“Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places.”
Elihu notes that animals 'go into their lairs and remain in their dens,' suggesting that divine action through weather affects all creatures, not only humans. This verse emphasizes the universal scope of divine action through weather, affecting both human and animal behavior. The image of animals seeking shelter suggests that divine power produces instinctive response across all creation. Elihu uses the universal effect of divine power to suggest that all creatures recognize and respond to it. Yet the verse also raises questions: if divine power produces instinctive compliance in animals, and if humans should respond similarly with acceptance, does this reduce human moral agency and responsibility for evaluating divine action?
Church Fathers on Job 37:8
The beast will enter his covert, and will abide in his den. Who else is understood by the name of the beast, except our ancient enemy, who cruelly aimed at the deception of the first man, and mangled by his wicked advice the integrity of his life? against whom it is promised by the words of the Prophet, concerning the restoration of the Church of the Elect to its ancient condition, And no evil beast shall pass through it. But when after the coming of the Redeemer, after the…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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