76

But from where was wisdom found? And what is the place of understanding? It is hidden from every human, and concealed from the birds of the sky; destruction and death said: We have heard the report of it. Therefore, he says, metallic substances and gold and, if anything is precious among men, are found in certain places; but the renown of wis 239 dom has reached even to those under the earth, but wisdom itself, a divine and invisible thing and supplied to men by divine gift alone, it is completely impossible to seek and to find in any place. And if it is not possible for rational men, made in the image of God, to find this in places, how much more so for irrational nature; for signifying this, he mentioned the birds. 28, 23 The Lord has well established its way, and he himself knows its place. This, therefore, which is invisible and incomprehensible—wisdom, whence and how it comes to men—is known to God alone. 28, 24 For he surveys all that is under heaven, knowing all things on the earth which he has made. Therefore, only the all-seeing and all-surveying God, who watches over all creation, knows the way of wisdom. 28, 2526 the weight of winds and the measures of water; when he made it so, seeing he numbered and a way for sounds in the shaking. He, therefore, who created all his works symmetrically and with proportion, so that neither do the winds by their lack of measure ravage those on the earth, nor does the rush of waters from a similar lack of measure either destroy or flood the earth, and the thunders, which the shaken air produces, he constructed usefully; for these he calls 'the sounds in the shaking.' For most of all, the claps of thunder lead us into awe and a divine fear. And as they say, by some principle of antipathy they subdue the cresting waves of the sea so that even 240 the psalmist says concerning them: at your rebuke they will flee, at the voice of your thunder they will be terrified. 28, 27 Then he saw it and declared it; having prepared it, he traced it out. Having prepared these things wisely and traced them out accurately—that is: knowing them—according to the principles of his own foreknowledge and providence, then also having created and brought all things to light and having fashioned this wondrous harmony of his own works, then having observed and seen all things, that they were very good, then he also declared wisdom to us. How did he declare it? By setting forth his creations as a kind of tablet of his own wisdom, so that from the beauty and magnitude of the created things we might comprehend the invisible things of his wisdom. For his invisible attributes, since the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, both his eternal power and divinity, so that they are without excuse, says the divine apostle somewhere. But 'having prepared it, he traced it out' does not say that God deliberated beforehand about his works, as if needing prior deliberations in order to create; for at once he both wills and produces, at once he resolves and the resolution proceeds to action. But what he had to bring forth, he brought forth from non-being into being, all things prepared and firm and traced out with all proportion. 28, 28 And he said to man: Behold, piety is wisdom, and to 241 abstain from evil is knowledge. Therefore, it was necessary for man, having been made in the image of God, to become a partaker of wisdom. Bestowing this on him, God said to him: I provide your gift in a brief and undistracted way, for you shall be pious and guileless. For this is the reception of wisdom and knowledge. These things, therefore, the blessed Job said, marveling at the power and wisdom of God and persuading his friends that nothing is better than piety. And the meaning of all that has been written is this: if you wish to marvel at the wisdom of God, consider first, how wisely he constructed the nature of man so as to be able to both mine the earth and bring forth precious materials from the unseen to the seen, and to plow and to sow and to gather the fruits of the earth and to open up springs of water. And consider also the works of God, how all things in a marvelous harmony and weights and measures and a certain proportion to one another

76

ἡ δὲ σοφία πόθεν εὑρέθη; ποῖος δὲ τόπος ἐστὶ τῆς συνέσεως; λέληθε πάντα ἄνθρωπον, καὶ ἀπὸ πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐκρύβη· ἡ ἀπώλεια καὶ ὁ θάνατος εἶπαν· ἀκηκόαμεν δὲ αὐτῆς τὸ κλέος. αἱ μὲν οὖν, φησίν, μεταλλικαὶ ὗλαι καὶ τὸ χρυσίον καί, εἴ τι παρὰ ἀνθρώποις τίμιον, ἐν τόποις τισὶν εὑρίσκεται· τὸ δὲ τῆς σο 239 φίας κλέος ἔφθασε μὲν καὶ μέχρι τῶν καταχθονίων, αὐτὴν δὲ τὴν σοφίαν, πρᾶγμα θεῖον καὶ ἀόρατον καὶ ἐκ μόνης θείας δωρεᾶς ἀνθρώποις χορηγούμενον, ζητῆσαι καὶ ἔν τινι τόπῳ καταλαβεῖν παντελῶς ἀδύνατον. εἰ δὲ ἀνθρώποις τοῖς λογικοῖς κατ' εἰκόνα θεοῦ γενομένοις ταύτην ἐν τόποις καταλαβεῖν οὐ δυνατόν, πολλῷ γε δήπουθεν τῇ ἀλόγῳ φύσει· τοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνων πετεινῶν ἐμνημόνευσεν. 28, 23 ὁ κύριος εὖ συνέστησεν αὐτῆς τὴν ὁδόν, αὐτὸς δὲ οἶδε τὸν τόπον αὐτῆς. τοῦτο οὖν τὸ ἀόρατον καὶ ἀκατάληπτον· σοφία, πόθεν τε καὶ πῶς εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἔρχεται, θεῷ μόνῳ τυγχάνει γνώριμον. 28, 24 αὐτὸς γὰρ τὴν ὑπ' οὐρανὸν πᾶσαν ἐφορᾷ εἰδὼς τὰ ἐν τῇ γῇ πάντα τε ἃ ἐποίησεν. μόνος οὖν ὁ παντεπόπτης θεὸς καὶ πανεπίσκοπος πᾶσαν τὴν κτίσιν ἐφορῶν τῆς σοφίας ἐπίσταται τὴν ὁδόν. 28, 2526 ἀνέμων σταθμὸν ὕδατός τε μέτρα· ὅτε ἐποίησεν οὕτως, ἰδὼν ἠρίθμησε καὶ ὁδὸν ἐν τινάγματι φωνάς. ὁ τοίνυν πάντα τὰ ποιήματα συμμέτρως καὶ ἀναλόγως δημιουργήσας, ὡς μήτε ἀνέμους τῇ ἀμετρίᾳ τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς λυμαίνεσθαι, μήτε τῶν ὑδάτων τὴν φορὰν ἐκ τῆς ὁμοίας ἀμετρίας ἢ διαλύειν ἢ ἐπικλύζειν τὴν γῆν, καὶ τὰς βροντάς, ἃς τινασσόμενος ὁ ἀὴρ ἀποτελεῖ, χρησίμως κατεσκεύασεν· ταύτας γὰρ καλεῖ τὰς ἐν τινάγματι φωνάς. μάλιστα μὲν γὰρ εἰς δέος ἡμᾶς καὶ θεῖον ἐνάγουσι φόβον οἱ τῶν βροντῶν κτύποι. ὡς δέ φασιν, κατά τινα ἀντιπαθείας λόγον καταστέλλουσι κορυφούμενα τῆς θαλάσσης τὰ κύματα ὡς καὶ 240 τὸν ψαλμῳδὸν λέγειν περὶ αὐτῶν· ἀπὸ ἐπιτιμήσεώς σου φεύξονται, ἀπὸ φωνῆς βροντῆς σου δειλιάσουσιν. 28, 27 τότε εἶδεν αὐτὴν καὶ ἐξηγήσατο αὐτήν, ἑτοιμάσας ἐξιχνίασεν. ταῦτα σοφῶς ἑτοιμάσας καὶ ἀκριβῶς ἐξιχνιάσαςἀντὶ τοῦ· εἰδὼς αὐτάκατὰ τοὺς τῆς οἰκείας προγνώσεως καὶ προνοίας λόγους, εἶτα καὶ δημιουργήσας καὶ πάντα εἰς φανερὸν ἀγαγὼν καὶ τὴν θαυμαστὴν ταύτην ἁρμονίαν τῶν οἰκείων ποιημάτων τεκτηνάμενος, τότε πάντα θεωρήσας καὶ ἰδών, ὅτι καλὰ λίαν, τότε καὶ ἡμῖν ἐξηγήσατο τὴν σοφίαν. πῶς ἐξηγήσατο; πίνακά τινα προθεὶς τῆς οἰκείας σοφίας τὰ δημιουργήματα, ἵνα ἀπὸ καλλονῆς καὶ μεγέθους τῶν κτισμάτων τὰ ἀόρατα τῆς σοφίας αὐτοῦ καταλαμβάνωμεν. τὰ γὰρ ἀόρατα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου τοῖς ποιήμασι νοούμενα καθορᾶται, ἥ τε ἀίδιος αὐτοῦ δύναμις καὶ θειότης εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἀναπολογήτους, φησί που ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος. τὸ δὲ ἑτοιμάσας ἐξιχνίασεν οὐ λέγει, ὅτι προεβουλεύσατο περὶ τῶν ποιημάτων ὁ θεὸς ὡς προβουλιῶν εἰς τὸ δημιουργεῖν δεόμενος· ὁμοῦ γὰρ ὃ θέλει καὶ παράγει, ὁμοῦ βούλεται καὶ εἰς ἔργον χωρεῖ τὸ βούλευμα. ἀλλὰ ἃ ἔδει παραγαγεῖν ἕτοιμα πάντα καὶ ἑδραῖα καὶ μετὰ πάσης ἀναλογίας ἐξιχνιασθέντα ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος εἰς τὸ εἶναι παρήγαγεν. 28, 28 εἶπεν δὲ ἀνθρώπῳ· ἰδοὺ ἡ θεοσέβειά ἐστι σοφία, τὸ δὲ 241 ἀπέχεσθαι ἀπὸ κακῶν ἐστιν ἐπιστήμη. ἔδει τοιγαροῦν τὸν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα θεοῦ γενόμενον μέτοχον γενέσθαι τῆς σοφίας. ταύτην αὐτῷ δωρούμενος ἔφησε πρὸς αὐτὸν θεός· σύντομόν σου καὶ ἀπερίσπαστον παρέχω τὸ δῶρον, θεοσεβὴς γὰρ ἔσο καὶ ἄκακος. αὕτη γὰρ ἡ τῆς σοφίας καὶ ἐπιστήμης ἀνάληψις. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὁ μακάριος Ἰὼβ εἶπεν θεοῦ δύναμιν καὶ σοφίαν ἀποθαυμάζων καὶ πείθων τοὺς φίλους, ὡς οὐδὲν θεοσεβείας ἄμεινον. ὁ δὲ νοῦς ἁπάντων τῶν γεγραμμένων οὗτος· εἰ βούλεσθε θεοῦ σοφίαν ἀποθαυμάσαι, κατανοήσατε πρῶτα μέν, πῶς σοφῶς τὴν ἀνθρώπου κατεσκεύασε φύσιν ὡς δύνασθαι καὶ γῆν μεταλλεύειν καὶ ἐξ ἀφανοῦς εἰς τὸ φανερὸν τὰς τιμίας παράγειν ὕλας, καὶ ἀροῦν καὶ σπείρειν καὶ τοὺς ἐκ τῆς γῆς καρποὺς ἀποδρέπεσθαι πηγάς τε ὑδάτων ἀναστομοῦν. κατανοήσατε δὲ καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ποιήματα, ὡς ἅπαντα ἐν ἁρμονίᾳ καὶ σταθμοῖς καὶ μέτροις καὶ ἀναλογίᾳ τινὶ θαυμασίᾳ πρὸς ἄλληλα