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wisdom? But that God is also all-wise is manifest. Why then, as if sharing in his counsels, did you hasten to make speeches on his behalf? 26, 3 Or whom will you follow? Is it not the one who has the greatest power? Whom do you hasten to follow as if you would bring some alliance to him? Is it not the all-strong and all-powerful? 26, 4 To whom have you reported words? And before whom have you displayed your wisdom? 26, 4 And whose breath is it that has gone out from you? For consider, O wonderful one, that you have received from God even the very acts of breathing and living and speaking. And the blessed one said these things, mocking Bildad as one wishing to appear as a newer advocate of God, when all alike know about God, that God is both powerful and all-wise. Having said these things to him mockingly, he turns his discourse to the power of God, showing that he has a better opinion than they about the strength of God, and he says: 26, 5 Shall Giants be brought forth from under the water and its neighbors? Are they able, he says, the powers under the earth, those after the waters and the neighboring land, that is, those in Hades, as if by the art of midwifery from a womb to bring forth the dead and give them life? And what he says 221 is this: Are the powers in Hades able to effect a resurrection? But God even raises the dead, using authoritative power. And it is possible to understand it another way: Long ago, when God was cleansing the earth with the flood, as it had been corrupted, he flooded and wiped out those god-fighting men called Giants. So he says: Are those Giants able to be brought forth again and to raise themselves by their own power? Did their great power help them at all, when they acted against the invincible strength and power of God? 26, 6 Hades is naked before him, and there is no covering for destruction. From the Lord, clearly. For destruction has no hiding place before him, which is a neighbor of Hades. And it is possible to understand "destruction" as death; but the only-begotten, having become man, both plundered Hades and said to those in darkness: "Be uncovered," and no covering acted against the divine command, but they were uncovered immediately. 26, 7 Stretching out the north over nothing, hanging the earth upon nothing. For there is no other vehicle or support for the earth, but by the divine will it is both hung and supported. 26, 8 Binding up water in his clouds, and the cloud is not torn under it. 222 For if he had not commanded the clouds, they would not release the rain on the earth, in whatever measure they are commanded. 26, 9 He who holds the face of the throne, spreading his cloud over it. Heaven is called the throne of God in many places of scripture; and the air lies before the face of heaven. So he says that by holding the air and spreading out the clouds, he does not permit the rain to fall, except in the ways he himself knows to be beneficial. 26, 10 He has inscribed a command on the face of the water to the boundary of light with darkness. But also, having set his own command around the waters in a circle, he does not allow them to transgress and flood the neighboring land. And the divine providence extends to the boundary of light with darkness, that is, persuading the night and the day to yield their courses to one another. 26, 11 The pillars of heaven were spread out, and were astonished at his rebuke. But also the supports of heaven and, as it were, its foundations do not prop it up and hold it up from below as some pillars bear what is above them, but the seats of heaven are somewhere above. For this is what "were spread out" signifies, so that he might say 223 that: heaven also is held together by the divine word, with nothing supporting it. Nevertheless, even the foundations of heaven themselves are astonished and are shaken whenever he commands. And this happens at the consummation. For, he says, "like a mantle you will roll them up, and they will be changed." 26, 12 By his strength he calmed the sea, and by his knowledge he wounded the sea-monster. Having entered into the discourse about the sea, he made mention of the spiritual sea-monster. And the divine psalmist appears to have done the same thing; for having said: "This is the great and wide sea, there are creeping things, of which

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σοφία; ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς πάνσοφος ὁ θεός, πρόδηλον. τί οὖν ὡς κοινωνῶν αὐτῷ τῶν βουλευμάτων τοὺς ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ ποιεῖσθαι λόγους ἐσπούδασας; 26, 3 ἢ τίνι ἐπακολουθήσεις; οὐχ ᾧ μεγίστη δύναμις; τίνι δὲ ἕπεσθαι σπουδάζεις ὡς δή τινα συμμαχίαν εἰσοίσων αὐτῷ; οὐ τῷ πανσθενεῖ καὶ παντοδυνάμῳ; 26, 4 τίνι ἀπήγγειλας ῥήματα; ἐπὶ τίνος δὲ τὴν σαυτοῦ σοφίαν ἐπεδείξω; 26, 4 πνοὴ δὲ τίνος ἐστὶν ἡ ἐξελθοῦσα ἐκ σοῦ; ἐννόησον γάρ, ὦ θαυμάσιε, ὡς καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ἀναπνεῖν καὶ ζῆν καὶ φθέγγεσθαι ἐκ θεοῦ λαβὼν ἔχεις. ταῦτα δὲ εἶπεν ὁ μακάριος διασύρων τὸν Βαλδὰδ ὡς καινότερον θέλοντα φαίνεσθαι τοῦ θεοῦ συνήγορον περὶ θεοῦ ἁπάντων ὁμοίως ἐπισταμένων, ὅτι καὶ δυνατὸς καὶ πάνσοφος ὁ θεὸς τυγχάνει. ταῦτα πρὸς ἐκεῖνον σκωπτικῶς εἰρηκὼς τρέπει τὸν λόγον ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δύναμιν δεικνύς, ὡς ἄμεινον αὐτῶν τὰ περὶ τῆς ἰσχύος δοξάζει τοῦ θεοῦ, καί φησιν· 26, 5 μὴ Γίγαντες μαιωθήσονται ὑποκάτωθεν ὕδατος καὶ τῶν γειτόνων αὐτοῦ; μὴ δύνανται, φησίν, αἱ δυνάμεις αἱ ὑπὸ γῆν, αἱ μετὰ τὰ ὕδατα καὶ τὴν γείτονα γῆν, τουτέστιν αἱ ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ, ὥσπερ ἐκ μήτρας τῇ μαιωτικῇ τέχνῃ τοὺς τεθνεῶτας ἐξαγαγεῖν καὶ ζωογονῆσαι; ὃ δὲ λέ 221 γει τοῦτό ἐστιν· μὴ δύνανται αἱ ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ δυνάμεις ἀνάστασιν ποιῆσαι; θεὸς δὲ καὶ νεκροὺς ἀνίστησιν ἐξουσιαστικῇ δυνάμει χρώμενος. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλως νοῆσαι· πάλαι καθαίρων ὁ θεὸς τὴν γῆν τῷ κατακλυσμῷ ὡς κατεφθαρμένην τοὺς θεομάχους ἐκείνους ἄνδρας τοὺς καλουμένους Γίγαντας ἐπέκλυσε καὶ ἐξηφάνισεν. φησὶν οὖν ὅτι· μὴ δύνανται ἐκεῖνοι οἱ Γίγαντες αὖθις μαιωθῆναι καὶ ἰδίᾳ δυνάμει ἑαυτοὺς ἀναστῆσαι; μή τι αὐτοὺς ὤνησεν ἡ πολλὴ δύναμις ἀντιπράξαντας τῇ ἀμάχῳ ἰσχύι καὶ δυνάμει τοῦ θεοῦ; 26, 6 γυμνὸς ὁ ᾅδης ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι περιβόλαιον τῇ ἀπωλείᾳ. ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου δηλονότι. οὐ γὰρ ἔχει ἀποκρυβὴν ἀπώλεια ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, ἥτις ἐστὶ γείτων τοῦ ᾅδου. ἀπώλειαν δὲ τὸν θάνατόν ἐστιν ἐννοεῖν· ὁ δὲ μονογενὴς ἄνθρωπος γεγονὼς καὶ τὸν ᾅδην ἐσκύλευσε καὶ εἶπε τοῖς ἐν σκότει· ἀνακαλύφθητε, καὶ οὐδὲν περιβόλαιον ἀντέπραξε τῷ θεϊκῷ κελεύσματι, ἀλλ' εὐθέως ἀνεκαλύφθησαν. 26, 7 ἐκτείνων βορέαν ἐπ' οὐδέν, κρεμάζων γῆν ἐπὶ μηδενός. οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ὄχημα τῆς γῆς ἕτερον ἢ ὑποστήριγμα, ἀλλὰ τῷ θείῳ βουλήματι κρέματαί τε καὶ ὑπεστήρικται. 26, 8 δεσμεύων ὕδωρ ἐν νεφέλαις αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐρράγη νέφος ὑποκάτω αὐτοῦ. 222 εἰ μὴ γὰρ ταῖς νεφέλαις προσέταξεν, οὐκ ἐπαφιᾶσιν, καθ' ὅσον ἂν κελευσθῶσι μέτρον, τῇ γῇ τὸν ὑετόν. 26, 9 ὁ κρατῶν πρόσωπον θρόνου, ἐκπετάζων ἐπ' αὐτὸν νέφος αὐτοῦ. θρόνος τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ οὐρανὸς πολλαχοῦ τῆς γραφῆς εἴρηται· κατὰ πρόσωπον δὲ κεῖται τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὁ ἀήρ. φησὶν οὖν, ὅτι διακρατῶν τὸν ἀέρα καὶ ἐφαπλῶν τὰς νεφέλας, οὐκ ἐᾷ στάζειν τὸν ὑετόν, εἰ μὴ καθ' οὓς οἶδεν αὐτὸς συμφέροντας τρόπους. 26, 10 πρόσταγμα ἐγύρωσεν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον ὕδατος μέχρι συντελείας φωτὸς μετὰ σκότους. ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ οἰκεῖον πρόσταγμα κυκλοτερῶς περιστήσας τοῖς ὕδασιν ὑπερβαίνειν καὶ ἐπικλύζειν τὴν γείτονα γῆν οὐ συγχωρεῖ. παρατείνει δὲ ἡ θεία πρόνοια μέχρι συντελείας φωτὸς μετὰ σκότους, τουτέστιν ἀντιπαραχωρεῖν ἀλλήλαις τοὺς δρόμους τὴν νύκτα καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν πείθουσα. 26, 11 στῦλοι οὐρανοῦ ἐπετάσθησαν, καὶ ἐξέστησαν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐπιτιμήσεως αὐτοῦ. ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τὰ στηρίγματα καὶ οἱονεὶ ὑποβάθραι οὐ κάτωθεν αὐτὸν ἐρείδουσι καὶ ἀναβαστάζουσιν ὥσπερ τινὲς στῦλοι τὰ ὑπερκείμενα βαστάζοντες, ἀλλ' ἄνω που τυγχάνουσιν αἱ ἕδραι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. τοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνει τὸ ἐπετάσθησαν, ἵνα εἴπῃ 223 ὅτι· καὶ ὁ οὐρανὸς τῷ θείῳ λόγῳ συνίσταται οὐδενὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερείδοντος. πλὴν καὶ αὐτοὶ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ οἱ θεμέλιοι ἐξίστανται καὶ σαλεύονται, ὅταν αὐτὸς ἐπιτάξῃ. γίνεται δὲ τοῦτο ἐν τῇ συντελείᾳ ὡσεὶ περιβόλαιον, γάρ φησιν, ἑλίξεις αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀλλαγήσονται. 26, 12 ἰσχύι κατέπαυσε τὴν θάλασσαν, ἐπιστήμῃ δὲ ἔτρωσε τὸ κῆτος. εἰς τὸν περὶ τῆς θαλάσσης ἐκβεβηκὼς λόγον τοῦ νοητοῦ κήτους ἐμνημόνευσεν. τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος μελωδὸς ποιήσας φαίνεται· εἰρηκὼς γάρ· αὕτη ἡ θάλασσα ἡ μεγάλη καὶ εὐρύχωρος, ἐκεῖ ἑρπετά, ὧν