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*H Wilt thou make void my judgment: and condemn me, that thou mayst be justified?
Ver. 3. Judgment. Job had frequently acknowledged that God could not be in the wrong. But he had expressed himself in too forcible language, of which God makes him, as it were, ashamed. C. — Sept. "rejectest thou not my decision? yea, dost thou think that I have judged thee in a different manner, in order that thou mayst appear just?" H.
* Summa
*S Part 1, Ques 3, Article 1
[I, Q. 3, Art. 1]
Whether God Is a Body?
Objection 1: It seems that God is a body. For a body is that which has the three dimensions. But Holy Scripture attributes the three dimensions to God, for it is written: "He is higher than Heaven, and what wilt thou do? He is deeper than Hell, and how wilt thou know? The measure of Him is longer than the earth and broader than the sea" (Job 11:8, 9). Therefore God is a body.
Obj. 2: Further, everything that has figure is a body, since figure is a quality of quantity. But God seems to have figure, for it is written: "Let us make man to our image and likeness" (Gen. 1:26). Now a figure is called an image, according to the text: "Who being the brightness of His glory and the figure," i.e. the image, "of His substance" (Heb. 1:3). Therefore God is a body.
Obj. 3: Further, whatever has corporeal parts is a body. Now Scripture attributes corporeal parts to God. "Hast thou an arm like God?" (Job 40:4); and "The eyes of the Lord are upon the just" (Ps. 33:16); and "The right hand of the Lord hath wrought strength" (Ps. 117:16). Therefore God is a body.
Obj. 4: Further, posture belongs only to bodies. But something which supposes posture is said of God in the Scriptures: "I saw the Lord sitting" (Isa. 6:1), and "He standeth up to judge" (Isa. 3:13). Therefore God is a body.
Obj. 5: Further, only bodies or things corporeal can be a local term _wherefrom_ or _whereto._ But in the Scriptures God is spoken of as a local term _whereto,_ according to the words, "Come ye to Him and be enlightened" (Ps. 33:6), and as a term _wherefrom_: "All they that depart from Thee shall be written in the earth" (Jer. 17:13). Therefore God is a body.
_On the contrary,_ It is written in the Gospel of St. John (John 4:24): "God is a spirit."
_I answer that,_ It is absolutely true that God is not a body; and this can be shown in three ways. First, because no body is in motion unless it be put in motion, as is evident from induction. Now it has been already proved (Q. 2, A. 3), that God is the First Mover, and is Himself unmoved. Therefore it is clear that God is not a body. Secondly, because the first being must of necessity be in act, and in no way in potentiality. For although in any single thing that passes from potentiality to actuality, the potentiality is prior in time to the actuality; nevertheless, absolutely speaking, actuality is prior to potentiality; for whatever is in potentiality can be reduced into actuality only by some being in actuality. Now it has been already proved that God is the First Being. It is therefore impossible that in God there should be any potentiality. But every body is in potentiality because the continuous, as such, is divisible to infinity; it is therefore impossible that God should be a body. Thirdly, because God is the most noble of beings. Now it is impossible for a body to be the most noble of beings; for a body must be either animate or inanimate; and an animate body is manifestly nobler than any inanimate body. But an animate body is not animate precisely as body; otherwise all bodies would be animate. Therefore its animation depends upon some other thing, as our body depends for its animation on the soul. Hence that by which a body becomes animated must be nobler than the body. Therefore it is impossible that God should be a body.
Reply Obj. 1: As we have said above (Q. 1, A. 9), Holy Writ puts before us spiritual and divine things under the comparison of corporeal things. Hence, when it attributes to God the three dimensions under the comparison of corporeal quantity, it implies His virtual quantity; thus, by depth, it signifies His power of knowing hidden things; by height, the transcendence of His excelling power; by length, the duration of His existence; by breadth, His act of love for all. Or, as says Dionysius (Div. Nom. ix), by the depth of God is meant the incomprehensibility of His essence; by length, the procession of His all-pervading power; by breadth, His overspreading all things, inasmuch as all things lie under His protection.
Reply Obj. 2: Man is said to be after the image of God, not as regards his body, but as regards that whereby he excels other animals. Hence, when it is said, "Let us make man to our image and likeness", it is added, "And let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea" (Gen. 1:26). Now man excels all animals by his reason and intelligence; hence it is according to his intelligence and reason, which are incorporeal, that man is said to be according to the image of God.
Reply Obj. 3: Corporeal parts are attributed to God in Scripture on account of His actions, and this is owing to a certain parallel. For instance the act of the eye is to see; hence the eye attributed to God signifies His power of seeing intellectually, not sensibly; and so on with the other parts.
Reply Obj. 4: Whatever pertains to posture, also, is only attributed to God by some sort of parallel. He is spoken of as sitting, on account of His unchangeableness and dominion; and as standing, on account of His power of overcoming whatever withstands Him.
Reply Obj. 5: We draw near to God by no corporeal steps, since He is everywhere, but by the affections of our soul, and by the actions of that same soul do we withdraw from Him; thus, to draw near to or to withdraw signifies merely spiritual actions based on the metaphor of local motion. _______________________
SECOND
*H Scatter the proud in thy indignation, and behold every arrogant man, and humble him.
Ver. 6. Scatter. Sept. is shorter: (C.) "Send angels or messengers in wrath, and humble every insulting person. 7. Extinguish the proud, destroy the wicked at once. 8. Hide them in the earth together, and fill their faces with shame." H.
*H Hide them in the dust together, and plunge their faces into the pit.
Ver. 8. Pit, or grave. Cause the earth to swallow them up, and I will confess thy power. C.
*H Behold behemoth whom I made with thee, he eateth grass like an ox.
Ver. 10. Behemoth; the elephant, (Ch.) "as some think." Prot. marg. H. — This is the most common opinion, though Sanchez explains it of the bull; and Bochart, after Beza and Diodati, declares in favour of the hippopotamus, (C.) or "river horse." Parkhurst even thinks Bochart has proved this "to a demonstration." The sea or river horse, (H.) is an amphibious animal, (C.) found in the Nile and Indus, and said to have the feet of an ox and the teeth of a boar, but not quite so sharp, while the neighing, back, mane, and tail, resemble those of a horse. Its hide, when dry, is said to resist even a musket-ball. Button. Dict. — We find a good description of this animal in Watson, p. 91. But the plural Bemoth, female (H.) "beasts," seems more applicable to the elephant, on account of its great size, as it is designated by θηρια, or Bellua, by the Greek and Roman authors. Suidas. 1 Mac. vi. 35. Pliny viii. 3. — It may have received the name of elephant from (C.) alp, "to lead or teach," (H.) on account of its great sagacity and strength. All that Job says of behemoth, may be well explained of it. The Fathers have supposed, that the devil is meant: but we stick to the literal sense. C. — He may, however, (H.) have been hinted at by this name, (W.) as well as by that of leviathan. Houbigant. — With thee, on the same day, or as well as thee. Amama. — Grass. The elephant does so, and is by no means savage. C. — Sept. "Yet, behold, near thee wild beasts, equal to oxen, eat grass." H. — The spontaneous productions of the earth, and branches of trees, afford the principal sustenance to satisfy the prodigious stomach of the elephant; which is frequently twelve feet high, and of a dark colour. A sword can scarcely pierce it in the back or sides. It has small eyes, eight teeth, and two tusks; which last are sometimes above a hundred weight each, and being cast every tenth year, (Button) afford ivory. The proboscis serves it instead of hands to collect the smallest grain, or to defend itself. H. — The female goes with young a whole year, and the duration of its life is generally supposed to be above a hundred. Elephants inhabit warm climates, and were formerly much used in war, to carry wooden towers, from which twenty, or even thirty, men might throw darts. 1 Mac. vi. 37. Button. — If this greatest and most temperate of all beasts be overcome by the unicorn, or led by the nose, how much more will God enable man to overcome the devil? W.
*H His strength is in his loins, and his force in the navel of his belly.
Ver. 11. Loins. The towers were fastened here by an iron chain. — Belly. Yet it is nowhere so easily wounded. 1 Mac. vi. 45. Pliny viii. 20. — Hence some would translate Heb. "and its pain in the belly," (C.) as it is only subject to an inflammation and flux; profluvium alvi. Pliny. Ælian xvii. 44. — But the original rather denotes the parts of generation, which lie concealed, (Arist. anim. ii. 1. and v. 2.) and are styled the strength. Gen. xlix. 3. Deut. xxi. 17.
*H He setteth up his tail like a cedar, the sinews of his testicles are wrapped together.
Ver. 12. Tail, which is very small, and without hair. C. — Vavassor rather thinks "the trunk" is meant. D.
*H His bones are like pipes of brass, his gristle like plates of iron.
Ver. 13. Gristle. Heb. again, "bones." C. — Sept. "back-bone, like cast iron."
*H He is the beginning of the ways of God, who made him, he will apply his sword.
Ver. 14. Beginning, or prince. H. — The elephant may be considered as the king of beasts for strength, agility, gratitude, longevity, &c. None approaches so near to man. Pliny viii. 1. C. Lipsius, 1 ep. 50. Amama. — Sword; which is the rhinoceros, killing the elephant under the belly with its horn; (Pliny viii. 20. Grot.) or God seems to have entrusted his sword to the elephant, for the destruction of his enemies. Nothing can withstand its fury, as it overturns houses and trees with its trunk. Jun. C.
*H To him the mountains bring forth grass: there all the beasts of the field shall play.
Ver. 15. Play. No animal is of a milder nature. It never attacks, unless in its own defence. When a crowd of other beasts obstruct its passage, it removes them quietly with its proboscis. Pliny vi. 9. &c.
*H He sleepeth under the shadow, in the covert of the reed, and in moist places.
Ver. 16. Places, insomuch that Ælian (iv. 24.) styles it a "beast of the marshes." It is fabulous that it is forced to sleep against a tree, as if it could not rise without much difficulty. C. — Sept. (14) "This is the beginning or chief ( αρχη ) of the creation of the Lord, being made for his angels to play with, or beat. Departing to the craggy rock, it has made sport for the quadrupeds in the field. It sleepeth under all sorts of trees; near the reed and papyrus, and the boutomon, or ox-herb." H.
*H Behold, he will drink up a river, and not wonder: and he trusteth that the Jordan may run into his mouth.
Ver. 18. Wonder. Heb. "make haste," taking time to render it muddy. Ælian xiv. 44. — It can drink a great deal at once, and then abstain for a week. C. — Run. Heb. "he may draw." Sept. "may knock at his mouth," (H.) in vain, (C.) as long as it can breathe by holding by holding its trunk out of the water. Arist. ix. 46. — Theod. in the Sept. "If there should be an inundation, it shall not perceive. It confideth that, or when, the Jordan shall knock at its mouth. He shall take it by its eye; laying snares, he shall bore [its] nose." H.
* Summa
*S Part 3, Ques 18, Article 3
[II-II, Q. 18, Art. 3]
Whether Hope Is in the Damned?
Objection 1: It would seem that there is hope in the damned. For the devil is damned and prince of the damned, according to Matt. 25:41: "Depart . . . you cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels." But the devil has hope, according to Job 40:28, "Behold his hope shall fail him." Therefore it seems that the damned have hope.
Obj. 2: Further, just as faith is either living or dead, so is hope. But lifeless faith can be in the devils and the damned, according to James 2:19: "The devils . . . believe and tremble." Therefore it seems that lifeless hope also can be in the damned.
Obj. 3: Further, after death there accrues to man no merit or demerit that he had not before, according to Eccles. 11:3, "If the tree fall to the south, or to the north, in what place soever it shall fall, there shall it be." Now many who are damned, in this life hoped and never despaired. Therefore they will hope in the future life also.
_On the contrary,_ Hope causes joy, according to Rom. 12:12, "Rejoicing in hope." Now the damned have no joy, but sorrow and grief, according to Isa. 65:14, "My servants shall praise for joyfulness of heart, and you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for grief of spirit." Therefore no hope is in the damned.
_I answer that,_ Just as it is a condition of happiness that the will should find rest therein, so is it a condition of punishment, that what is inflicted in punishment, should go against the will. Now that which is not known can neither be restful nor repugnant to the will: wherefore Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. xi, 17) that the angels could not be perfectly happy in their first state before their confirmation, or unhappy before their fall, since they had no foreknowledge of what would happen to them. For perfect and true happiness requires that one should be certain of being happy for ever, else the will would not rest.
In like manner, since the everlastingness of damnation is a necessary condition of the punishment of the damned, it would not be truly penal unless it went against the will; and this would be impossible if they were ignorant of the everlastingness of their damnation. Hence it belongs to the unhappy state of the damned, that they should know that they cannot by any means escape from damnation and obtain happiness. Wherefore it is written (Job 15:22): "He believeth not that he may return from darkness to light." It is, therefore, evident that they cannot apprehend happiness as a possible good, as neither can the blessed apprehend it as a future good. Consequently there is no hope either in the blessed or in the damned. On the other hand, hope can be in wayfarers, whether of this life or in purgatory, because in either case they apprehend happiness as a future possible thing.
Reply Obj. 1: As Gregory says (Moral. xxxiii, 20) this is said of the devil as regards his members, whose hope will fail utterly: or, if it be understood of the devil himself, it may refer to the hope whereby he expects to vanquish the saints, in which sense we read just before (Job 40:18): "He trusteth that the Jordan may run into his mouth": this is not, however, the hope of which we are speaking.
Reply Obj. 2: As Augustine says (Enchiridion viii), "faith is about things, bad or good, past, present, or future, one's own or another's; whereas hope is only about good things, future and concerning oneself." Hence it is possible for lifeless faith to be in the damned, but not hope, since the Divine goods are not for them future possible things, but far removed from them.
Reply Obj. 3: Lack of hope in the damned does not change their demerit, as neither does the voiding of hope in the blessed increase their merit: but both these things are due to the change in their respective states. _______________________
FOURTH
*H In his eyes as with a hook he shall take him, and bore through his nostrils with stakes.
Ver. 19. Stakes. Serpents attack the eyes of the elephant, and sometimes drag it by the trunk into the deep, where it is drowned. Pliny viii. 12. Solin xxxviii. — Others read with an interrogation: "Shall one take?" &c. Will any one dare to attack it openly? The elephant is taken by stratagem, either in pits covered with a little earth, or by a tame elephant in an inclosure, and (C.) lying on her hack to receive the male. Arist. anim. v. 2. — When he has entered, the gate is shut, and the animal is tamed by hunger; being thus taken by his eyes. Judith x. 17. Chal. "They pierce his nostrils with bands." Thus other animals are led about, (v. 21) and the elephant might be so treated in those days; though of this we have no account. C. — Prot. "his nose pierceth through snares;" or marg. "will any bore his nose with a gin?" Here they conclude this chapter, which commences C. xxxix. 31. in Heb. But the Sept. agree with us. H.
*H Canst thou draw out the leviathan with a hook, or canst thou tie his tongue with a cord?
Ver. 20. Leviathan: the whale, or some sea monster. Ch. — Prot. marg. "or a whirlpool." H. — But some animal is designated; and Bochart understands the crocodile, which agrees very well with the context. The Thalmudists also say that the calbish is a small fish, which gets into the throat of the leviathan. They mean probably the ichneumon, which kills the crocodile by that means. Leviathan, "the winding serpent," (C.) often denotes the dragon or crocodile, (Ps. ciii. 26. Isai. xxvii. 1.) which frequents the Nile. H. — It can live as well by land as under water, (Watson, p. 293) and hence may be translated, (H.) "the coupled dragon." Parkhurst. — Moses mentions the choled, (Lev. xi. 29.) which the Sept. and most others translate, "the land crocodile:" but what could induce the Prot. "to render it tortoise, we are at a loss to determine." Crocodiles lay about sixty eggs, like those of geese, in the sand, the warmth of which soon hatches them. Their bodies are covered with scales, which are scarcely penetrable, except under the belly; and they are between twenty and thirty feet in length, running very fast, straight forward, though their feet be short, and they cannot turn easily. They have several rows of sharp teeth, which enter one within another, and their throat is very wide. Button. — The same word may however denote whales, (Parkhurst) which are the greatest fishes with which man is acquainted. H. — They may also be styled coupled dragons, because many smaller fishes accompany them, and they are well protected by scales, &c. M. — This huge fish, perhaps the whale, representing the devil, is subject to God. W. — Cord. The crocodile may be taken, but with the utmost hazard; though the Tentyrites attacked it without fear. C. iii. 8. Herodotus (ii. 70.) says it may be caught with a hook, baited with hog's flesh, while the fisher has a pig grunting, at which the crocodile comes open-mouthed. Having swallowed the hook, it is drawn to land, and its small eyes being filled with dirt it is easily slain. But the method was not yet invented, or was deemed too rash in Job's days.
*H Canst thou put a ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw with a buckle?
Ver. 21. Buckle. Lit. "bracelet," (armilla. H.) or ring. Horses were thus ornamented, (Virg. vii. 7.) and other beasts led about. But this fierce animal could not be tamed. Heb. "Wilt thou put a rush through its gills, or nose, or pierce its jaw with a thorn?" like those little fishes which are thus brought fresh to market. C.
*H Will he make many supplications to thee, or speak soft words to thee?
Ver. 22. Will it lay aside its ferocity, (H.) and flatter thee? M.
*H Shalt thou play with him as with a bird, or tie him up for thy handmaids?
Ver. 24. Handmaids? or little girls. C. Sept. "Wilt thou tie it like a sparrow for thy boy?" H.
*H Shall friends cut him in pieces, shall merchants divide him?
Ver. 25. Friends. Heb. also, (H.) "enchanters." C. — Frigidus in pratis cantando rumpitur anguis. Virg. Ec. viii. — Sept. "the nations." — Merchants. Sept. "the generation of the Phœnicians (Heb.) of Chanaan, (H.) famous for merchandise, (C.) insomuch that the name is used for any merchant. H. — Will they salt the crocodile for sale? C. — Its flesh was much liked. Herod, &c.
*H Wilt thou fill nets with his skin, and the cabins of fishes with his head?
Ver. 26. Cabins, (gurgustium) the reservoir or basket. C. — Prot. "Canst thou fill his skin with barbed prongs, (for which they have now irons) or his head with fish spears?" — But this is hardly the meaning of the original. C. xli. 6. Heb. "wilt thou fill tents with its skin, or the fish net, with its head?" to catch other fish, or to cover thy tent? &c. The skin is very hard, except under the belly. C. — One defended itself against 36 men, who fired at it six times in vain. Herera. — Sept. "a whole fleet collected would not carry off the skin of its tail." H. — They seem to speak of the whale. C. — Theodotion adds, "and its head in fisher boats." H.
*H Lay thy hand upon him: remember the battle, and speak no more.
Ver. 27. Speak. Heb. "do." H. — Thy rash attempt will prove thy ruin. If thou escape, thou wilt not dare to engage again. C. — Sept. "Wilt thou lay thy hand upon it, remembering the battle with its body? and let it not be done any more. 28. Hast thou not seen it, nor been astonished at what has been said?" H.
*H Behold his hope shall fail him, and in the sight of all he shall be cast down.
Ver. 28. Down, whoever engages in the conflict, (M.) except the bold citizens of Tentyra. All the rest are terrified at the very sight. Hence the Egyptians have ever given divine honours to the crocodile. C.
* Summa
*S Part 3, Ques 18, Article 3
[II-II, Q. 18, Art. 3]
Whether Hope Is in the Damned?
Objection 1: It would seem that there is hope in the damned. For the devil is damned and prince of the damned, according to Matt. 25:41: "Depart . . . you cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels." But the devil has hope, according to Job 40:28, "Behold his hope shall fail him." Therefore it seems that the damned have hope.
Obj. 2: Further, just as faith is either living or dead, so is hope. But lifeless faith can be in the devils and the damned, according to James 2:19: "The devils . . . believe and tremble." Therefore it seems that lifeless hope also can be in the damned.
Obj. 3: Further, after death there accrues to man no merit or demerit that he had not before, according to Eccles. 11:3, "If the tree fall to the south, or to the north, in what place soever it shall fall, there shall it be." Now many who are damned, in this life hoped and never despaired. Therefore they will hope in the future life also.
_On the contrary,_ Hope causes joy, according to Rom. 12:12, "Rejoicing in hope." Now the damned have no joy, but sorrow and grief, according to Isa. 65:14, "My servants shall praise for joyfulness of heart, and you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for grief of spirit." Therefore no hope is in the damned.
_I answer that,_ Just as it is a condition of happiness that the will should find rest therein, so is it a condition of punishment, that what is inflicted in punishment, should go against the will. Now that which is not known can neither be restful nor repugnant to the will: wherefore Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. xi, 17) that the angels could not be perfectly happy in their first state before their confirmation, or unhappy before their fall, since they had no foreknowledge of what would happen to them. For perfect and true happiness requires that one should be certain of being happy for ever, else the will would not rest.
In like manner, since the everlastingness of damnation is a necessary condition of the punishment of the damned, it would not be truly penal unless it went against the will; and this would be impossible if they were ignorant of the everlastingness of their damnation. Hence it belongs to the unhappy state of the damned, that they should know that they cannot by any means escape from damnation and obtain happiness. Wherefore it is written (Job 15:22): "He believeth not that he may return from darkness to light." It is, therefore, evident that they cannot apprehend happiness as a possible good, as neither can the blessed apprehend it as a future good. Consequently there is no hope either in the blessed or in the damned. On the other hand, hope can be in wayfarers, whether of this life or in purgatory, because in either case they apprehend happiness as a future possible thing.
Reply Obj. 1: As Gregory says (Moral. xxxiii, 20) this is said of the devil as regards his members, whose hope will fail utterly: or, if it be understood of the devil himself, it may refer to the hope whereby he expects to vanquish the saints, in which sense we read just before (Job 40:18): "He trusteth that the Jordan may run into his mouth": this is not, however, the hope of which we are speaking.
Reply Obj. 2: As Augustine says (Enchiridion viii), "faith is about things, bad or good, past, present, or future, one's own or another's; whereas hope is only about good things, future and concerning oneself." Hence it is possible for lifeless faith to be in the damned, but not hope, since the Divine goods are not for them future possible things, but far removed from them.
Reply Obj. 3: Lack of hope in the damned does not change their demerit, as neither does the voiding of hope in the blessed increase their merit: but both these things are due to the change in their respective states. _______________________
FOURTH