THEOSISGregory the Great
My spouse recoils at my breath (Job 19:17). What might the Lord's ‘wife’ signify if not the Synagogue, which is subordinate to Him within the Covenant of the Law and possesses a material understanding? For breath is produced by the body and emanates from the flesh, and those without faith perceived in the Incarnate Lord merely a corporeal form; thus, the Synagogue regarded Him as an ordinary man. This is why His ‘wife trembles at His breath’—because the Synagogue hesitates to recognize Him as God, whom she sees in human form.
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When she heard His spoken words, she failed to acknowledge the mystery of His Divine nature and did not believe Him to be the Creator of all that exists; therefore, the tangible ‘wife shudders at the breath’ of His body, for, being bound to worldly perception, she could not grasp the mystery of the Incarnation. The passage continues, "I begged the children of my womb" (Job 19:17). Although God, who transcends bodily form, is often depicted as possessing parts of a body—eyes, womb, hands, etc.—this language serves to express His omnipotence and actions. He is referenced as having eyes, underscoring that He observes all things; He is described as having hands, indicating that He is the Creator of everything. The term womb refers to the offspring brought forth into existence; therefore, what are we to understand by the ‘womb’ of God if not His Divine Council, wherein we were predestined to enter the world in due time? God, who exists beyond time, ‘begged the children of His womb’ because those He formed through the power of His Divine essence He humbly entreated while in the Incarnation. And since, in the same flesh in which He manifested, He was held in contempt by them, this is further connected: