Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 42

After the Lord reproved Job for his unrestrained speech, which hinted at pride because he asserted his own righteousness to such a degree that it seemed to diminish God’s justice, Job humbly answers, now convinced of his error.

First, he confesses God’s excellence in power, as the text says: Job answered the Lord and said: I know that you can do everything. He also confesses God’s excellence in knowledge, saying, and no thought is hidden from you. By the first statement, Job confesses that God could have removed the suffering caused by the devil, whom the Lord had described using the imagery of Behemoth and Leviathan. By the second, he acknowledges that a proud thought had stirred within him, and he recognizes that this did not escape God’s notice. Therefore, he challenges those who deny divine providence, saying, Who is the man who foolishly hides his plan without your knowledge? Who is so presumptuous and foolish as to say that a human plan can be hidden from God?

From this reflection on divine excellence, Job turns to consider his own fault. He says, So I have spoken foolishly, meaning he did not show proper reverence for God’s excellence in his words. He continues, about things which far exceed my knowledge, referring to his discussion of divine judgments. Because he has spoken foolishly, he resolves to now speak wisely, saying, Listen and I will speak, and confess his fault.

Because he has spoken of things that exceed his knowledge, from now on he does not dare to speak of them, but only to inquire of God. And so he says, I will ask you, by asking, seeking, and knocking (Matthew 7:7), and answer me, by instructing me inwardly. He explains why he has changed, saying that before, when he was speaking foolishly, My ear heard you. Now, however, my eye sees you. This means he knows God more fully than before, just as what is seen with the eyes is more certain than what is heard with the ear.

He has truly grown from both his suffering and from divine revelation. The more one reflects on the justice of God, the more one sees one’s own fault. And so Job says, Therefore I reproach myself, as he considers his own failing. Since it is not enough to confess one’s fault unless one also makes satisfaction, he continues, I do penance in dust and ashes, as a sign of the frailty of his physical nature. For humble satisfaction is fitting for the expiation of prideful thoughts.

After God had rebuked both Elihu and Job in His discourse (Job 38:2–3), He then rebuked Job’s friends, especially Eliphaz. It is clear that Eliphaz is the most prominent because he was the first to speak. So the text says that after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, He spoke to Eliphaz the Temanite: My anger is kindled against you and your two friends, Bildad and Zophar.

Consider here that Elihu had sinned from inexperience while Job sinned from levity, so neither had sinned gravely. Therefore, the Lord is not said to be angry with them. But He is exceedingly angry with Job’s three friends because they had sinned gravely by asserting perverse doctrines, as we have already seen (Job 13:4). So He says, for you have not spoken of me what is right, like my servant Job, who did not withdraw from the truth of faith.

To atone for grave sins, the ancients used to offer sacrifice, and so He says, Therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, because they were elders of the people. Seven is the number of totality, and so seven sacrifices can atone for grave sins. But because those who lack faith ought to be reconciled to God through the faithful, He says, Go to my servant Job, so that you may be reconciled to Me by his mediation, and offer burnt offerings for yourselves, so that you who have sinned may make satisfaction.

But your satisfaction requires the advocacy of a faithful man, and so He says, Job my servant will pray for you, for he is worthy to be heard because of his faith. And so He says, I will accept him—by heeding his prayer—so that your folly will not be imputed to you. He explains this folly as their “faithless teaching,” and clarifies by saying, For you have not spoken rightly in my presence like my servant Job.

After they had received the hope of pardon, they fulfilled what He had commanded them. So the text continues, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord had told them. Through their obedience and humility, they were made worthy, and Job’s prayer for them was heard. Therefore, the text next says, and the Lord showed favor to Job in what he prayed for his friends. Not only the humility of the friends but also Job's own humility gave effectiveness to his prayer. And so the text continues, The Lord also turned—from anger to mercy—at the penance of Job, when he prayed for his friends. For it was fitting that one who had humbly done penance for such a minor sin should also obtain pardon for others who sinned gravely.

A person’s penance is more useful for himself than for others. Therefore, if the prayer and penance of Job merited the removal of divine anger from his friends, it was even more fitting that he should be freed from his own adversity. Although Job did not hope to recover earthly prosperity but to attain future happiness, the Lord still restored him abundantly with temporal prosperity. As Matthew says, Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33).

This restoration was fitting for that time, according to the state of the Old Testament in which temporal goods were promised, so that the prosperity he recovered would serve as an example for others to turn to God. It was also fitting for Job himself, whose reputation had been tarnished among other people because of the many adversities that had come upon him. Therefore, to restore his good name, God led him back to a state of even greater prosperity. So the text continues, And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Job’s principal adversity was being deserted by his friends (Job 19:13), and therefore the text addresses the remedy for this first. It says, Then all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before came to him, which indicates the remembrance of his past friendships. It continues, and they ate bread with him in his house, which describes the return to old familiarity, and they showed him sympathy, in compassion for his affliction. Since they should not only offer compassion but also a remedy for his afflictions, they first provided a cure for his inner pain with consoling words. The text says, They consoled him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him.

Second, they offered him assistance for his external poverty. Since he had lost both his animals in the fields and his household goods in the destruction of his house, they helped him with both. The text says, and each of them gave him one sheep and one gold ring—the sheep for his livestock, and the ring for his household goods.

These gifts were insufficient to restore him, but the Lord assisted him with His own hand so that from these small things he might progress to greater ones. The text says, But the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. This means more than his former prosperity. For God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, as it says in Ephesians (Ephesians 3:20). Job had desired to return to his condition as in the months of old (Job 29:2), but the Lord restored him to even greater things—double what he had before, as was already said (Job 42:10). So the text says, He had fourteen thousand sheep, because before he was said to have seven thousand sheep (Job 1:3); and six thousand camels, since before he had three thousand camels (Job 1:3). Since he previously had five hundred yoke of oxen, here he receives double and has one thousand yoke of oxen. Before he had five hundred donkeys, so here he receives double, and one thousand donkeys (Job 1:3).

Job had lost not only his possessions but also his children, who were restored to him, but not in double the number. The text says, He had seven sons and three daughters. There can be two reasons for this. The first reason pertains to the future life: the children he had lost were not completely lost to him but were saved to live with him in the life to come. The second reason concerns the present life: if the number of children had also been doubled along with his possessions, the fortune of his house would not seem to have increased, because each child would have the same quantity of goods as before. Therefore, it was more fitting that his children should increase in value rather than in number.

This increase in value is implied in the description of his daughters, who we read were very beautiful. Their beauty is expressed in their names, and so the text continues, And he called the name of the first ‘Day,’ because of her brightness; the name of the second ‘Cassia,’ which is a type of aromatic tree, because of its sweet smell; and the name of the third ‘Horn of Eye-Paint.’ This last name refers to a dye that women use to adorn their eyes, as the Book of Kings says, She painted her eyes with eye-paint and adorned her head (2 Kings 9:30). Women would keep this cosmetic in a horn to have it ready when needed, so he called her ‘Horn of Eye-Paint’ to indicate the surpassing beauty of her eyes.

The text continues to discuss their beauty: In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters. By this, we are also given to understand that his sons were outstanding in virtue, for the text continues, and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers, which indicates the excellence of the virtue of them all.

Since Job had also been afflicted in his own body, he was given a long life to increase his prosperity. The text says, Job lived after this one hundred and forty years. So that we may understand that he lived the entire time in prosperity, the text adds, and he saw his children and his children’s children, to the fourth generation. We are to understand that this prosperity lasted until his death, for the text says, and he died, an old man and full of days. The phrase “an old man” expresses his long life, while “full of days” expresses the prosperity of that life. He had previously indicated his adversity when he said, So I am allotted months of emptiness (Job 7:3). His long life, therefore, indicates his abundance in both worldly goods and the goods of grace, which led him to the future glory that endures forever and ever. Amen.