Job — Chapter 12

Respondens autem Job dixit Ergo vos

On Job's ironic response to the friends: "No doubt you are the only people, and wisdom will die with you!" Corderius notes the controlled irony: Job is not angry but incisive. The friends have been speaking as if the theological truths they uttered were their private possession; Job points out that even the most ordinary person knows these things — one can be taught by the beasts, the birds, the earth, and the fish of the sea (vv. 7-9). On v. 4: "I am one mocked of his neighbor, who calls upon God and he answers him" — the just man, when he becomes an object of ridicule and his prayer seems unanswered, does not lose faith but intensifies his appeal to God. Corderius cites Chrysostom on the particular humiliation of the righteous man who is mocked by those who attribute his suffering to his sins: this is the deepest wound, not the loss of property but the imputation of guilt. On "the simplicity of the just is laughed to scorn" (v. 4): Corderius develops a theology of holy folly, citing Paul (1 Cor. 4:10) and the tradition of the fool for Christ.

Ergo vos estis soli homines et vobiscum

On Job's satire of the friends' exclusivity: "No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you!" Corderius notes the rhetorical technique of reductio ad absurdum: Job takes the friends' implicit claim (that they possess superior wisdom) to its logical extreme, making it ridiculous. He cites Aristotle (Rhetoric II.21-22) on irony as a rhetorical figure. On v. 3: "But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?" — the "such things as these" is the natural theology that the friends have been reciting. Corderius notes: any moderately intelligent and observant person can arrive at these truths through natural reason; what is needed for a genuine theodicy is not these common truths but divine wisdom about particular cases. On v. 5: "In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for those whose feet slip" — Corderius reads this as Job's sharpest observation: the friends can speak glibly about suffering because they are comfortable; let them taste what he has experienced and see if they maintain their easy theodicy.

Nimirum interroga jumenta et docebunt te

On the natural revelation of divine wisdom: "But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food? Is wisdom in the aged, and understanding in the long-lived?" Corderius develops the concept of natural revelation embedded in the created order. All creatures, from the lowest to the highest, proclaim the wisdom, power, and goodness of their Creator. He draws on Augustine (Conf. X.6): when asked "do you know my God?", all creatures reply "He made us." The proper response to the created order is not mere scientific curiosity but theological wonder that leads to worship. On v. 12: "Is wisdom in the aged?" — Corderius balances this against Elihu's later claim (ch. 32:8) that wisdom comes not from age alone but from the divine spirit; both partial truths need to be synthesized: age gives experience; the spirit gives illumination; both together yield wisdom.

Apud ipsum est sapientia et fortitudo

On the divine wisdom and power in governing the world: "With him is wisdom and strength; he hath counsel and understanding." Corderius develops this passage as a hymn to divine Providence. On vv. 17-25: God leads counselors away stripped, makes judges fools, looses the girdle of kings, makes priests walk stripped of honor, overturns the mighty, removes speech from the trusted, takes understanding from elders, pours contempt on princes — Corderius sees here the principle of divine leveling: all earthly powers are subordinate to divine governance and can be confounded or elevated at will. Gregory (Moral. XI.3): this passage teaches that no earthly power should be trusted absolutely, since all derives from and is subject to God alone. On v. 22: "He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings forth into light the shadow of death" — Corderius applies this to the revelation of hidden sins at the Last Judgment, and also to the mysteries of Sacred Scripture which were obscure under the Old Covenant and clarified in the New.