Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 9

In his previous answer to Eliphaz, blessed Job seemed to have overlooked one argument Eliphaz had proposed about God’s justice when he asked, Will man ever be justified in comparison with God? (Job 4:17). Instead, Job seemed to have spoken almost contentiously with God when he said, Am I the Sea or a whale...? (Job 7:12) and, How long will you not spare me...? (Job 7:19). So Bildad the Shuhite replied to Job’s argument, taking his starting point from a defense of divine justice. He asked, Can God pervert justice? (Job 8:3) and ended his speech in the same vein, saying, God does not spurn the simple man... (Job 8:20).

In this next response, blessed Job first shows that he does not want to speak against divine justice, nor does he want to argue against God, as they suspected. This is what the text says next: “Job spoke... ‘Truly I know this is so.’” Job is affirming that he knows “God does not pervert justice” and that “he does not spurn the simple man.” These were Bildad’s propositions. Job continues, “And I also know, man is not to be justified compared with God.” In this, he answers what Eliphaz had said: Will a man ever be justified in comparison with God?

He then shows a sign of how he knows this. When one man is just in comparison to another, he can freely and securely argue with him, because justice and truth are made clear in mutual discussion. However, no man is secure when he argues with God. So he adds, If anyone will wish to argue with him (that is, a man with God), he will not be able to answer him one question for a thousand.

We should note that the greatest number with a unique name in our usage is a thousand, for all higher numbers are named as multiples of lower numbers, for example, ten thousand or one hundred thousand. This is reasonable, for according to the ancients, the primary series of numbers extends up to ten, after which one repeats the first numbers again (1, 2, 3, and so on), whatever the truth of the matter may be. For the cube of ten is one thousand, as one thousand is ten times ten times ten. Thus, Job chooses the number one thousand as the highest number with a unique name, designating for us any large, specific quantity. When he says that man cannot answer God “one question for a thousand,” it is as if he were saying: no finite number can express how much divine justice exceeds human justice, since the latter is finite but the former is infinite.

Next, he shows that man cannot approach God as an equal in arguing a case when he says, He (God) is wise in heart and Almighty in power. For there are two types of dispute: one is carried on by argument, which requires wisdom, and the other is carried on by force, which depends on power. In both of these, God exceeds man, because His strength and wisdom surpass all other strength and wisdom. Consequently, he shows God’s preeminence in both. First, he shows God’s preeminence in power in relation to men when he asks, what man has resisted him and found peace?—as if to say, “No one.”

Note that a person obtains peace from another in different ways, depending on their relative power. Clearly, the more powerful person secures peace from the less powerful by fighting against them. For example, a mighty king wages war against a rebellious subject, and after achieving victory, re-establishes peace in his kingdom. Likewise, a person can sometimes obtain peace from an equal by fighting them. For although one cannot overcome the other, one can still wear them out through persistent fighting and lead them to sue for peace. But one never obtains peace from a superior by resisting and fighting; peace is only found by humbly submitting. Thus, the clear sign that God's strength exceeds all human strength is that no one can find peace with Him by resisting, but only by humbly obeying.

As Isaiah says, You will maintain us in peace. Peace surely which comes because we trust in you (Isaiah 26:3). However, the wicked who resist God cannot have peace, as Isaiah says, For the wicked, the Lord says there is no peace (Isaiah 57:21). Job means this here when he asks, What man has resisted him and found peace?

Then he shows that God's power exceeds all the power of natural things, in both the heavenly bodies above and the earthly bodies below. He demonstrates this first with earthly things, showing that by His will He moves things that seem especially firm and stable. Among these earthly things, the mountains seem especially firm and stable, to which the stability of the saints is compared in the Scriptures, as in Psalm 125:1: They who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion. Yet the Lord moves the mountains by His power, and Job speaks about this, saying, He has moved the mountains.

Even though God can certainly do this miraculously by divine power—since this seems to be a promise made to those with firm faith in Matthew, If you have faith and do not hesitate... if you will say to this mountain: ‘Rise and cast yourself into the sea,’ it will be done (Matthew 21:21), and in 1 Corinthians, If I have all faith, so as to move mountains (1 Corinthians 13:2)—the text seems to refer more fittingly to the natural course of things.

For the order of nature demands that everything created naturally is also destroyed at a determined time. Therefore, since the formation of mountains is natural, it follows that mountains must also be naturally destroyed at some point. He calls this natural destruction of the mountains a “moving” because their dissolution happens through the movement of their parts. Nor is it unreasonable for him to attribute these natural events to divine power. Since nature acts toward a specific end, anything ordered to an end either directs itself or is directed by another being. Therefore, a natural thing, which lacks knowledge of its end and cannot direct itself, must be ordered to that end by a higher intelligence. The whole activity of nature, then, can be compared to the intellect that directs it to its end—whom we call God—just as the motion of an arrow is rightly compared to the archer. Therefore, just as the arrow's motion is properly attributed to the archer, so the whole activity of nature is properly attributed to divine power. So, if mountains are destroyed by the activity of nature, it is clear that their stability is overcome by divine power.

Now, it sometimes happens among men that a king conquers a strong city, and the more quickly and imperceptibly he does so, the more he displays his power. The fact that the mountains are moved, then, especially attests to divine power, since it happens so suddenly and imperceptibly that even those who live on them cannot predict their collapse and consequently perish. So he says, They were ignorant whom he has destroyed by his anger, as if to say that God does such great things so suddenly that even those who live in the mountains cannot foresee them. This is evident because if they had known beforehand, they would have taken precautions and not been destroyed. He adds “by his anger” to show that God sometimes directs natural events according to His providence as a means to punish human sin. God is metaphorically said to be angry because He takes vengeance on them, which among humans is the usual result of anger.

He moves from composite bodies to the elements. Among these, the earth seems to be the most fixed and stable, for as the center of all motion, it is itself unmoved. Yet sometimes it moves naturally because of gas contained within its parts, as the philosophers correctly taught. This is the theme he addresses when he continues, He can move the earth from its place, not completely as a whole, but agitating parts of it, as in an earthquake. In this movement, even the mountains, which are like pillars based on the earth, are struck violently, and so he continues, and its pillars will be shaken.

By “pillars,” one can literally understand columns and other structures attached to the earth that are shaken in an earthquake. Alternatively, “pillars” can be understood as the deep, hidden parts of the earth. For just as a building's foundation is set firmly on pillars, so the earth's stability proceeds from its center, toward which all its parts naturally tend. Consequently, all the lower parts of the earth support the upper regions and are like pillars. Therefore, since an earthquake proceeds from the deep regions of the earth, it is like a violent shaking of the earth's pillars.

Finally, he proceeds to the heavenly bodies, which are also subject to divine power. Consider that just as the nature of the earth is to be unmoved and at rest, the nature of the heavens is to be in constant motion. Therefore, just as the earth's stability is clearly overcome by divine power through the motion that appears in it (earthquakes), so the power of a heavenly body is shown to be overcome when the motion of the rising and setting of the sun and other stars is impeded.

So he continues, He commands the sun and it does not rise. This does not mean that the sun is actually prevented from rising, since its motion is continuous. Rather, the sun sometimes appears to human perception not to rise, for example, when the air is so cloudy that the rising sun does not appear to people on earth with its usual brightness. Since cloudiness of this kind happens by the action of nature, it is properly attributed to the divine command, which regulates the action of the whole of nature, as was said before (Job 9:5). It is clear that the statement that the sun does not rise should be understood to mean that the rising sun is hidden, from the next verse: and he conceals the stars as under a seal. For the stars seem to be concealed when the sky is so covered with clouds that they cannot be seen.

After Job has shown the firm character of divine power, he now begins to show the depth of divine wisdom. However, he proceeds in the reverse order of the preceding section. Previously, he began by showing God’s power in human affairs and moved on to the heavenly bodies, whereas here he begins with the heavenly bodies and proceeds to human affairs.

He does this for a good reason. A maker’s wisdom is shown in the fact that he creates things that endure. Therefore, to show God’s wisdom, he begins with the creatures that are more stable, namely, those that manifest divine wisdom more clearly. In contrast, a person's strength is shown by their ability to change things from their original condition. This is why men are typically tested by lifting and throwing stones, by the size of the men they can pin to the ground, and by similar feats. For that reason, since he was demonstrating the force of God’s power, he began with those things in which this change is most apparent.

So, to show divine wisdom, he begins with the heavenly bodies. Note here that God’s wisdom is especially praiseworthy in three things:

1. In the fact that He can measure something immense with His understanding and wisdom. He takes up this theme, saying, He alone stretches out the heavens, for the expanse of the heavens expresses their great size. Thus, God alone is said to have stretched out the heavens, since He alone could give them such great size, measured by His wisdom.
2. In that He brings things that are variable and in uncertain flux into a specific order, making them subject to His guidance. To show this, he says, and treads upon the waves of the sea. The waves of the sea seem to be the most disordered things in themselves, since they are carried here and there by shifting winds. Yet God treads upon them, subjecting them to His governance.
3. Because He has established many things according to the reason of His wisdom, which appear marvelous to people who cannot investigate their nature. This is especially apparent in the position and arrangement of the stars, which have nevertheless been fixed wisely and reasonably by God.

He lists these marvels, beginning with the North Pole and moving to the South Pole. So he says, He made Arcturus. Arcturus is a constellation in the heavens called Ursa Maior. It has seven bright stars that never set for us but always circle the North Pole. Next comes, Orion, for Orion is a very clear constellation in the sky because of its size and the bright clarity of its stars, which are found in Taurus and Gemini. Next comes, The Pleiades, which are very clear stars located on what is called the breast of Taurus. The text continues with and the deep constellations of the South.

Here we should note that for those who live on the equator—if indeed people live there—both poles are visible, since their horizon intersects the equator at a right angle. Thus, the horizon must pass through each pole. So, as I have said, both poles are visible to those living on the equator. For those living north of the equator and moving toward the North Pole, the North Pole is elevated above the horizon, and the South Pole is hidden in proportion to their distance from the equator. Therefore, for us who live in the Northern Hemisphere, the South Pole is never visible. In the same way, the stars near it are hidden from us in direct proportion to how far we live from the equator. These are called the deep constellations of the South because they are hidden from us, as if concealed beneath the horizon.

Lest anyone believe that divine wisdom has manifested itself only in the things just explained, he next shows that God made many other similar things that we cannot count, saying, He makes great things, in which God’s wisdom appears praiseworthy for the uniformity of their great size. This corresponds to the text already cited: He alone stretches out the heavens (Job 9:8). He makes unfathomable things, because people cannot discover them due to their instability, and yet they are still ordained by divine governance. This corresponds to what he has already said: and treads upon the waves of the sea (Job 9:8). He makes marvelous things, whose natures people cannot comprehend, although they are made by God according to reason. This corresponds to what he already said: He made Arcturus, and so on (Job 9:9).

The fact that he adds, which cannot be numbered, must be applied to each attribute. While people cannot count God’s actions, God can count them, for He makes all things according to number, weight, and measure .

Since the blessed Job wished to affirm that he did not desire to argue with God, he first showed the depth of God's wisdom in natural things by using many examples. Now, however, he wishes to show the depth of divine wisdom in human affairs.

Note here that three things pertain to the one who governs human affairs:

1. He should administer the precepts of justice and other benefits to his subjects.
2. He should examine the actions of his subjects.
3. He should subject those he finds guilty to punishment.

In these three areas, Job shows the immense depth of divine power.

First, God provides His benefits to His subjects so profoundly and with such subtlety that His work cannot be understood even by those who receive them. Job addresses this theme when he continues, “Should he come near me, I will not see; if he withdraws, I will not know him.” In the Scriptures, God is said to draw near to a person when He bestows His benefits on them, whether by illuminating their intellect, stirring their love, or granting them any kind of good. Thus Isaiah says, “Our God Himself will come and save us” (Isaiah 35:4).

Conversely, God is said to withdraw from a person when He removes His gifts or His protection from them. Psalms 9 says, “Why, O Lord, do you stand afar off? Why do you despise me in opportunities in trial?” (Psalms 9:22). It happens that God sometimes permits trials or even spiritual defects to occur for the sake of a person's salvation, as Romans says, “All things work together for the good of those who love God” (Romans 8:28). In this way, God comes to a person to bring about their salvation, and yet the person does not see Him because they cannot perceive His kindness.

On the other hand, God may not take away His obvious gifts from many people, and yet they use them for their own destruction. In this sense, God is said to go away from a person, yet the person does not understand that He is withdrawing. Therefore, the depth of divine wisdom appears in the administration of His gifts.

Second, the depth of divine wisdom is shown in the examination of human actions, because He scrutinizes them so sharply and effectively that no one can escape His examination through any kind of cunning. Job says this next: “If he suddenly interrogates someone, who will answer him?” God interrogates a person when He leads them to examine their conscience, either by inspiring them inwardly or by provoking them outwardly with rewards and punishments. As Psalm 10 says, “God interrogates the just and the unjust” (Psalms 10:6).

A person would answer God sufficiently only if nothing could be found in them that God could justly censure. This happens to no one in this life, as Proverbs says, “Who can say: My heart is clean; I am pure from sin!” (Proverbs 20:9). Job specifies, “If he suddenly interrogates someone,” because if a person is given time to respond, they can wash their sins away through repentance.

Sometimes a person is found to be negligent when examining the faults of others, fearing that their own faults will be examined by others in the same way. But God does not have this fear, so He does not become lenient in His examination. He has no superior who can judge His deeds, and so the question is added, “Who can say to him: Why are you doing this,” as a rebuke?

Third, the depth of divine wisdom is shown in the punishment of the guilty, because no cunning or power can escape God's vengeance, wherever a person may turn. As Psalm 139 says, “Where can I flee from your spirit, or where can I hide from your face?” (Psalms 139:7). Job addresses this theme, saying that God is one “whose anger no one can resist.” When Scripture attributes anger to God, it does not mean an emotion of the soul but rather His vengeance. Job proves this by saying, “Those who carry the earth bow down before him.”

“Those who carry the earth” refers to the heavenly spirits, through whose ministry God divinely brings about the good of the entire material universe, according to Augustine in De Trinitate III, 4. These heavenly spirits bow down before God because they obey Him in everything, as Psalm 103 says, “Bless the Lord, all you his angels, his ministers who do his will” (Psalms 103:20). Since the angels obey God, it is clear that the entire course of physical things, which is administered by the angels, is subject to the divine will. Therefore, no creature can help a person who is fleeing from divine vengeance. As Psalm 139 says, “If I climb the heavens, you are there; if I descend to hell, you are there” (Psalms 139:8), and even more clearly, the book of Wisdom states, “The whole universe will fight with him against the foolish” .

Alternatively, “those who carry the world” can be understood as the kings and princes of the earth who bow down before God, according to Proverbs: “Kings rule through me” (Proverbs 8:15). Since even kings themselves cannot resist divine anger, one can draw the same conclusion about lesser things from this greater example.

Therefore, after showing in many ways the immensity of divine power and the depth of divine wisdom, Job draws his proposed conclusion: that he does not intend to argue with God. He explains this when he asks, “Am I great enough to answer him,” that is, to answer the all-powerful and all-wise God when He interrogates me, “and to address him in my own words?” This means examining God's deeds and asking, “Why are you doing this?” (Job 9:12). It is as if to say, “I am not able to argue with God, for an argument consists of answering and raising objections.”

Sometimes, even if a person is not powerful or wise, they are not afraid to argue with a judge because of the confidence of their conscience. But Job excludes this reason for disputing with God, saying, “Even if I were somewhat just, I could not answer him at all.” He could not defend his own justice while God examines him, but would instead plead with his Judge, asking not for justice, but for mercy.

He says pointedly, “Even if I were somewhat just,” using these words to show the uncertainty of human justice. As Saint Paul says, “I have nothing on my conscience, but I am not justified in this” (1 Corinthians 4:4). To show that human justice is insignificant and imperfect when measured against God's examination of it, he quotes Isaiah, saying that in God's sight, “All our just deeds are like polluted cloth” (Isaiah 64:6).

Job shows the result of his prayer for pardon when he says, “If I appeal to him and he hears my call, I would not believe that he would hear my words” (Job 9:16). God sometimes answers a person’s prayer not according to their desire, but according to what is truly for their benefit. For example, a doctor does not grant the plea of a sick patient who asks to have bitter medicine taken away. By not removing the remedy he knows will bring health, the doctor still hears the true need behind the patient's plea, because he brings about the health that the sick person greatly desires.

Similarly, God does not take away trials from a person in their midst, even though they pray for mercy, because He knows that trials are useful for their final salvation. Thus, although God truly hears them, the person in the midst of suffering does not believe they are heard. Job shows why he would not believe he is heard when he says, “For in the storm, he will wear me away.” As is his custom, he then explains the metaphor, saying, “and even multiply wounds without cause” (Job 9:17). To be “worn away” is to have one’s wounds—that is, one’s trials—multiplied.

This wearing away happens in “the storm,” in a terrifying darkness, and is “without cause”—that is, for a reason that is not clear or understood by the person who is afflicted. If an afflicted person understood why God was afflicting them and that the afflictions were useful for their salvation, they would clearly believe their prayer had been heard. But because they do not understand this, they do not believe their prayer has been heard. So they suffer not only outwardly but also inwardly, like a sick person who, not knowing that a bitter medicine will make them healthy, would suffer not only from the bad taste but also in their spirit.

Job continues, “He will not permit my spirit to rest,” for a spirit can rest even while the flesh is afflicted if there is hope for an end to the affliction, according to what the Lord teaches in Matthew: “Blessed are you when they utter evil against you,” and later, “Rejoice, for your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:11–12). So when Job is struck down outwardly and does not rest inwardly, God “fills me with bitterness” (Job 9:18), both inwardly and outwardly.

Note that in the verse, “If I appealed to him and he hears my call...” (Job 9:16), Job has clearly explained what he said earlier in a more metaphorical way: “Should he come near me, I will not see” (Job 9:11). One should observe that, almost always in the speeches of Job, things said metaphorically are clarified in the text that follows. What he had said earlier in a brief and summary way, “Am I great enough to answer him” (Job 9:14), he now explains more extensively, giving the reason why he does not answer but instead pleads with his Judge for mercy.

A person might answer a judge boldly for two reasons. First, if the judge is weak and cannot compel the subject. Job shows this is not the case here, saying, “If it be a question of strength, he is the strongest” (Job 9:19), meaning God's strength to compel His subjects exceeds all other strength. Second, a person might respond boldly to a judge because they have confidence in their case, perhaps because they have many witnesses to testify on their behalf. But Job shows this is also not the case, saying, “if correctness of judgment” is required for someone to be absolved by having many witnesses, “no one dares to bear witness on my behalf” (Job 9:19). Indeed, the human intellect cannot conceive that a person's justice could be greater than the truth of God that contradicts it.

Sometimes, however, even if a person has no other witnesses, they are still confident in their case because they trust the testimony of their own conscience. Yet even the witness of conscience cannot prevail for people against God's contrary accusation. Job shows this in several stages, as the testimony of conscience has three levels:

1. The highest level is when one's conscience testifies that one is righteous, as Romans says, “The spirit himself renders testimony to our spirit that we are sons of God” (Romans 8:16). But this witness cannot stand against divine censure. Therefore, Job says, “If I should want to justify myself, my own mouth will condemn me” (Job 9:20). That is, if I want to say that I am just when God is objecting that I am unjust, my own words would make me worthy of condemnation for blasphemy.
2. The second level is when someone, though not presuming to be righteous, still does not find fault with themselves in their conscience for any sin, as 1 Corinthians says, “My conscience convicts me of nothing” (1 Corinthians 4:4). But this witness cannot stand against God either, and so Job says, “if I show myself innocent, he will prove me wicked” (Job 9:20). That is, if I want to show that I am without sin, He will reveal sins of which I am not conscious to myself or others. For Psalm 18 says, “Who understands his crimes?” (Psalms 18:13).
3. The third level is when someone, though inwardly conscious of sin, still assumes they had no evil intention or did not act from malice and deceit, but from ignorance or weakness. But this testimony also cannot stand for a person against God. So Job says, “If I am simple,” that is, without the deceit and duplicity of a corrupt intention, “my soul will not know this” (Job 9:21). For a person is unable to discern the fluid movement of their own affections, both because of its variation and the mixing and impulse of many passions. Because of this, Jeremiah says, “The heart of man is wicked and inscrutable. Who will understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

It is because of this ignorance about such things that a person knows neither themselves nor their own state, and life becomes wearisome even for the righteous. So Job concludes, “and I will be weary of life” (Job 9:21).

After blessed Job has shown that it is not his intention to argue with God, he proposes the principal issue in dispute between him and his adversaries. For Eliphaz had said that punishments from God are sent only for sins. Job had spoken against this in his first response. Since Bildad had tried to support the opinion of Eliphaz, Job repeats his opinion a second time, saying, I have said one thing: He destroys both the innocent and the wicked.

By this he seems to mean that death, the greatest of present punishments, is inflicted by God not only on sinners but also on the innocent. Therefore, what you say is not true—namely, that a person is punished by God only for their own sins. Deuteronomy teaches that death comes from God: I give death and I will give life (Deuteronomy 32:39). But although death is commonly inflicted by God on everyone, what seems most severe is that the innocent experience many adversities in this life besides the death that is common to all. He now intends to investigate the cause of this.

So he then says, If he scourges, let him kill at the same time. In effect, he is saying: Granted that the scourge of death is common to all, it still seems reasonable that the innocent, who are not guilty of personal sins, should not be inflicted with any other punishment besides the death due to original sin. For if, as you (his friends) say, the only reason someone can be justly punished is sin, and yet the innocent clearly suffer punishment in this world, it seems to follow that they are punished without reason, as though the punishments themselves pleased God. So he says, and let him not laugh at the punishments of the innocent, for we ordinarily laugh about those things that please us in themselves.

If it is unfitting for the punishments of the innocent to please God in themselves, and yet the innocent are frequently punished on earth, then another, equally unfitting conclusion seems to follow: that such punishments do not proceed from divine judgment, but from the malice of some evil ruler who has power over the earth and punishes the innocent. So he continues, The earth is given into the hands of the wicked, as if to say: If the punishments of the innocent on earth are not pleasing to God in themselves, then we must conclude that God has committed the rule of the earth to some evil person, by whose iniquity judgment is perverted so that the innocent are punished. He expresses this when he says, He covers the face of his judges—that is, he obscures their reason with sinful desire, hate, or love, so that they do not follow the truth of justice in their judgments. If it is not he—that is, the wicked man to whom the earth has been committed—who causes the punishment of the innocent, then who is it? In other words, who is the cause of this punishment? For, assuming your position that sin alone is the cause of present punishments, God cannot be the cause of this suffering, as Job has already demonstrated.

Job expresses this when he says, The earth is given into the hands of the wicked. This is certainly true in a sense, inasmuch as materialistic people remain under the power of the devil, as one text says, He who commits sin is the slave of sin (John 8:34). However, it is, strictly speaking (simpliciter), false. For the dominion of the earth is not absolutely given over to the devil, allowing him to do whatever he likes freely on it. Whatever he is permitted to do proceeds from divine disposition, which arranges everything for a reasonable cause. Therefore, the very fact that the innocent are punished does not depend absolutely on the evil intention of the devil, but also on the wisdom of God who permits it. Therefore, if sin is not the cause of the punishment of the innocent, it is insufficient to attribute it solely to the malice of the devil; one must also find a reasonable explanation for why God permits it. Job clearly shows this by saying, If it is not he, then who is it? as if to say: If the evil will of the devil is not a sufficient cause for the punishment of the innocent, one must investigate another cause.

To investigate the reason why the innocent are punished in this world, Job first describes the harm he has experienced in the loss of his goods. He shows the fickleness of present prosperity by using similes of the most fleeting things in this world. First, note that different people have different relationships to the prosperity of this world. Some people hold it as their ultimate end because they hope for nothing beyond this life. This seems to be the opinion of those who declare that all rewards and punishments are found in this life. Such people do not look beyond the prosperity of this world; rather, the prosperity of this world escapes from them when they lose it. Others, however, among whom Job was included, do not place their ultimate end in the prosperity of this world but aim for another. They pass by the prosperity of this world more than it passes them by.

Three things are required for someone aiming at an end:

1. First, they must not fix their heart on anything else that might delay them from their goal, but instead hasten to attain it. So Job gives as his first example a runner who aims for the end of his course and does not linger along the way. He says, My days pass swifter than a runner. In this, he shows both the frailty of present fortune and his intention to pursue something else. They have fled away, as if to say that rest for the heart is not found in the things of this world. The text continues, they have not seen the good—namely, the true good toward which my intention was directed. Therefore, I do not consider myself rewarded for my righteousness, for if you (his friends) think present prosperity is a reward, then I, an innocent man, have been punished, because this has been taken away from me.
2. Second, when one pursues a goal, one must acquire the means capable of attaining it, just as someone who desires to be healed must acquire medicines to be cured. In the same way, whoever wishes to reach the true good must seek the virtues by which that end can be acquired. So he then says, They move on like ships laden with fruit. Two things are demonstrated in this verse: the frailty of present fortune (because ships laden with fruit hasten to sell it to keep the fruit from spoiling) and the enthusiasm in pursuing a goal. This is as if to say: My days have not gone by empty, but I have collected virtues with which I am aiming to attain my final end.
3. Third, there remains the actual attainment of the end, and so he says, Like an eagle swooping down on its prey, which he uses as an explanation for the first two points. For the eagle is a bird of swift flight and is especially fast when it is driven by hunger and has its prey—by which it sustains its life—as its goal.

Because his adversaries thought he was being presumptuous, since in these words he had implied that he was just and innocent, he begins to confer with God about his innocence, for God alone can judge the conscience. So he continues: If I say in my heart, "I will speak this way to no avail" (by claiming I am just and innocent), I alter my countenance entirely—from the assurance I began to feel about my innocence to an anxiety in searching for my sins—and I writhe with pain, reflecting as I examine my conscience that perhaps I am being punished for some sin. He then expresses the cause of his pain, saying, I was anxious about everything I did. For the cause of pain is great for someone who has great anxiety about a particular thing and yet falls into the very thing he tries to avoid. He, however, experiences great anxiety about everything he does, fearing lest he fall away from righteousness in some way. This is what he means when he says, anxious about everything I did. The reason he was so anxious about everything he did was his fear of the severity of divine judgment. So he says next, knowing that you do not spare anyone who is delinquent, unless he repents, because as Psalm 7 says, Unless you will be converted, he will brandish his sword (Psalms 7:13). If however, after such great zeal for innocence, I am so wicked that I deserve to be punished so severely by God, why have I labored in vain?—that is, with such great anxiety to maintain my innocence? For one labors in vain who strives for a goal that he does not attain.

But since human purity, however great, is found wanting under divine scrutiny, Job consequently shows that when he says he is pure and innocent, he means he is pure and innocent as a human being, not as though he were lacking nothing from the standpoint of God's perfect righteousness. Know that there are two kinds of purity: one is of the innocent person, and the other is of the repentant person. Both of these are imperfect in a person when compared to the perfect righteousness of the divine standard. He speaks about the purity of the repentant, saying, If I were washed... as with the waters of snow, which are said to be very cleansing, meaning, "if I were zealous to cleanse myself from my sins." He speaks about the purity of the innocent when he says, and my hands shine as though very clean. This means that if in his works (which are designated by the term "hands") no uncleanness could be found, but the bright clarity of righteousness would shine from them. However, he uses the expression as though very clean to suggest that perfect cleansing cannot exist in a human. He says that even if he were cleansed, yet you will dip me in filth, because he would be shown to be filthy and convicted by God's wisdom when compared to His righteousness.

For there is always some defect found in human works. This defect sometimes results from ignorance due to the weakness of the intellect; sometimes from negligence due to the weakness of the flesh; and sometimes from the contamination of an attachment to earthly things, which can be mingled even with good works because of the mutability of the human heart, which does not always persevere in the same fixed state. Therefore, there is always something in human works that is deficient when measured against the purity of divine justice. When someone is unclean, yet has shown some outward manifestation of righteousness, the external signs of righteousness do not suit him. So he then says, and so my clothing will deprecate me. For external works are designated as garments because they wrap around a person, as Matthew says, They will come to you in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15). Clothing, then, "deprecates" someone when the external works of a person who pretends to be just are not in accord with their internal desires.

Next, he shows why, no matter how pure he is, he cannot defend himself from being convicted as impure by God. This is because of two things in which God excels humanity: the purity of His justice and the authority of His majesty. Regarding the first, he says, For he is not a man like myself that I should answer him, as if to say: If any person wanted to convict me of impurity, I would be able to resist them if they charged me with failing to preserve a perfect purity of justice, which they themselves know cannot be maintained by a human. But I cannot respond this way to God, for no defect is found in Him. Regarding the second, he says, and he cannot gain a hearing with him as an equal. For when two people contend with each other, they can have a judge who examines both arguments. But there can be no arbiter between God and humanity for two reasons. First, a judge must have a higher wisdom, which serves as the standard by which the arguments of both parties are examined. It is clear, however, that divine wisdom is the first standard bywhich the truth of all things is examined. Because of this, he then says, Nor is there anyone who can evaluate both our arguments. He means here that there is no one superior to God from whose greater wisdom divine wisdom could be corrected. Second, a judge must have a greater power by which he can compel both parties. Job excludes this quality, saying, Who could lay hands on both of us, meaning, who could coerce us both? This is excluded by the immensity of divine power, which he has already demonstrated .

Since, as has been said, Job intends to investigate why the innocent are punished in the world, he shows in conclusion what could impede this investigation and the intention with which he wishes to undertake it. He could be impeded from this investigation by two things. First, by the affliction from which he was suffering, for people whose minds are occupied with sorrow are not able to investigate accurately. He refers to this, saying, May he withdraw his rod from me. Second, by the reverence he had for God, for people sometimes omit investigating things pertaining to God out of the reverence they have for Him. Regarding this, he says, Let terror of him not frighten me. He means: May God grant my spirit rest from the affliction I suffer and not charge me with irreverence for debating divine things. Then I will be able to investigate, and so he continues, I will speak and not be afraid of him—that is, not being frightened by Him. Nor can I answer when I am afraid of him, meaning, when I hold myself back from investigating something because of reverence for Him.

Note that the fear of God sometimes does not restrain those who fear God from investigating divine things. This is the case when one investigates divine matters from a desire to know the truth—not to comprehend the incomprehensible, but always guided by the principle of submitting one's intellect to the truth of divine things. However, they are restrained by the fear of God from investigating divine things if they are willing to comprehend them fully and do not regulate their intellect by divine truth. Therefore, by these words, Job intends to show that he is investigating matters of divine providence guided by this principle: to subject his intellect to divine truth, not to oppose it, which would be against the reverence due to the fear of God.