4 MICHAEL V. FOX understanding” (38,4). Job must silently admit what no one could deny, that he was not there. “Who laid down its measurements — for you know — or who stretched a line upon it?” (38,5). This is not a hard question. The answer is obviously “You, God”. There is nothing degrading in a human not being God or not being present at creation, and Job is keenly aware of his frail humanness. The parenthetical “for you know” is not sarcastic. God is reminding Job that he knows quite well the identity of the architect and builder of the universe. This principle will be illustrated lavishly in the next four chapters. Nor are the other questions stumpers. “Upon what are its [sc. the world’s] sockets sunk?” (38,6a) Job has already given the answer: “upon nothingness” (26,7). The only function of this question can be to evoke awe at the way the foundation pillars of the earth can rest on the void. The following circumstantial clause, “when the morning stars cried out and all the gods shouted” (38,7) has nothing to con- tribute to a question meant to stump or intimidate. Rather, it is part of painting a glorious and joyful scene. Note that this circumstantial clause assumes Job’s knowledge of the angels’ rejoicing. Next God asks, “Who enclosed the sea in doors, when it gushed forth from the womb” (38,8) 12? The sea is not here the mythical enemy Yamm (as Job regards it in 9,8) but a baby, unruly but con- trollable. God’s swaddling the infant sea (38,9) introduces a note of tenderness into what was traditionally pictured as a violent act. God asserts control, not by battle — which would be the appropriate image if the main point were YHWH’s might — but by paternal discipline, putting the rowdy child behind doors and setting limits to his roving by an admonition: “Thus far you may come but no farther, and here I stop your proud waves” (38,11) 13. This passage sets the tone for the rest of the Theophany: God creates an orderly, elegant world, one he takes pride in and cares for, all without much violence. If it be objected that this picture is irrelevant to humans because they are not men- tioned, consider what an uncontrolled sea would do to them. Reading $s ym . Thus D.J.A. CLINES, Job 38-42 (WBC; Nashville, TN 12 2009) 16. See Clines’s commentary for surveys and discussions of this emen- dation and others proposed in this essay. Emendation is necessary. The best emendation, requiring mainly a re- 13 ordering of consonants, is $ylg !wag tybva hpw. Other reasonable emenda- tions produce the same basic sense: the shore is the sea’s limit (see CLINES, Job 38-42, 16-18). © Gregorian Biblical Press 2012 - Tutti i diritti riservati