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God to be their own creator. And if they knew this through other reasonings and a certain higher contemplation, yet the creation according to nature was sufficient to fully inform the intelligible world that there is a maker of it also, that is, he who brings beings into existence out of non-beings. 38, 8 But I shut up the sea with gates. *gates* instead of: with certain boundaries I enclosed it by my command, saying to it: *Thus far you shall come, and you shall not pass over.* 338 38, 8 When it gushed out, proceeding from its mother's womb. *gushed out* instead of: it rushed impetuously and hurried toward the hollow and suitable places for it, hearing the divine command: *Let the water be gathered together into one collection.* And he calls its mother the abyss, or even his own power as the cause of its existence. 38, 9 And I made the cloud its clothing, and swaddled it with mist. Since he mentioned the mother's womb, he continued with the trope. For just as, he says, an embryo, I swaddled it with mist and clouds, that is: I covered it. 38, 1011 And I set boundaries for it, placing bars and gates. And I said to it: Thus far you shall come, and you shall not pass over, but within yourself your waves shall be broken. By *bars and gates* he means the setting of bounds and the security through his own command. For I set limits, he says, to the waves of the sea, so that by crossing their boundaries they might not harm the neighboring land. 38, 1213 Or in your time have I commanded the morning light? And did the morning star see its own station, to take hold of the wings of the earth. But were you present, he says, when I said: *Let there be light* and the deed followed the word, or when the morning star, having come into being, illuminated the ends of the earth? And it is said that this morning star in a single night reaches 339 the end of the earth. And allegorically, the morning star, the word of the Lord, proclaimed in its own time at the end of the days, was extended to the ends of the earth. *For its sound went out into all the earth.* 38, 13 to shake the wicked out of it. Since he mentioned the rising of the light, he aptly said that: I made the light, from which later the wicked, being shaken out, are sent away into lightless and dark places. And according to contemplation, the word of the evangelical teaching shook out the wicked demons at the incarnate coming of the Lord. 38, 14 Or did you, taking clay from the earth, form a living being and place it, speaking, upon the earth? But did you, he says, O Job, taking dust from the earth, form a man and adorn him with reason as I did? And note here, that he did not say dust, but clay, as the dust was mixed with water. 38, 15 And have you taken away the light from the wicked, and broken the arm of the proud? This can be understood both concerning wicked men and concerning demons. For the knowledge of the truth was taken away from them and their power was broken. And here he showed the things that would later happen to the wicked and solved the difficulty that people have because they often see the wicked suffering no hardship in this life. 340 38, 16 And have you come to the spring of the sea, and walked in the tracks of the abyss? And did you know, from where the sea had its beginning? Or have you comprehended the tracks, that is, the uttermost parts, of the abyss? Or what the Lord did when he was incarnate—as the following things also testify—did you do? 38, 17 And are the gates of death opened to you in fear, and did the gatekeepers of Hades, seeing you, cower? These things happened when the Lord descended into Hades to preach to the spirits there. 38, 18 And have you been instructed in the breadth of what is under heaven? Tell me, how or what it is. *have you been instructed*—instead of: have you accurately known—the breadth of the earth? State its diameter. 38, 19 And in what land does the light dwell? And what is the place of darkness? If you would lead me to their boundaries? Tell me also about light and darkness: where are they shut up and from where do they proceed? 38, 21 And if you also know their paths, do you know then that you were born at that time? And if you should say you know their ways, say that you were also born then when these things were set in order. 38, 21 And is the number of your years great? And if you know these things, know that you are also someone of many years, as having been born since 341 then. And he teaches here that man's short life is not even to know

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ἑαυτῶν εἶναι δημιουργὸν τὸν θεόν. εἰ δὲ καὶ καθ' ἑτέρους λόγους καὶ ὑψηλοτέραν τινὰ θεωρίαν τοῦτο ἠπίσταντο, ἀλλ' οὖν γε καὶ ἡ κατὰ τὴν κτίσιν δημιουργία ἱκανὴ πληροφορεῖν ἐτύγχανε τὸν νοητὸν κόσμον, ὡς καὶ αὐτοῦ τίς ἐστι ποιητής, τουτέστιν ὁ τὰ ὄντα ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων εἰς γένεσιν παράγων. 38, 8 ἔφραξα δὲ θάλασσαν πύλαις. πύλαιςἀντὶ τοῦ· ὅροις τισίνπεριέκλεισα τῷ προστάγματι εἰρηκὼς πρὸς αὐτήν· μέχρι τούτου ἐλεύσῃ καὶ οὐχ ὑπερβήσῃ. 338 38, 8 ὅτε ἐμαίμασσεν ἐκ κοιλίας μητρὸς αὐτῆς ἐκπορευομένη. ἐμαίμασσεν ἀντὶ τοῦ· ὁρμητικῶς εἶχε καὶ πρὸς τὰ κοῖλα καὶ σύμμετρα αὐτῇ χωρία κατηπείγετο ἀκούουσα τοῦ θείου προστάγματος· συναχθήτω τὸ ὕδωρ εἰς συναγωγὴν μίαν. μητέρα δὲ αὐτῆς τὴν ἄβυσσον λέγει ἢ καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δύναμιν ὡς αἰτίαν αὐτῇ τῆς ὑπάρξεως. 38, 9 ἐθέμην δὲ αὐτῇ νέφος ἀμφίασιν, ὀμίχλῃ δὲ αὐτὴν ἐσπαργάνωσα. ἐπειδὴ κοιλίας μητρὸς ἐμνήσθη, ἐπέμεινε τῇ τροπῇ. ὥσπερ γάρ, φησίν, ἔμβρυον ὀμίχλῃ καὶ νέφεσιν αὐτὴν ἐσπαργάνωσα, τουτέστιν· περιεσκέπασα. 38, 1011 ἐθέμην δὲ αὐτῇ ὅρια περιθεὶς κλεῖθρα καὶ πύλας. εἶπα δὲ αὐτῇ· μέχρι τούτου ἐλεύσῃ καὶ οὐχ ὑπερβήσῃ, ἀλλ' ἐν σεαυτῇ συντριβήσονταί σου τὰ κύματα. κλεῖθρα καὶ πύλας τὴν διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου προστάγματος ὁροθεσίαν καὶ ἀσφάλειαν λέγει. περιώρισα γάρ, φησίν, τῆς θαλάσσης τὰ κύματα, ἵνα μὴ τοὺς ὅρους ἐκβαίνοντα τὴν γείτονα λυμαίνωνται χέρσον. 38, 1213 ἢ ἐπὶ σοῦ συντέταχα φέγγος πρωινόν; ἑωσφόρος δὲ εἶδε τὴν ἑαυτοῦ τάξιν, ἐπιλαβέσθαι πτερύγων γῆς. παρῆς δέ, φησίν, ὅτε εἶπον· γενηθήτω φῶς καὶ τῷ λόγῳ τὸ ἔργον παρηκολούθησεν, ἢ ὅτε ὁ ἑωσφόρος γεγονὼς τὰ ἄκρα τῆς γῆς κατεφώτισε; λέγεται δὲ οὗτος ὁ ἑωσφόρος καὶ ἐν μιᾷ νυκτὶ καταλαμ 339 βάνειν τὸ ἄκρον τῆς γῆς. κατὰ δὲ ἀλληγορίαν ὁ ἑωσφόρος, ὁ τοῦ κυρίου λόγος, κατὰ τὸν ἴδιον καιρὸν ἐπ' ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν κηρυχθεὶς μέχρι τῶν ἄκρων ἐξετάθη τῆς γῆς. εἰς πᾶσαν γὰρ τὴν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ὁ φθόγγος αὐτοῦ. 38, 13 ἐκτινάξαι ἀσεβεῖς ἐξ αὐτῆς ἐπειδὴ φωτὸς ἀνατολῆς ἐμνήσθη, εὐκαίρως εἶπεν ὅτι· ἐποίησα τὸ φῶς, ἐξ οὗπερ ὕστερον οἱ ἀσεβεῖς ἐκτινασσόμενοι εἰς ἀφεγγῆ καὶ σκοτεινὰ χωρία παραπέμπονται. κατὰ δὲ τὴν θεωρίαν τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς δαίμονας ἐξετίναξεν ὁ λόγος τῆς διδασκαλίας ὁ εὐαγγελικὸς ἐπὶ τῆς ἐνσάρκου τοῦ κυρίου παρουσίας. 38, 14 ἢ σὺ λαβὼν γῆς πηλὸν ἔπλασας ζῶον καὶ λαλητὸν αὐτὸ ἔθου ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς; ἀλλὰ σύ, φησίν, ὦ Ἰώβ, λαβὼν χοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἔπλασας ἄνθρωπον καὶ λόγῳ τοῦτον κατεκόσμησας ὥσπερ ἐγώ; ἐπισημειοῦ δὲ ἐνταῦθα, ὅτι οὐκ εἶπε χοῦν, ἀλλὰ πηλὸν ὡς τοῦ χοὸς ὕδατι συμπεφυρμένου. 38, 15 ἀφεῖλες δὲ ἀπὸ ἀσεβῶν τὸ φῶς, βραχίονα δὲ ὑπερηφάνων συνέτριψας; τοῦτο καὶ περὶ ἀνθρώπων ἀσεβῶν καὶ περὶ δαιμόνων ἔστιν ἐκλαβεῖν. ἀφῃρέθη γὰρ ἀπ' αὐτῶν ἡ γνῶσις τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ ἡ δύναμις συνετρίβη. ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἔδειξε τὰ τοῖς ἀσεβέσιν ὕστερον ἀπαντησόμενα καὶ ἔλυσε τὴν ἀπορίαν, ἣν ἀποροῦσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι διὰ τὸ πολλάκις ὁρᾶν τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς οὐδὲν ἐν τῷδε τῷ βίῳ πάσχοντας δυσχερές. 340 38, 16 ἦλθες δὲ ἐπὶ πηγὴν θαλάσσης, ἐν δὲ ἴχνεσιν ἀβύσσου περιεπάτησας; ἔγνως δέ, πόθεν ἡ θάλασσα ἔσχε τὴν ἀρχήν; ἢ τὰ ἴχνη, τουτέστι τὰ ἔσχατα, τῆς ἀβύσσου κατείληφας; ἢ ὅπερ ἐποίησεν ὁ κύριος σαρκωθείςὡς καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς μαρτυροῦσινἐποίησας; 38, 17 ἀνοίγονται δέ σοι φόβῳ πύλαι θανάτου, πυλωροὶ δὲ ᾅδου ἰδόντες σε ἔπτηξαν; ταῦτα γέγονεν, ὅτε ὁ κύριος εἰς ᾅδου κατέβη κηρύξαι τοῖς ἐκεῖ πνεύμασιν. 38, 18 νενουθέτησαι δὲ τὸ εὖρος τῆς ὑπ' οὐρανόν; ἀνάγγειλον δέ μοι, πῶς ἢ τίς ἐστιν. νενουθέτησαιἀντὶ τοῦ· ἠκριβώθηςτῆς γῆς τὸ πλάτος; φράσον αὐτῆς τὴν διάμετρον. 38, 19 ποίᾳ δὲ γῇ αὐλίζεται τὸ φῶς; σκότους δὲ ποῖος ὁ τόπος; εἰ ἀγάγοις με εἰς ὅρια αὐτῶν; εἰπὲ καὶ περὶ φωτὸς καὶ σκότους· ποῦ ἀποκλείονται καὶ πόθεν ἐκπορεύονται; 38, 21 εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐπίστασαι τρίβους αὐτῶν, οἶδας ἄρα, ὅτι τότε γεγέννησαι; εἰ δὲ τούτων τὰς ὁδοὺς εἰδέναι φαίης, λέγε, ὅτι καὶ τότε ἐγεννήθης ὅτε ταῦτα ὡροθετήθησαν. 38, 21 ἀριθμὸς δὲ ἐτῶν σου πολύς; καὶ εἰ ταῦτα ἐπίστασαι, ἴσθι καὶ πολυετής τις ὑπάρχων ὡς ἔκτο 341 τε γεγονώς. διδάσκει δὲ ἐνταῦθα, ὅτι καὶ τὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὀλιγόβιον οὐδὲ γνῶναι