Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 38:36-41

"Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who hath given understanding to the mind? Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven, When the dust runneth into a mass, And the clods cleave fast together? Canst thou hunt the prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, When they couch in their dens, [And] abide in the covert to lie in wait? Who provideth for the raven his prey, When his young ones cry unto God, [And] wander for lack of food?" — Job 38:36-41 (ASV)

After the Lord has brought to mind the wonders of His works concerning the main parts of the world—the earth, the sea, and the heavens, and their ordering—He now continues by describing the wonders of His works seen especially in the different qualities of animals.

Among these qualities, knowledge is very remarkable. It is found more perfectly in man than in other animals, and so, beginning with man, He asks, “Who put wisdom in the inmost being of man?” The “inmost being of man” is understood as the deepest power of the soul itself—namely, the intellect and reason—upon which God has bestowed wisdom by giving the light of reason to humanity. For God has naturally infused the seeds of wisdom and knowledge into human reason through the knowledge of first principles.

In other animals, many signs of a kind of natural prudence appear. This is especially true in the rooster, a familiar and domestic animal, and so He asks, “and who gave understanding to the cock?” Here, “understanding” is taken to mean a kind of natural estimative power, according to which it acts like an intelligent being. In this way, the rooster seems to have a certain likeness to intelligence, because it breaks out in song at specific times as though it knew the patterns of the heavenly motions. Thus, the author asks who told the rooster about the reasoned order of the heavens—that is, the pattern of the heavenly motions—so that it could discern from this the proper times for crowing.

Watchmen typically announce the approach of day or other fixed hours of the night by singing or using instruments. But one cannot say that a sound is heard from heaven at one time and silence at another, allowing the rooster to discern when to crow. Expressing this, He asks, “and who will make the harmony of heaven sleep?” This is as if to say: The harmony of heaven is not silent like a sleeping watchman, so the rooster cannot be instructed to crow by hearing it or by its silence.

Consider that the Pythagoreans thought a harmony of sounds arose from the motion of the heavens because of the perfect proportion of the celestial movements. Since they proposed that celestial bodies had souls, such a harmony could be called the “harmony of heaven.” However, Aristotle proves in Book II of On the Heavens that no sound comes from the motion of the heavenly bodies. Therefore, we can understand this “harmony” metaphorically, as referring solely to the symmetry of the heavenly motions, which never cease. This inspired wisdom, intelligence, or even this “harmony of heaven” existed from the very foundation of the world. And so He says, “When the dust was settled on the earth,” which refers to the position of the earth, placed in the lowest part as on a foundation, “and its clods were held fast together,” which refers to the moisture that binds the parts of the earth, preventing the land from returning to dust because of dryness.

Next, He moves on to another quality of animals, which relates to acquiring food. There is something wonderful in this regard about the lioness. Since a lion requires a great deal of food, it seems marvelous how she can capture enough prey in one region to satisfy herself and her cubs. And so He asks, will you hunt the prey for the lioness and her cubs? That is, will you prepare such an abundance of prey for her that she has enough for herself and her young? And so He continues, “and will you satisfy the hunger of her cubs?” This might not seem very difficult when they roam through many different places. But it is difficult when they must stay in one place, either from the necessity of feeding their cubs—which He addresses by saying, “when they lie in their dens”—or because they are waiting in ambush to capture other animals, “and lie in wait in their lairs.”

There is also another wonderful thing observed in birds, as we see in the raven. As one expert says, the raven does not feed its chicks when they hatch until it sees their feathers turn dark, knowing by their feathers that they are its own. For seven days, it gives them no food, but they are sustained by a natural strength given to them by God. And so He asks, “Who prepares food for the raven when its young ones cry out to God, looking here and there because they have no food,” as though abandoned by their parents? This does not mean that the raven's chicks know God. Rather, it is said because all natural things, in their desire for the good, in some way intend to acquire something from God, who is the author of all good things.

Chapter 39