Глава 38

The Lord's first speech. 1–3. Introduction. 4–41. The wisdom of God in the phenomena of the physical world. Job 38:1. [When Elihu stopped speaking,] the Lord answered Job from the storm and said: Job's repeatedly expressed desire to sue God (see Job 36.20), his persistently stated demand that the Lord himself answer him (Job 31.35), is finally being fulfilled. The Lord answers from the storm, that is, in the usual way, indicating His greatness and power. But if Job could not answer Elihu, then what will he say to the Lord now? Job 38:2. Who is this, darkening Providence with words without meaning? The greatness of the one answering is reflected in the question: “Who is this one who darkens Providence?” God’s attitude towards the world and Job is a plan full of rationality (Hebrew “etsa”; synodal “Providence”), and by an unreasonable person they are presented as cruel arbitrariness devoid of true wisdom (Job 9.1, 41.14, etc.). Job 38:3. Now gird up your loins like a husband: I will ask you, and you explain to Me: Job, who dares to judge God in this way, must gather his strength and prepare for the fight (“gird up your loins”, cf. Job 12.21). And since the truth is on God’s side, he will act as the defendant, and God will take the position of the accuser. The judgment will take place in the order desired by Job (Job 13.22). Job 38:4–38. Job's faith in Divine Justice was shaken, among other things, by the thought of God's cruel, arbitrary attitude towards people. Therefore, the Lord, with a series of questions about the phenomena of the physical world, wants to tell him that even visible nature is a reflection of wisdom and omnipotence that does not destroy, but arranges, bringing harmony and order everywhere. There is no arbitrariness because, among other things, some physical phenomena serve the purposes of a higher moral world order. Job 38:4. where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you know. Job 38:5. Who put the measure on it, if you know? or who stretched the rope along it? Job 38:6. On whom are its foundations built, or who laid its cornerstone? Job 38:7. with the general rejoicing of the morning stars, when all the sons of God shouted for joy? The establishment of harmony and order began with the initial structure of the earth, which, like a building, received certain dimensions (“who set the measure for it?”), harmonious distribution of parts (“who stretched the rope along it?”) and a certain position among other bodies in the air (v. 6, cf. Job 26.7). The witnesses to the manifestation of this harmony inherent in the primordial earth were not people, who had not yet been created, but the morning stars. They were the first to see the globe after the primeval darkness was replaced by light, and they were the first to give praise to the Creator (cf. Ps 18.2, 148.3; Sir 43.1). Together with them, the “sons of God” - angels (Job 1.6) shouted with joy, as happens when a building is laid (1 Ezra 3.10; Zech 4.7). Job 38:8. Who closed the sea with gates, when it burst forth, it came out as if from the womb, Job 38:9. when I made the clouds his clothing and darkness his swaddling clothes, Job 38:10. and I established My decree for him, and set up bars and gates, Job 38:11. and said: Hitherto you will come and not pass over, and here is the limit of your arrogant waves? The introduction of a similar harmony was accompanied by the ordering of the water element. Having emerged from the bowels of the earth and ready to spill over its surface, it was presented with insurmountable obstacles in the form of banks, beyond which it could not go. Job 38:12. Have you ever given orders to the morning in your life and indicated its place to the dawn? Job 38:13. so that it will cover the ends of the earth and shake off the wicked from it, Job 38:14. so that the earth changes like clay under a seal and becomes like a coat of many colors, Job 38:15. and that their light may be taken away from the wicked, and their bold hand broken? The correct order established by the Lord for replacing darkness with light is invariably maintained (Gen. 1.4). Morning comes in its own time, and its harbinger, the dawn, upon its appearance, covers with its edges (literally: “wings,” cf. Ps 138.9) the earth on which the night rested like a blanket, and, shaking it vigorously, disperses the darkness. The harmonious change of physical phenomena serves at the same time the goals of the moral and aesthetic world order. With the advent of light, the dark deeds of the wicked cease (cf. Job 24.13), and the earth, shapeless during the night, with a mass of objects that have lost their outlines, appears in all the splendor of beauty. Job 38:16. Have you descended into the depths of the sea and entered into the exploration of the abyss? Job 38:17. Have the gates of death opened for you, and have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? Job 38:18. Have you surveyed the breadth of the earth? Explain if you know all this. The law according to which the sources of the sea, Sheol with its inhabitants, and the breadth of the earth cannot be measured, also remains in force. Job 38:19. Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness? Job 38:20. You, of course, have reached its borders and know the paths to its house. Likewise, according to the laws established by God, light and darkness are physical forces, separated from each other (cf. Job 26.10), introduced into world life. Job 38:22. Have you entered the storehouses of snow and seen the treasuries of hail, Job 38:23. which I reserve for a time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? And just as light fulfills not only its natural purpose, but also serves the purposes of the higher spiritual world - order (vv. 12-13), so in the same way huge reserves (Hebrew “otzerot” - stores) of snow and hail are in the hands of God an instrument for punishing evil people (Exodus 9.17 etc.). Job 38:24. Along what path does the light spread and the east wind spread across the earth? The spread of light and the direction of the eastern, strong (Job 27.21) wind, these two elements similar in speed, are also subject to well-known laws. Job 38:25. Who makes channels for the pouring out of water and a path for thunderous lightning, Job 38:26. so that it rains on a deserted land, on a desert where there is no man, Job 38:27. to saturate the desert and steppe and stimulate the grass germs to grow? The laws of all the above-described phenomena were not established by man; similarly, it is not his work, but the work of wise Providence, to irrigate with rain the countries uninhabited by people with their vegetation. The goodness of the Lord supports the existence of his creation - greenery (the lowest form of the plant kingdom; synodal “grass germs”; Hebrew “deshe”, “greenery”; cf. Gen. 1.11–12). Job 38:28. Does rain have a father? or who gives birth to drops of dew? To achieve this good goal, the Lord has all the necessary means at his disposal. He is the father of rain and dew. Job 38:29. From whose belly comes ice and frost from heaven—who gives birth to it? Job 38:30. The waters, like stone, grow stronger, and the surface of the abyss freezes. Job 38:31. Can you tie the knot of Him and loose the ties of Kesil? The structure of the constellations "Hima" - "Pliades" and "Kesil" - "Orion" rests on the principles of strict harmony. The first consists of 64 main stars, of which only six are visible to the naked eye. Close to each other, they form one group and seem to be connected by the closest ties. Orion is a constellation of 78 stars forming a vast parallelogram, located half in one hemisphere and half in the other. How to connect the stars of the Pliades and separate the two parts of the Orion parallelogram is beyond human strength. Job 38:32. Can you deduce the constellations in your time and lead As with her children? The same correct pattern is observed in the movement of the constellation “Mazzaroth”. According to some, “mazzaroth” means Venus, Jupiter or Mars, and the expression “to bring out... in due time” indicates their periodic appearances. Others (Delitzsch, Lange) mean by “maz...” the 12 signs of the zodiac. With the latter understanding, the above expression takes on the following meaning: can you display a certain zodiac sign for each month so that it is visible before and after sunset? LXX reading “μασουρώθ” – the Hebrew name of the constellation left without translation. "Ace" - Ursa Major; her children are the three stars that make up the tail of the constellation. Job 38:33. Do you know the rules of heaven, and can you establish its dominion on earth? Not only the listed constellations, but the entire sky in general - its bodies are subject to certain laws, and, in addition, are in a certain relationship with the earth - influence it (cf. Gen. 1.14, 18). Thanks to this, the two spheres are brought into harmony. Job 38:34. Can you lift up your voice to the clouds so that water may cover you in abundance? Job 38:35. Can you send lightning, and will they go and say to you: here we are? One of the manifestations of this relationship is the falling of rain on the earth at a certain time (cf. Job 37.6) and the appearance of lightning (the expression: “here we are,” cf. Var. 3.35). Job 38:36. Who put wisdom into the heart, or who gave meaning to the mind? The Hebrew reading of this verse presents two differently understood expressions: “Battuchot” and “sequi”, depending on which the entire verse is translated differently. Some exegetes assign to the first the meaning: “kidneys” (cf. Ps 50.8), and the second, derived from “saka” (“to examine”), is translated by the word “rooster” (Targum, Vulgate, Delich, etc.). Accordingly, the verse takes on the following form: “Who put wisdom into the kidneys (of man) and who gave the rooster intelligence?” Others (Umbreit, Gan, Dilman, Lange) derive “tuhot” from the Arabic “taha” - “cloud”, and “sequi” acquire the meaning of “thing that they see”, “phenomenon”, “meteor”. With such word production, this verse should read like this: “who put wisdom into the clouds and who gave intelligence to the meteors”? In contrast to Delitzsch's reading, as well as the synodal one, the latter is in complete agreement with the context. The sky with its clouds and meteors, the Lord wants to tell Job, does not obey blind force in its actions, but fulfills the commands of God. Greco-Slavic: “who gave wisdom to the wives of weaving or cunning to eat”; has no basis for itself in the original text. Job 38:37. Who can sort out the clouds with his wisdom and hold the vessels of heaven, Job 38:38. when the dust turns to mud and the lumps stick together? As fulfilling the commands of God, the clouds are “numbered with wisdom,” that is, at a certain time they appear in a certain number. According to need, there are neither more nor less than the required quantity. The same God, who sorts out the “clouds”, “pours from the bellows of heaven,” sends rain, which turns the soil, dusty from the heat, into land suitable for cultivation. Job 38:39. Do you catch the lioness's prey and feed the young lions? Job 39.30. From the wonderful deeds of God in the world of inanimate nature, Job should have understood that it bears traces of a strict order, a logical plan. The following facts from the life of animals make it clear that the omnipotence of God is combined with goodness. Animals are the subject of special care and concern of the Lord. The instincts of reproduction and nutrition embedded in their nature support the existence, strength of creatures and the characteristics of their kind. Job 38:40. when they lie in dens or lie in ambush under the shade? Job 38:41. Who prepares the crow's food when its chicks cry to God, wandering without food? The goodness of God protects the lives of both the strongest representatives of the animal kingdom - lions and their children, and the weakest - raven chicks. The lioness and young lion cubs, obeying the predatory instinct inherent in their nature, themselves catch (“rest... in ambush”) the prey assigned to them by God (cf. Ps 103.21); The raven chicks also find food. The latter, both here and in parallel places (Ps 146.9; Lk 12.24), are presented as the subject of special divine protection, perhaps because they are more conspicuous than other birds by their husky, almost incessant cry. You might be interested in: