John Chrysostom, Commentary on Job

to me," he says, "where the light and where the darkness goes away. And why do I speak of the elements? Speak of the things concerning yourself: when were you born?" And yet he knew, but having learned from others. "But how much time has passed? You do not know the things concerning yourself." 38,22a Have you come, he says, to the treasures of snow, 22b and have you seen the treasures of hail? Not that there are storehouses, but that he shows them, bringing them forth so readily as if from treasures, whenever he wishes. 38,23a And are they stored up for you for the hour of enemies 23b and for the day of war and battle? 189 Do you see that he wishes to show this timeliness, that this happens at the right time and not simply? Then also concerning all the other things, I mean rains and frost and the opposite, the south wind; 38,24a From where, he says, does the frost come forth, 24b or is the south wind scattered under the heaven? 38,25a And who prepared a course for the violent rain, 25b and a path for the tumults 38,26a to cause rain on the earth, where there was no man, 26b a desert, in which there is no man, 38,27a to satisfy a desert and uninhabited place 27b and to cause a shoot of green grass to spring up? Do you see that God is not powerful in one part, but in all? 38,28a And who is the father of rain? 28b And who is he that has begotten the drops and clods of dew? 38,29a And from whose womb does the ice come forth? Not that it comes from his womb, may it not be. But what does birth here mean, and womb? Just as when he says concerning the sea, that "when its mother was in labor with it," he is not speaking of a mother of the sea, so also here, it is not that it came from a womb, but the formation and the cause. For what reason, then, has he placed the name of birth here repeatedly? It seems to me that he wishes to allude to the first and only cause, and the formation of the created things even before they were completed. So that even if these things are said of the Son, they apply them excessively. For there you have Son and I have begotten and only-begotten and such things, but here there is nothing of the sort. 190 38,30b And who has melted the face of the impious? Do you see how he also mixes in the creation? "For what benefit to me," he says, "is the wisdom in creation?" He shows his providence everywhere and how he establishes things that reason cannot discover; 38,31a Have you understood? he says, Have you known the band of Pleiades? That is: what necessity, what bond causes those stars to be continually gathered together? 38,31b And have you opened the enclosure of Orion? So that it may wander about. Then he says: 38,35a Will you send lightnings, and they will go, 35b and say to you: What is it? For now from the things in the heavens, those that punish, those that benefit. See also the lightnings answering. Not that the lightnings will say, What is it? but that all things obey God as if they were animate. And when he wishes to present the variety of their formation, he speaks of birth and womb, but when he wishes to present their readiness and completeness, he introduces them as obedient and being called. For what reason, then, did he introduce himself not as an artisan, but also as a father? Because the art of nature is much greater than this practical art, since it is something divine. 38,36a Who has given, he says, to woman the wisdom of weaving 36b and the knowledge of the wisdom of embroidery? See also what is useful; he mixes the small things with the great. For it is no ordinary wisdom, being of a varied kind, for its usefulness is not small; for the works of the art would have been superfluous if it had not been given. And see what kind of being received it. 191 38,37a And who is it that numbers, he says, the clouds in wisdom, 37b and has inclined the heaven to the earth? Do you see that he touches the earth itself? For this is what "inclined" means. 38,38a And it is poured out like dust of the earth. It hints at its fineness, as Isaiah says, that it is like smoke. 38,38b And have you glued it together like a cube with stones? He has presented its solidity and firmness and also its shape by saying "like a cube," that is, the hemisphere from above is not so, but four-cornered. 38,39a Will you hunt prey for lions, 39b and will you fill the souls of serpents? For what reason does he say these things? Because, "If I take so much providence for the superfluous things which are not even useful to you for service, will I not much more for you?" For what great benefit is a lion to man? The things that he put in the nature of irrational creatures, these he sets forth: 38,40a For they are afraid in their lairs

μοι», φησίν, «ποῦ τὸ φῶς καὶ ποῦ τὸ σκότος ἀπέρχεται. καὶ τί λέγω τὰ στοιχεῖα; τὰ κατὰ σαυτὸν εἰπέ· πότε ἐγεννήθης;» καὶ μὴν ᾔδει, ἀλλὰ παρ' ἑτέρων μαθών. «ἀλλὰ πόσος ὁ χρόνος; τὰ κατὰ σαυτὸν οὐκ οἶδας.» 38,22a ἦλθες δέ, φησίν, ἐπὶ θησαυροὺς χιόνος, 22b θησαυροὺς δὲ χαλάζης ἑώρακας; οὐχ ὅτι ἀποθῆκαί εἰσιν, ἀλλ' ὅτι οὕτως ἑτοίμως ὥσπερ ἐκ θησαυρῶν ἐκβάλλων δείκνυσιν αὐτά, ὅταν βούληται. 38,23a ἀπόκεινται δέ σοι εἰς ὥραν ἐχθρῶν 23b καὶ εἰς ἡμέραν πολέμου καὶ μάχης; 189 ὁρᾷς, ὅτι τοῦτο βούλεται τὸ εὔκαιρον δηλῶσαι, ὡς ἄρα κατὰ καιρὸν τοῦτο γίνεται καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς; εἶτα καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων, ὑετῶν λέγω καὶ πάχνης καὶ τὸ ἐναντίον νότου· 38,24a πόθεν δέ, φησίν, ἐκπορεύεται πάχνη 24b ἢ διασκεδάννυται νότος εἰς τὴν ὑπ' οὐρανόν; 38,25a τίς δὲ ἡτοίμασεν ὑετῷ λάβρῳ ῥύσιν, 25b ὁδὸν δὲ κυδοιμῶν 38,26a τοῦ ὑετίσαι ἐπὶ γῆν, οὗ οὐκ ἦν ἀνήρ, 26b ἔρημον, οὗ οὐχ ὑπάρχει ἐν αὐτῇ ἄνθρωπος, 38,27a τοῦ χορτάσαι ἔρημον καὶ ἀοίκητον 27b καὶ τοῦ βλαστῆσαι ἔξοδον χλόης; ὁρᾷς, ὅτι οὐκ ἐν ἑνὶ μέρει ἰσχυρὸς ὁ θεός, ἀλλ' ἐν ἅπασιν; 38,28a τίς δέ ἐστιν ὑετοῦ πατήρ; 28b τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ τετοκὼς συνοχὰς καὶ βώλους δρόσου; 38,29a ἐκ γαστρὸς δὲ τίνος ἐκπορεύεται ὁ κρύσταλλος; οὐχ ὅτι ἐκ γαστρὸς αὐτοῦ, μὴ γένοιτο. ἀλλὰ τί βούλεται ὁ τόκος ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἡ γαστήρ; ὥσπερ, ὅταν φησὶ περὶ τῆς θαλάσσης, ὅτι «ὅτε ἡ μήτηρ αὐτὴν ὤδινεν», οὐχὶ μητέρα θαλάσσης λέγει, οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα οὐχ, ὅτι ἀπὸ γαστρὸς ἐξῆλθεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν διάπλασιν καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν. τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ τόκου τέθεικεν ἐνταῦθα συνεχῶς; ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ καὶ τὸν αἴτιον αἰνίττεσθαι βουλόμενος τὸν πρῶτον καὶ μόνον καὶ τὸ διαπλάττεσθαι τὰ δημιουργήματα καὶ πρὶν ἢ αὐτὰ ἀπαρτισθῆναι. ὥστε κἂν ἐπὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ ταῦτα λέγηται, περιττῶς αὐτὰ περιφέρουσιν. ἐκεῖ γὰρ τὸ υἱὸς καὶ τὸ ἐγέννησα καὶ τὸ μονογενὴς καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, ἐνταῦθα δὲ οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον. 190 38,30b πρόσωπον δὲ ἀσεβοῦς τίς ἔτηξεν; ὁρᾷς, πῶς καὶ τὴν κτίσιν ἀναμίγνυσιν; «τί γάρ μοι», φησίν, «ὄφελος τῆς κατὰ τὴν δημιουργίαν σοφίας;» δείκνυσιν αὑτοῦ τὴν πρόνοιαν πανταχοῦ καὶ πῶς πράγματα συνίστησιν, ἃ λογισμὸς εὑρεῖν οὐ δύναται· 38,31a συνῆκας; φησίν, δεσμὸν Πλειάδος ἔγνως; τουτέστιν· ποία ἀνάγκη, ποῖος σύνδεσμος ἐκεῖνα συνεχῶς τὰ ἄστρα συναγελάζεσθαι ποιεῖ; 38,31b καὶ φραγμὸν ˉ̓Ωρίωνος ἤνοιξας; ὥστε αὐτὸν περιπολεῖν. εἶτά φησιν· 38,35a ἀποστελεῖς κεραυνοὺς καὶ πορεύσονται, 35b ἐροῦσι δέ σοι· τί ἐστιν; τέως ἀπὸ τῶν κατὰ τὸν οὐρανὸν πραγμάτων τῶν κολαστικῶν, τῶν εὐεργετικῶν. ὅρα καὶ κεραυνοὺς ἀποκρινομένους. οὐχ ὅτι ἐροῦσιν οἱ κεραυνοί· τί ἐστιν; ἀλλ' ὅτι πάντα καθάπερ ἔμψυχα οὕτως ὑπακούει τῷ θεῷ. καὶ ὅταν μὲν αὐτῶν τὸ ποικίλον τῆς διαπλάσεως παραστῆσαι βούληται, τόκον φησὶ καὶ γαστέρα, ὅταν δὲ τὸ ἕτοιμον καὶ ἀπηρτισμένον, ὑπακούοντας αὐτοὺς καὶ καλουμένους εἰσάγει. τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν οὐχὶ τεχνίτην ἑαυτόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πατέρα εἰσήγαγεν; ὅτι ἡ τῆς φύσεως τέχνη πολλῷ μείζων ἐστὶ ταύτης τῆς ἐπιχειρητικῆς ἅτε θεία τις οὖσα. 38,36a τίς δέδωκεν, φησίν, γυναικὶ ὑφάσματος σοφίαν 36b καὶ ποικιλτικὴν σοφίας ἐπιστήμην; ὅρα καὶ τὸ χρήσιμον· τοῖς μεγάλοις ἀναμίγνυσι τὰ μικρά. οὐ γὰρ ἡ τυχοῦσα σοφία ποικίλη τις οὖσα, οὐ γὰρ μικρὰ ἡ χρῆσις· ἦ γὰρ ἂν περιττὰ τὰ ἔργα τῆς τέχνης μὴ δοθείσης. καὶ ὅρα ποῖον αὐτὴν ἔλαβε γένος. 191 38,37a τίς δὲ ὁ ἀριθμῶν, φησίν, νέφη σοφίᾳ, 37b οὐρανὸν δὲ εἰς γῆν ἔκλινεν; ὁρᾷς, ὅτι τῆς γῆς αὐτῆς ἅπτεται; τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ἔκλινεν. 38,38a κέχυται δὲ ὥσπερ γῆ κονία. τὸ λεπτὸν αὐτοῦ αἰνίττεται, ὅπερ Ἠσαΐας φησίν, ὅτι ὥσπερ καπνός ἐστιν. 38,38b κεκόλληκας δὲ αὐτὸν ὥσπερ κύβον λίθοις; τὸ πεπηγὸς καὶ βέβαιον καὶ τὸ σχῆμα δὲ αὐτοῦ παρέστησεν εἰπὼν ὥσπερ κύβον τὸ ἡμισφαίριον ἤτοι τὸ ἄνωθεν μὴ εἶναι οὕτως, ἀλλὰ τετράγωνον. 38,39a θηρεύσεις δὲ λέουσι βοράν, 39b ψυχὰς δὲ δρακόντων ἐμπλήσεις; τίνος ἕνεκεν ταῦτά φησιν; ὅτι «εἰ τῶν περιττῶν τοσαύτην πρόνοιαν ποιοῦμαι τῶν οὐδὲ εἰς δουλείαν ὑμῖν χρησίμων, οὐ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὑμῶν;» τί γὰρ τοσοῦτον ὄφελος ἀνθρώπῳ λέων; ἃ τῇ φύσει τῶν ἀλόγων ἐνέθηκεν, ταῦτα τίθησιν· 38,40a δεδοίκασι γὰρ ἐν κοίταις