^36:22 Behold, God is exalted in his strength, and none is like him among lawgivers.
^36:23 Who will be able to search out his ways? Or who dares to say to him: You have worked iniquity?
^36:24 Remember that you are ignorant of his work, concerning which men have sung.
^36:25 All men see him; each one beholds from afar.
^36:26 Behold, God is great, surpassing our knowledge; the number of his years is inestimable.
^36:27 He takes away the drops of rain and pours out showers like torrents,
^36:28 which flow from the clouds, which cover all things from above.
^36:29 If he should will to extend the clouds like his tent,
^36:30 and to flash with his light from above, he will also cover the foundations of the sea.
^36:31 For through these he judges peoples and gives food to many mortals.

474. Behold, God is exalted in his strength, etc. After Elihu had rejected the words of Job with respect to the fact that he said he was just, here he strives to reject his words with respect to the fact that he believed him to have spoken against the justice of divine judgment.

Hence, first he proposes the sublimity of divine power when he says: Behold, God is exalted in his strength, that is, he has a power more sublime than all others; but it is not consonant with reason that a greater power should be condemned of injustice by a lesser.

Second, he proposes his authority when he adds: and none is like him among lawgivers, because, namely, the makers of laws through his wisdom decree just things, as is said in Proverbs 8:15; hence he cannot be condemned of injustice by the laws of anyone, but rather his wisdom is the rule and measure of all laws.

Third, he proposes the incomprehensibility of his works when he adds: Who will be able to search out his ways?, that is, to find sufficiently the reasons for his works? And from this he concludes, as it were, that he cannot be condemned of injustice, whence he adds: Or who dares to say to him: You have worked iniquity? For in order that someone be condemned of iniquity, it is required that he be subject to a higher power, that he be bound by another’s laws, and that his works be known; and these things have no place in God, as has been said.

475. Consequently he begins to make manifest that man cannot search out the ways of God, that is, his works, saying: Remember that you are ignorant of his work, concerning which men have sung, that is, wise men, whom he names men because of virtue of soul; but he says have sung because of the ancient custom of the wise, who described divine and philosophical matters in meter. But however wise some men may be, they cannot attain to knowing and recounting his essence; rather, all man’s knowledge and speech about God is through his works, which nevertheless neither Job nor any other man can know perfectly. And therefore he adds: All men see him, namely, through his works, for no one is so lacking in wisdom that he does not perceive some of the divine works. And again, no one is so wise that his knowledge is not greatly surpassed by the excellence of the divine brightness, whence he adds: each one beholds from afar, that is, man’s knowledge is far distant from the perfect comprehension of the divine essence, both because man can know only through works, which are infinitely distant from the excellence of his essence, and because man does not perfectly know even his works. And from this he concludes that God, through his excellence, exceeds man’s knowledge, whence he adds: Behold, God is great, surpassing our knowledge; for the fact that God cannot be known perfectly by us does not happen because of a defect in him, as happens with motion and time, but because of his excellence. But someone could say that, although we cannot know what God is, nevertheless we can know of God that he is, which pertains to his duration; but that this too exceeds man’s knowledge he shows, adding: the number of his years is inestimable, because, namely, the eternity of his duration cannot be comprehended by the human intellect.

476. He consequently shows the greatness of the works of God, which exceed human reason, by enumerating the diverse changes of the air, which is sometimes disposed to dryness, and with respect to this he says: He takes away the drops of rain, namely, by preventing it from raining; but sometimes rains abound in the air, and he describes their greatness, saying: and pours out showers like torrents, which, namely, flow upon the earth. And this abundance of rain appears admirable if the origin of rains is considered, namely, that so much water should burst forth from clouds, which do not have solidity; and with respect to this he adds: which, namely, the torrents, flow from the clouds, yet not in such a way that so much rain actually exists in the clouds, but because the vapors of the clouds themselves are successively condensed into rains. But there is also another admirable thing in rains, namely, that they are poured over a long stretch of lands, whence he adds: which cover all things from above, namely, the places in the region where it rains, so that no part of that land remains without rain.

Consequently he speaks of the clouds themselves, saying: If he should will to extend the clouds like his tent, because, namely, through clouds the heaven, which is the seat of God, is hidden, just as the seat of some man is hidden by a tent. But from the clouds lightning proceeds because of the collision of wind, whence he adds: and to flash with his light from above; and clouds sometimes cover the heaven as far as the horizon of some region, within which the extremities of the sea seem to be enclosed: he will also cover the foundations of the sea, namely, with the tent of clouds. But he says if he should will to show that the divine will is the principle of natural works; and it is proper to the will to act for the sake of an end, and therefore he shows the end of these works, adding: For through these he judges peoples, namely, with respect to those who are punished through these things, and gives food to many mortals, namely, with respect to the fact that rains are useful for the fruitfulness of the earth, through which food for men is born.