Job 38:9Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Consequently, the devout, who empathize with the negligent, believe themselves to be in the same position and implore God, saying, “You have placed a cloud before You, that our prayer may not ascend” (Lamentations 3:44). It is as if they openly express that their eyes have become accustomed to earthly pleasures, provided by Your just decree, overtaken by vain concerns even during sincere prayer. As You observe us succumbing to base desires, it is understandable that You prevent the spiritually blind from perceiving the brightness of Your presence. Even when a blind person approaches You, they are veiled by their own thoughts and do not see You. Those who continually dwell on material things due to their desires may even unwittingly include them in their prayers. Yet, the corruption that pursues them is restrained by God's will, preventing it from fully breaking through to the righteous as it wishes. After asserting, “When I made the clouds his garments,” it follows with supplication: “and darkness his swaddling clothes.”

The hands and feet are bound in swaddling clothes, preventing erratic behavior from unfettered freedom. The persecutors of the Holy Church, who are restless in heart and devoted to worldly pursuits, cannot partake in the richness of life but instead indulge in trivial pastimes. Those who are enshrouded in darkness and gloom—not by Divine decree—are depicted as being wrapped in swaddling clothes. They may delight in childish matters, yet God's Providence restrains them from reaching out freely. Even if they may want to commit various sins, this does not confer upon them the right to act on every urge. Thus, we return to Job: “When I made the clouds his garments, and darkness his swaddling clothes.”

This turbulent sea—our heart troubled with thoughts—is cloaked in a cloud, distorted by the chaos of its own anxieties. It is enveloped in darkness as with swaddling clothes, hindering it from grasping profound truths with its feeble senses. Paul too is enveloped in a kind of darkness, akin to a veil, when he reflects, “Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Cor. 13:12). It is evident he recognizes his own immaturity in the comprehension of divine matters, stating, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child” (1 Cor. 13:11). In due time, we shall emerge from our childhood into the vigor of youth, seeing with clarity the life we aspire to. However, presently, our diminished vision due to infirmities constricts our understanding, as if our minds are bound in swaddling clothes. Thus, this theme is aptly expressed:

The Lord directed His words to Job, who had arrogantly sought to understand these complexities, and called him to attentiveness, presenting questions rooted in the natural world, intending to illustrate that if one cannot comprehend the simple elements of the physical realm, it is even more inconceivable to grasp issues within the moral domain (38: 1-3). Initially, the Lord inquires about the earth's origins and its primordial condition, seemingly demonstrating to Job the restrictive nature of human knowledge and the vast unknowns surrounding him, especially if he cannot answer this fundamental question (4-6). Meanwhile, God fashioned the earth with the same ease with which one constructs a basic edifice—yet the creation was so magnificent, so resplendent, that the heavenly beings extolled the Creator with overwhelming joy (7). The Creator's power and wisdom are equally evident in the confinement of the ocean depths (8-11) and the distinction between light and darkness (12-15). However, these great depths and boundaries of light and darkness are not completely beyond human observation (16-20). Common earthly phenomena such as snow, hail, rain, and frost elude human mastery (21-30), and the movements of the stars and all atmospheric changes are no more under human control (31-38). Transitioning to the wondrous spectacles of creation that are so intimately connected to humanity, including the remarkable instincts of animals, the Lord emphasizes to Job that it is solely through His loving providence that predators and birds are nourished (39-41).