“Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?”
God asks 'Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?' asking whether Job understands the laws governing the heavens and whether he can establish such laws on earth. The questions presuppose that the heavens operate according to ordinances or laws. God's questions suggest that Job neither understands these celestial laws nor can establish them on earth. The appeal to ordinances suggests that creation operates according to principles and structure, not chaos. Yet the questions also suggest that the laws of the heavens and their application on earth may involve distinctions: the rules that apply in the heavens may not straightforwardly apply on earth. The emphasis on the inability to establish heavenly rules on earth raises subtle questions about whether human justice or moral order on earth follows the same principles as the order Job observes in the heavens.
Church Fathers on Job 38:33
Knowest thou the course of heaven, and wilt thou set down the reason thereof on the earth? To know the course of heaven, is to see the secret predestinations of the heavenly disposals. But to set down the reason thereof on the earth is to lay open before the hearts of men the causes of such secrets. To set down, namely, the reason of heaven on the earth, is either to examine the mysteries of the heavenly judgments, by consideration, or to make them manifest in words. Which…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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