Komentarz do Hioba 37:25

and spring Heb. ויתר, and spring, like (Lev. 11:21) “to hop (לנתר) with them upon the earth.” And this means that his heart is astonished.

As terrifying as thunder might be, it is still a natural sound; just a whisper relative to God. So how can a being that is frightened by thunder face up to the power of God’s supernatural voice? Metaphysical concepts such as this, that are the key to understanding the ways of Providence, are simply beyond man’s grasp

Hear attentively the noise of His voice The thunders that He thunders in the sky are like a sound that emanates from His mouth.

Beneath the entire heaven I have seen it Heb. ישרהו, I have seen it, like (Num. 24:17), “I behold it (אשורנו).” They are the lights illuminated by the lightnings.

In its wake [i.e., in the wake] of that light, the thunder roars, and it thunders with the voice of its pride. Those are the lightnings and the thunders, which bring the rain.

According to Malbim, the thunder is emitted first, before the lightning. There are two possible reasons as to why they are observed in the reverse order: (i) whereas the sense of sight reacts instantaneously to light, the sense of hearing only reacts to sound after a short lapse of time; (ii) because the sound of the thunder reaches the observer after the flash of light from the lightning. It is unclear which explanation Malbim believed to be correct. Whatever, if the thunder was heard as soon as it was emitted, there would be no time-lag between them.

and He will not cut them off The Omnipresent [will not cut off the thunder and the lightning].

for...will be heard before Him the voice of the one who prays.

He will...cut them off Heb. יעקבם, He will cut them off, [and in the language of the Mishnah we learned (Sotah 16a): in three instances, the halachah supplants (עוקבת) the text].

For He says to the snow through these voices.

Elihu explains that God governs mankind and produces the overall effects He desires by manipulating the underlying laws of Nature. For example, the basic property that determines whether it rains or snows at a particular location is the variation in the heat content of the air and the water in the atmosphere above it. This single property or law was decreed by God and it is what causes it to rain in summer when it is warmer and to snow in winter when it is colder. This cycle of seasons is unending: variation is inherent in Nature. In His Wisdom, God manipulates these natural variations and cycles to do His will and to execute His decrees in His Governance of the sublunar world, for good or for bad

‘Be upon the earth’; likewise to the shower of rain and to the showers of His mighty rain That is to say that it comes from the four directions.

By the hand of every man he seals When a man sins before Him, the man himself signs his signature on the day of his death to the sins that he committed, which are written before him.

so that every man should know his deed to let him know for what he is being judged.

The beasts go into ambush That is to say that the Omnipresent has many more agents through which to mete out His punishments: the inciting of wild beasts, the tempest, and the cold.

and from Mezarim There is a treasury, named Mezarim.

From the breath of By His wind.

and the breadth of the waters in a good When they are poured out in retribution.

Aph Beri The name of the angel who is appointed over the clouds, and he scatters the Omnipresent’s rain cloud.

And he who is thus appointed.

turns around in circuits by His guidance [i.e., by the guidance] of the Omnipresent.

for their work namely, of the rains; for the work which is incumbent upon them to do, either good or evil, he is turned about with many circuits, as [the passage] that we learned (Rosh Hashanah 17b): if Israel were perfectly righteous on Rosh Hashanah so that [much] rain was decreed for them, and they should later become sinful—it would be impossible to decrease it [the amount of rain] because the decree would already have gone forth; but the Holy One, blessed be He, would let it come down out of its season and upon a land that did not require it. “And sometimes to do good”; how is this? etc.

whatever He commands them Those rains, to do on earth. [Another explanation: And he turns around in circuits with His guidance—He causes the clouds and the winds to encompass the mountains so that they should be watered from all sides. In the Aggadah of “Vehayah ekev” (Sifrei Ekev 39).]

Whether for the rod Whether for the punishment of men, He lets them fall on mountains and hills, which are not places for sowing.

Divine Governance has three modes: correctional, routine (earthly) and merciful. In His Wisdom, God governs through the basic laws of Nature. For example, using them to adjust the rainfall in order to punish, to preserve or to favor, as the case may be.

whether for His land To let them fall as originally decreed, neither for the rod nor within the boundary of justice [i.e., for more benefit than strict justice warrants], but midway between [these two extremes].

or for kindness If the generation became more righteous than they were on Rosh Hashanah, then the rain which was decreed to fall in an average manner, shall be turned about by the guidance of their circuits to fall, with kindness, in their season and upon the land that requires them, so that not a drop of them should go to waste.

that He cause it to come The rain, in one of these ways.

If a full comprehension of the physical earthly world is beyond man’s grasp, how can he possibly hope to understand the wonders of the metaphysical heavenly world.

how God places the law of the covenant upon them, how they are suspended by His decree.

the revelations of the clouds Heb. מפלשי, the revelation of the clouds, an expression of an open (מפלש) alley, i.e., to the length and the width of the clouds.

Do you know concerning them, the wonders of Him Who is perfect in knowledge?

How your garments are warm How your garments are warm when He silences the earth from the south wind, so that it should not kill the world with cold, because the east wind warms it. As it is stated (Jonah 4:8): “a stilling east wind,” which quiets all other winds before it.

strong the skies.

as a molten mirror Like a mirror into which women look. [molten tristre, which is very strong.]

Let us know what we shall say to Him To the Holy One, blessed be He, when we contend with Him. We will not be able to set up a case with Him because of the darkness which conceals and surrounds Him.

If, a priori, man is incapable of grasping the metaphysical, perhaps this whole debate was a waste of time and should never have taken place.

Need it be told to Him when I speak Is He like mortals, that He must be told what we are saying?

On the other hand, how could Job’s assertion that God has delegated Governance to the Cosmos be left unchallenged?

or need a man tell utter with his mouth.

what is kept a secret so that it should be revealed to Him immediately, like (II Sam. 17:16), “lest the king be told secretly (יבלע)” [lest] it be revealed. But our Sages (Meg. 18a) explained: Can all His praise be told Him, that I should speak That we should speak of Him and His might? Has any man said to tell them all, he would surely be destroyed from his place.

And now, they did not see the rain At the conclusion of his words, Elihu returns to chide Job’s three companions for not finding an answer. He therefore says, “And now, these three companions of yours, who should have answered you all these things that I said to you...”

When Job’s three companions fell silent, Elihu had been right to take up the challenge and to demonstrate the sublime truth that God does indeed govern.

did not see the rain” They are like stillborn babies, who did not see wisdom.

it is [like] bright [clouds] in the skies It is like many bright clouds that appear in the skies to bring down rain, but the wind comes and clears them away, makes them pass away, and no rain falls. That is their analogy; they began to answer you, but at the end, they remained silent and did not answer.

Gold[en splendor] comes from the north It is as though he is returning to his previous statements. [“And now, they did not see the rain.”] Another explanation: The homily of the Sages (Taanith 7b) is that when the sky is full of spots, [i.e., full] of many clouds, to cause rain to fall, a wind passes and cleanses them away, and no rain falls. This is a homily of the Sages, but it does not fit the sequence of the verses.

In his final words, Elihu asserts that it is by virtue of the deep mystery that surrounds Providence that God’s Majesty is manifest and man is endowed with freewill.

Gold comes from the north The north wind blows and drives away the rain. Then the sun shines, like (Zech. 4:12), “that empty out the gold[en oil] from themselves.”

on God From before Him.

(Gold comes from the north The good gold is hidden for those who bring themselves to the commandments of the Holy One, blessed be He, and believe in the very awesome God.)

We have not found the Almighty great in power to arouse His judgments upon the creatures with the greatness of His power, but with clemency. He makes atonements for the creatures with small things, according to their ability: a handful of [fine flour from] a meal offering, a half shekel, turtle doves and young pigeons, cattle and flocks; and He did not burden them to seek a wild ox or an antelope.

God's inscrutability is the proof of His Supremacy. The fact that He is not at our call and does not explain Himself is the sign that His Governance is full of justice and charity. At times it is expressed as justice based on human actions and at other times as charity that is independent of any human act. Both are exercised in His Sublime Wisdom which is beyond human comprehension.

and with judgment Sufferings.

He does not afflict the creatures excessively. Likewise, He does nor afflict them to [force them into] becoming overly righteous to an impossible extent, but each man according to his ability.

Therefore, men fear Him to debate with Him. (because) He does not look upon any wise of heart who want to deal wisely with Him, because their wisdom is as nothing in His eyes. Our Sages (Rosh Hashanah 17a) explained this as referring to Job. Elihu says to him, “Because you would impose excessive fear upon your generation, you did not merit having wise-hearted sons remain alive to you.”