [ground], And to cause the tender grass to spring forth? Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew? Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? The waters hide themselves [and become] like stone, And the face of the deep is frozen. Canst thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season? Or canst thou guide the Bear with her train? Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth? Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover thee? Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go, And say unto thee, Here we are?" — Job 38:13-35 (ASV)

After the Lord has listed the principal parts of physical creation—that is, earth, sea, and sky—He begins here with the wonders of divine works that appear in the ordering of these three parts of the world. He starts with the earth, where the events of an earthquake seem especially marvelous. He speaks of this metaphorically, using the image of a man who takes an object and shakes it. So He says, “Have you taken hold... and shaken out the ends of the earth?” This should not be interpreted to mean that the whole earth is shaken at once, but that some of its extremities are shaken.

Everything that happens in physical creation contributes to humanity’s benefit. Earthquakes and other such terrifying events are useful in that people, being terrified, may turn from their sins. And so He says, “and have you shaken wicked men out of it?” He uses the comparison of a person shaking a garment to remove dust or a moth. In the same way, God seems to shake the earth to shake sinners out of it—sometimes by death, and sometimes by a changed life.

In an earthquake, some things are usually uncovered, such as walls and similar structures, and He expresses this by saying, “The seal will be opened like clay.” For when clay is divided, it easily returns to its former condition. Likewise, a seal—for example, on a wall or something similar—that has been disturbed by the wall’s opening is sometimes restored to its original place by divine power. Sometimes towers, trees, and other such things are shaken by an earthquake but do not fall, and regarding this He says, “and will stand like a garment,” which does not lose its original shape after being shaken out.

On the other hand, people sometimes die, either buried by the earth or crushed by walls falling in an earthquake, and so He says, “their light will be withheld from the wicked,” meaning by death. Sometimes fortifications and very strong towers are thrown down by an earthquake, and regarding this He says, “and their upraised arm,” is broken. This “arm” signifies a very strong fortification or some powerful friend in whom a person confides as in his own arm.

After these points about the earthquake and its effects, He proceeds to the arrangement of the middle element, the sea, where humanity believes marvelous things are hidden. First are the things in the depths of the sea, such as the habitats of the fish. Regarding this, He says, “Have you entered into the depths of the sea,” so that you know the animals hidden there? Another thing that seems hidden and marvelous in the sea is the layout of the ocean floor, and concerning this He says, “and have you walked in the valley of the deep,” that is, in the deepest part of the sea?

After discussing the arrangement of the land and sea, He proceeds to the arrangement of the heavens, which contain the air. He lingers on this topic because of the many wonders that appear there. First, He considers the ordering of light and darkness, which encompasses the whole of the higher realm. The heavenly bodies act upon lower bodies through their own light, because light is the active quality of the heavenly bodies, just as cold and heat are for the elements. Therefore, He connects the effects of the heavenly bodies on earthly things with the consideration of light and darkness.

Among the effects of the heavenly bodies on lower bodies, the most common are generation and corruption. He begins with this, saying, “Have the gates of death opened to you?” Death is the corruption of a living body, and so this question properly belongs to man, to whom this discourse is addressed. The “gates of death” are the causes of corruption, related to the powers of the heavenly bodies, which are the primary forces through which such an effect is produced. It is very difficult to know the lifespan and permanence of each thing. Thus, the gates of death are not open to us, because we cannot know, in the heavenly bodies, the specific cause of each thing’s corruption.

Darkness fittingly describes death, both because in death a person is deprived of physical sight (which experiences knowledge through light), and also because after death a person passes into oblivion as if into a kind of darkness. Therefore, He says, “and have you seen the dark gates?” This phrase, “the dark gates,” can be understood as referring to death, which He had just called “the gates of death.” Alternatively, “dark gates” could refer to another action of the heavenly bodies—the darkening of the atmosphere. In that case, what He said about the gates of death would refer only to living bodies, while what He said about the dark gates would refer to transparent bodies like the air.

He continues, discussing the diversity of heat and cold across the earth, saying, “Have you considered the expanse of the earth?” According to astronomers, the earth’s longitude runs from east to west, and its latitude from south to north. This is because in any object, the greater dimension is called its length and the lesser is called its breadth. We know by experience that the inhabited dimension of the earth is greater from east to west than from south to north. Thus, the latitude of the earth is measured from south to north, and in this progression one measures the difference in heat and cold. The nearer one approaches the south in our populated world, the hotter the place is, because of its nearness to the sun. Therefore, what is said about the latitude of the earth can be referred to the diversity of hot and cold places.

Having spoken about the action of heavenly light on lower bodies, He mentions the light itself, saying, “Tell me, if you know everything,”—so that you are fit to argue with God, who knows everything—“in which path does light dwell?” Light is found in the heavenly bodies, which are called luminaries because they are vessels of light. Since a “path” refers to motion, the question of the path where light dwells refers to the motion of the luminaries. Exactly how the luminaries move exceeds human knowledge, which is demonstrated by the different opinions people have about their motions. Some assert that they move by eccentric movement and epicycles, while others propose the motion of different spheres. Just as the movement of the luminaries causes light when they are in the upper hemisphere, so also darkness proceeds from their motion when they are in the lower hemisphere. This presents the same difficulty, and so He asks, “and where is the place of darkness.”

One cannot perfectly measure the motion of a body unless its path is known, since magnitude is measured by motion and motion by magnitude, as Aristotle says in Book IV of his Physics. Therefore, since the path of the luminaries’ motion cannot be known by humanity for certain, it follows that the measure of their motions cannot be perfectly known either. And so He says, “to lead each,”—that is, the light and the darkness—“to its limits,” by showing the reason for the appearance and disappearance of each luminary, from beginning to end and also at its midpoint. He speaks of this, saying, “and do you understand the path to its home,” referring to the light. For when the sun reaches its zenith at noon, it is, so to speak, walking the path to its home. Its two end points are its rising and its setting.

The duration of earthly bodies and the timing of their generation and corruption are measured by the motion of the heavenly bodies, as Dionysius says in Chapter 4 of The Divine Names. Therefore, when one is ignorant of these causes, one consequently does not know the effects. And so He asks, “Did you know when you were born then?” as if to say: Could you know the time of your birth in advance by observing the motion of the heavens? You could not know this, because before you were born, you did not exist. But no other person could know this in advance either, because of the weakness of human knowledge, for God speaks to Job as a representative of all humanity. Just as you could not know in advance the time of your birth, so also you cannot know in advance the end of your life. And so He says, “and do you know the number of your days?” as if to say: You cannot know this from calculating the heavenly motions, whose precise measure you do not know.

After considering the changing nature of light and darkness, He comes to the diverse changes in the air, which can vary between storm and calm. He begins with the snow and hail, saying, “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you inspected the storehouses of the hail?” By “storehouses” of snow and hail, He means the water vapors that have risen up, from which snow and hail are generated. Because hail is a heavier substance and is formed in a place closer to us—when cold is driven to the interior of a cloud by surrounding heat—He speaks of “inspecting” it, since it is more visible. When He speaks of snow, He talks about “entering,” because one can penetrate snow more easily since it is light. God sometimes uses such things for the correction of humanity, as we have already seen: “He judges the peoples with these things” (Job 36:31). So He says, “These things which I have prepared for a time of the enemy,” that is, for a time when vengeance must be taken on enemies. God uses these things against them like weapons of war, and so He says, “in the day of battle,” meaning actual conflict, “and war,” meaning the time when one prepares for combat.

After a storm of snow and hail ends, a calm follows, bringing warm and clear air. And so He asks, “By what path does light scatter?” which expresses the clear air, “and heat is divided upon the earth,” which expresses warm weather. We should consider that when He previously spoke about light and the luminaries in which light dwells, He mentioned only their path, because light travels by the motion of the luminaries, whether in storm or calm. But clarity and warmth from the light only appear to us after the storm ceases. When the air is calm, there is no perceptible difference in the intensity of the clear air in various lands, but there is a perceptible difference in the intensity of heat. Therefore, He said that light is “scattered” as if diffused without distinction, but heat is “divided” as if distributed differently, as is fitting for different places.

Next, He proceeds to certain aspects of the winds, by which a rainstorm is caused when rain is driven forward. So He asks, “Who gave the course of the very violent rainstorm?” The violent course of a rainstorm is caused by the strong impulse of the winds, which divine power produces. Likewise, when clouds are set in motion by the winds, it causes thunderclaps. This is why thunder is not heard in only one place, like the sound of some passing object, and so He asks, “and the way of sound to thunder?”

He adds the reason why the winds move the rain and the clouds when He says it is “to rain on the land of an uninhabited desert,” which cannot be lived in because of the dryness of the earth. Rain-bearing vapors arise especially from humid places, so if the clouds and rains were not moved by the winds, it would never rain in dry places. While some places can be irrigated by human industry when the rains cease, this cannot happen in a land “where no mortal man lingers.” Human technology cannot provide water for that land. For this reason, God ordered that the clouds and rains be set in motion by the winds so that it might rain even in desert places. He says this is “to rain on... the steppes,” that is, land no one can cross, “and the desolate earth,” which is destitute of human care. Thus, by divine care alone, it is done “to produce green plants,” to beautify the earth and provide pasture for wild animals, which are also managed by divine providence.

Next, He discusses rain without wind, asking, “Who is the father... of the rain?” The “father” is the efficient cause, acting not from necessity but from the order of providence, which is fitting for a father. For God moves the sun and the other heavenly bodies, which are the proximate efficient causes for the generation of rain. Dew is generated from the same cause as rain, differing only in the amount of matter, and so He then asks, “or who generated the drops of the dew?” He specifically calls them “drops” to show their small quantity.

Just as rain, when frozen, is snow, so dew, when frozen, is frost. And so He asks, “From whose womb did the ice come forth?” Here one should note that cold is the cause of ice and is considered a feminine quality, whereas the cause of rain and dew is the heat that melts and prevents the vapor from freezing. Heat is a masculine quality, which is why He clearly used the name “father” for the generation of rain and dew, but the term “womb,” which pertains to a mother, for the generation of ice. Cold causes two kinds of ice. One is in the air, which is the frost falling from the sky, and so He asks, “and who has given birth to the hoarfrost falling from heaven?” He still attributes this act to a father, because the power of cold does not seem as great in frost as in more substantial ice. The other kind of ice is generated from the waters below, where the cold is more intense. And so He says, “The waters harden like a stone,” because the violent intensity of the cold hardens them into ice. This cold can be so great that in very cold climates even the seas freeze over. Expressing this, He says, “and the surface of the deep is frozen,” meaning the water on the surface is frozen by the cold, though cold air cannot penetrate to the depths of the sea.

Having explained the variable changes of the air, He proceeds to the immutable patterns of the heavenly bodies. First, He considers the fixed arrangement of the stars, as each maintains its place so that they do not draw too near or too far from one another. This phenomenon is especially apparent in the stars of the Pleiades, which never converge. And so He asks, “Will you be able to bind together the flickering stars of the Pleiades?” The Pleiades are the stars that shine in the head of Taurus, of which six appear very close, while the seventh is more faint.

Second, He considers the uniform primary motion of the heavenly bodies, by which the whole heaven and all the stars in it revolve once every day and night over the poles of the world. This motion is more easily perceived in the stars near the North Pole, which are perpetually visible to us because of the pole’s elevation above our horizon. Among these, the constellation of Arcturus, or the Great Bear, is especially noteworthy. The stars of this constellation clearly move in a uniform circle around the pole, and regarding this He asks, “or are you able to break up the circle of Arcturus,” so that it no longer encircles the pole?

Third, the motion of the planets among the heavenly bodies seems wonderful. Although their motion is completely uniform, our senses perceive some irregularity in it. This can be especially observed in the star Venus, which sometimes rises before the sun and is called Lucifer, the Morning Star, and at other times sets after the sun and is called the Evening Star. Stars that always move more slowly than the sun (such as Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars) first begin to appear in the morning before sunrise, because the sun, in its own proper motion from west to east, leaves them behind. The moon, which has a faster motion than the sun, always begins to appear in the evening, as if leaving the sun behind and preceding it toward the east. Venus and Mercury sometimes appear in the morning and sometimes in the evening. But since Mercury is small and rarely seen, its irregularity is less evident. Venus, however, is visible to everyone, and it clearly has a motion that is sometimes faster than the sun and sometimes slower. From this, the irregularity in the motion of the planets is evident. To show this, He asks, “Will you bring forth Lucifer,” that is, Venus appearing in the morning, “at its time,” meaning at a determined time, because this variation is always regular. “And the Evening Star,” that is, Venus appearing in the evening, “can you make it rise over the sons of the earth?” Note that in saying, “Will you bring forth,” and, “can you make it rise,” He means a new appearance of the star.

Fourth, the order, placement, and movement of the heavenly bodies seem wonderful, and so He asks, “Do you know the order of heaven?” which humanity cannot comprehend. Fifth, the arrangement of lower bodies in relation to the higher ones is wonderful, and expressing this He says, “and will you be able to establish their plan upon the earth” so that you know the specific effects of each one of the heavenly causes?

It is true that the effects of divine power just discussed are very great. Yet, for most ordinary people, this greatness is not as apparent in those things as it is in thunder and lightning, and so He places these effects last. Regarding thunder, He says, “Will you lift up your voice in the clouds?” For thunder is generated in the clouds, and its sound seems like the voice of God. Thunder is often followed by heavy rains due to the condensation of clouds from the violent movement of winds that cause the thunder. And so He says, “and will the rapid movement of the waters cover you?” Heavy rain seems to almost cover God because it hides heaven from us, which is called the throne of God .

Next, He speaks about the lightning, saying, “Will you send the lightning?”—that is, is its motion by your power? “And will it go forth,” as if obedient to your command? The movement of lightning often rebounds from one place to another, and He shows this by saying, “and upon its return will it say to you: Here we are?” as if on their return they indicate they are prepared to obey the divine command again and so go forth to another place. He relates all these things to show that humanity can attain neither divine wisdom nor divine power.