^9:8 He who alone extends the heavens and walks upon the waves of the sea.
^9:9 He who makes Arcturus and Orion and the Hyades and the inner parts of the South.
^9:10 He who makes great and inscrutable and wondrous things, of which there is no number.

158. He who alone extends the heavens, etc. After blessed Job has shown the strength of divine might, here he begins to show the depth of divine wisdom. Now he proceeds in an order contrary to the present and the previous one: for first he began from showing divine strength in human affairs and proceeded even to the heavenly bodies, but here he begins from the heavenly bodies and proceeds even to human affairs. And this is reasonable, for the wisdom of a maker is shown in the fact that he makes stable works, and therefore, in showing divine wisdom, he begins from the more stable creatures, as from those having a more evident indication of divine wisdom; but the strength of some power is shown from the fact that it can change things from their state—whence men are accustomed to be tested in lifting or throwing stones, throwing down men, and things of this kind—and for this reason, when he was showing the strength of divine power, he began from those things in which change appears more manifestly.

159. Thus, therefore, to show divine wisdom he begins from the heavenly bodies, saying: He who alone extends the heavens. Now it must be known that the wisdom of God appears especially worthy of praise in three things,

first, indeed, in this, that by his intellect and wisdom he can measure certain great things, and with regard to this he says: He who alone extends the heavens; for in the extension of the heavens the greatness of their quantity is expressed. Thus, therefore, God alone is said to have extended the heavens insofar as he alone could give to the heavens such a quantity, measured by his wisdom.

Second, the wisdom of God appears worthy of praise in this, that he reduces variable things, and things fluctuating as though uncertainly, to a definite order and makes them subject to his governance; and with regard to this he adds: and walks upon the waves of the sea. For the waves of the sea seem most disordered, in that they are driven around by various winds, now here, now there; and yet God walks upon them insofar as God subjects them to his governance.

Third, the wisdom of God appears worthy of praise from this, that God has established many things according to the reason of his wisdom which appear wondrous to men, and whose reason they cannot investigate; and these are especially the things that appear in the position and disposition of the stars, which nevertheless were instituted by God most wisely and reasonably. And he enumerates these things, beginning from the northern pole and proceeding even to the southern pole, whence he says: He who makes Arcturus. Now Arcturus is a certain constellation in the sky that is called the Great Bear and has seven bright stars which never set for us but always circle around the northern pole. There follows: and Orion; Orion is a certain constellation very evident in the sky because of its size and the brightness of its stars, which are said to be in Taurus and Gemini. There follows: and the Hyades, which are certain stars existing, as is said, in the breast of Taurus and are also very notable to the sight. There follows: and the inner parts of the South,

where it must be considered that for those who dwell under the equator, if indeed any dwell there, both poles are visible, since their horizon cuts the equator at right angles; and thus it must pass through both poles of the equator, whence both poles are made visible to those dwelling under the equator, as has been said. But for those receding from the equator and approaching toward the northern pole, the northern pole is raised above the horizon and the southern pole is lowered according to the measure of their distance from the equator. Hence for us, who are in the northern part, the southern pole can never be visible, and likewise the stars near it are hidden from us according to the degree by which we are distant from the equator; and these are here called the inner parts of the South because they are hidden from us, as though concealed and lowered beneath the horizon.

160. And lest someone believe that divine wisdom has manifested itself only in the things mentioned above, he consequently shows that God has made many other innumerable similar things for us, saying: He who makes great things, in which, namely, the wisdom of God appears worthy of praise from the proportioning of magnitude; and this corresponds to what he had said: He who alone extends the heavens; and inscrutable things, which, namely, men cannot scrutinize because of their instability, yet which are ordered by divine governance; and this corresponds to what he had said: and walks upon the waves of the sea; and wondrous things, whose reasons, namely, men cannot consider, although they have been made by God according to reason; and this corresponds to what he had said: He who makes Arcturus, and the rest. But what he adds, of which there is no number, is to be referred to each of these, yet in such a way that the works of God are understood to be innumerable to men, but numerable to God, who makes all things in number, weight, and measure.