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he entrusts many things to him. 38, 22 Have you come upon the storehouses of snow, and have you seen the storehouses of hail? By storehouses he means the hidden things. Do you know, then, he says, how I prepare the unseen snow and hail to appear? 38, 23 And is it laid up for you for the hour of enemies, for a day of war and battle? Are you able to use the snow and the hail against enemies, which God often does, punishing men and destroying crops? 38, 24-26 From where does the frost go forth, or the south wind get scattered under heaven? And who has prepared a course for the violent rain, and a way for the din, to cause it to rain on the land where there is no man? From where is the frost, or how does the south wind blow over all that is under heaven? How does the rain pour down violently? From where is the thunder? For he calls thunder "din." Are these works of human skill, not creations of God's wisdom? 38, 26-27 a desert where there is no man in it, to satisfy the pathless and uninhabited land, and to cause the blade of grass to spring forth? The rain is poured out, he says, even upon the uninhabited land—God clearly providing for the wild beasts, 342 and the desert grows grass and becomes green without any human care. 38, 28-30 Who is the father of rain? And who has begotten the clods of dew? And from whose womb does the ice come forth? And who has begotten the frost in heaven, which comes down like flowing water? And can you name the father of rain or of dew—by "clods of dew" he means the formations of dew—or of ice or of frost, which, forming around the firmament—for here by "heaven" he means the air on high—pours down like water? Are these not the works of God and of God's wisdom? 38, 30 And who melted the face of the impious? According to the literal sense, this should be understood of every impious person. But as to the meaning: the beauty of the enemy, which the "face" signifies, who has destroyed it? Is it not the only-begotten Son of God and creator of creation? 38, 31 Have you understood the band of the Pleiades? Is it a work of your understanding that the stars completing the Pleiades are bound, as it were, and thus composed? Or do you know the reason why they are so harmonized with each other? 38, 31 And have you opened the barrier of Orion? Since Orion appears at the right season, do you, he says, prepare it to be hidden as if by some partition and to appear again? 343 38, 32 Or will you open Mazouroth in its season? By "Mazouroth" he means the systems of the stars, which in common speech are called constellations. Where, then, he says, are these locked away and appear at the right season? But others say that "Mazouroth" is a Hebrew word, and when translated into Greek, the term signifies the heavenly dog. 38, 32 And will you bring out Hesperus by his hair? By "hair" he means the excess of its brilliance and its beauty. Is it you, then, he says, who brings this forth, shining so brightly? 38, 33 And do you know the changes of heaven, or the things that happen together under heaven? And do you know the changes of the air, or, simply put, all the things that happen under heaven, how they happen? 38, 34 And will you call a cloud with your voice, and will the violent water obey you with trembling? And are you able to command clouds to be, and, as if it were animate, will the rain obey your command with trembling? 38, 35 And will you send forth lightnings, and will they go? And will they say to you, "What is it?" And as if they were some servants, are the lightnings commanded by you to go, and against whomever they may be sent, being ready for the command, will they, as it were, utter a voice and say: "What is it that you command us to do?" 344 38, 36 And who has given to women wisdom in weaving or skill in embroidery? And who made women wise in the construction of fabrics and in adorning them with the dyes and colors of wools? And through these things he shows that technical wisdom is also given to men by God. 38, 37 And who is it that numbers the clouds in wisdom, and has inclined heaven to earth? And who is it that prepares the clouds to form in number and not immeasurably, but according to need? And who is it that made the heaven spherical, so that it seems to those gazing from afar that it touches the ends of the earth? 38, 38 And it is poured out like dust of the earth. And the heaven is poured around the earth, which is dark, like some dust because

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αὐτῷ τὰ πολλὰ ἐπιτρέπει. 38, 22 ἦλθες δὲ ἐπὶ θησαυροὺς χιόνος, θησαυροὺς δὲ χαλάζης ἑώρακας; θησαυροὺς λέγει τὰ ἀπόκρυφα. οἶσθα οὖν, φησίν, πῶς τὴν μὴ φαινομένην χιόνα καὶ χάλαζαν ἐκφαίνεσθαι παρασκευάζω; 38, 23 ἀπόκειται δέ σοι εἰς ὥραν ἐχθρῶν, εἰς ἡμέραν πολέμου καὶ μάχης; δυνατὸς εἶ τῇ χιόνι καὶ τῇ χαλάζῃ κατὰ πολεμίων χρήσασθαι, ὅπερ θεὸς ποιεῖ πολλάκις ἀνθρώπους τιμωρούμενος καὶ καρποὺς διαφθείρων; 38, 2426 πόθεν δὲ ἐκπορεύεται πάχνη ἢ διασκεδάννυται νότος εἰς τὴν ὑπ' οὐρανόν; τίς δὲ ἡτοίμασεν ὑετῷ λάβρῳ ῥύσιν, ὁδὸν δὲ κυδοιμῶν τοῦ ὑετίσαι ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, οὗ οὐκ ἀνήρ; πόθεν δὲ ἡ πάχνη ἢ πῶς ὁ νότος καθ' ὅλην πνεῖ τὴν ὑπ' οὐρανόν; πῶς λάβρως ὁ ὑετὸς καταρρεῖ; πόθεν αἱ βρονταί; κυδοιμὸν γὰρ τὴν βροντὴν καλεῖ. μὴ ἀνθρωπείας ἔργα ταῦτα τέχνης, οὐ θεοῦ σοφίας δημιουργήματα; 38, 2627 ἔρημον οὗ οὐχ ὑπάρχει ἄνθρωπος ἐν αὐτῇ τοῦ χορτάσαι ἄβατον καὶ ἀοίκητον καὶ τοῦ ἐκβλαστῆσαι ἔξοδον χλόης; χεῖται, φησίν, ὁ ὑετὸς καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀοίκητοντῶν θηρίων δὲ δη 342 λονότι προνοοῦντος θεοῦ, καὶ ἡ ἔρημος ποάζει καὶ χλοηφορεῖ δίχα τινὸς ἀνθρωπίνης ἐπιμελείας. 38, 2830 τίς ἐστιν ὑετοῦ πατήρ; τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ τετοκὼς βώλους δρόσου; ἐκ γαστρὸς δὲ τίνος ἐκπορεύεται ὁ κρύσταλλος; πάχνην δὲ ἐν οὐρανῷ τίς τέτοκεν, ἣ καταβαίνει ὥσπερ ὕδωρ ῥέον; ἔχεις δὲ εἰπεῖν ὑετοῦ πατέρα ἢ δρόσουβώλους δὲ δρόσου τὰς συστάσεις φησὶ τοῦ δρόσουἢ κρυστάλλου ἢ πάχνης, ἥτις συνισταμένη περὶ τὸ στερέωμαοὐρανὸν γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τὸν εἰς ὕψος ἀέρα λέγειὥσπερ ὕδωρ καταρρεῖ; οὐ θεοῦ ταῦτα καὶ θεοῦ σοφίας ἔργα; 38, 30 πρόσωπον δὲ ἀσεβοῦς τίς ἔτηξεν; κατὰ μὲν τὸ ῥητὸν ἐπὶ παντὸς ἀσεβοῦς τοῦτο νοητέον. πρὸς δὲ διάνοιαν· τὴν ὡραιότητα τοῦ ἐχθροῦ, ἣν δὴ σημαίνει τὸ πρόσωπον, τίς ταύτην ἠφάνισεν; οὐχ ὁ μονογενὴς τοῦ θεοῦ υἱὸς καὶ τῆς κτίσεως δημιουργός; 38, 31 συνῆκας δὲ δεσμὸν Πλειάδος; τῆς δὲ σῆς συνέσεως ἔργον τὸ ὥσπερ δεδέσθαι καὶ τοιῶσδε συγκεῖσθαι τοὺς συμπληροῦντας τὴν Πλειάδα ἀστέρας; ἢ τὴν αἰτίαν οἶσθα, διὰ τί οὕτως ἀλλήλοις συνηρμόσθησαν; 38, 31 καὶ φραγμὸν Ὠρίωνος ἤνοιξας; ἐπειδὴ κατὰ καιρὸν ὁ Ὠρίων φαίνεται, σύ, φησίν, παρασκευάζεις αὐτὸν ὥσπερ τινὶ διαφράγματι ἀποκρύπτεσθαι καὶ πάλιν φαίνεσθαι; 343 38, 32 ἢ διανοίξεις μαζουρὼθ ἐν καιρῷ αὐτοῦ; μαζουρὼθ τὰ συστήματα λέγει τῶν ἀστέρων, ἃ ἐν τῇ συνηθείᾳ ζῴδια καλοῦνται. ποῦ οὖν, φησίν, ἀποκεκλεισμένα εἰσὶ ταῦτα καὶ κατὰ καιρὸν φαίνονται; ἄλλοι δέ φασι μαζουρὼθ Ἑβραικὴν μὲν εἶναι λέξιν, εἰς Ἑλλάδα δὲ μεταφερομένην φωνὴν τὸν οὐράνιον κύνα σημαίνειν. 38, 32 καὶ Ἕσπερον, ἐπὶ κόμης αὐτοῦ ἄξεις αὐτόν; κόμην τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς λάμψεως λέγει καὶ τὴν εὐπρέπειαν. μὴ σύ, οὖν φησιν, τοῦτον παράγεις οὕτω διαφανῶς ἐκλάμποντα; 38, 33 ἐπίστασαι δὲ τροπὰς οὐρανοῦ ἢ τὰ ὑπ' οὐρανὸν ὁμοθυμαδὸν γινόμενα; τὰς δὲ τοῦ ἀέρος ἐπίστασαι τροπὰς ἢ ἁπαξαπλῶς πάντα τὰ ὑπ' οὐρανὸν γινόμενα, ὅπως γίνεται; 38, 34 καλέσεις δὲ νέφος φωνῇ, καὶ τρόμῳ ὕδατος λάβρου ὑπακούσεταί σου; δύνῃ δὲ ἐπιτάξαι γενέσθαι νέφη, καὶ ὥσπερ τις ἔμψυχος ὁ ὑετὸς ὑπακούσεται μετὰ τρόμου τῷ σῷ προστάγματι; 38, 35 ἀποστελεῖς δὲ κεραυνοὺς καὶ πορεύσονται; ἐροῦσι δέ σοι, τί ἐστιν; ὥσπερ δέ τινες οἰκέται οἱ κεραυνοὶ ἐπιτάττονται παρὰ σοῦ πορεύεσθαι, καὶ καθ' ὧν ἂν ἐκπέμπωνται, ἕτοιμοι ὄντες πρὸς τὸ ἐπίταγμα μονονουχὶ φωνὴν ἀφιέντες ἐροῦσιν· τί ἐστιν, ὃ ποιεῖν ἡμᾶς προστάττεις; 344 38, 36 τίς δὲ δέδωκε γυναιξὶν ὑφάσματος σοφίαν ἢ ποικιλτικὴν ἐπιστήμην; τίς δὲ γυναῖκας ἐσόφισεν εἰς ὑφασμάτων κατασκευὴν καὶ εἰς τὸ ταῦτα καταποικίλλειν ταῖς τῶν ἐρίων βαφαῖς καὶ χρώμασιν; δείκνυσι δὲ διὰ τούτων, ὅτι καὶ ἡ τεχνικὴ σοφία τοῖς ἀνθρώποις παρὰ θεοῦ δέδοται. 38, 37 τίς δὲ ὁ ἀριθμῶν νέφη σοφίᾳ, οὐρανὸν δὲ εἰς γῆν ἔκλινεν; τίς δὲ ὁ ὑπ' ἀριθμὸν καὶ οὐκ ἀμέτρως, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν χρείαν τὰ νέφη συνίστασθαι παρασκευάζων; τίς δὲ ὁ τὸν οὐρανὸν κυκλοφορικὸν ἀπεργασάμενος, ὡς δοκεῖν τοῖς πόρρωθεν ἀτενίζουσιν, ὅτι τῶν ἄκρων τῆς γῆς ἐφάπτεται; 38, 38 κέχυται δὲ ὥσπερ γῆς κονία. περικέχυται δὲ τῇ γῇ μελαίνῃ οὔσῃ ὁ οὐρανὸς ὥσπερ τις κονία διὰ τὸ