Job now praises wisdom whose origin is in God:
To show the root of wisdom he then says, “God understands the way to her,” the whole process of wisdom, since he himself is both the origin of wisdom and the “place of understanding.” (v.20) Because God knows himself perfectly, he then says, “and he knows where wisdom is found,” that is, he knows himself in whom wisdom is perfectly found as in its first origin. Wisdom proceeds from him in all creatures which are made by the wisdom of God, as art proceeds from the mind of the artist in his work, and so Sirach says, “God showers wisdom on all his works.” (Sirach 1:10) Thus the very universe of creatures is like the secondary place of wisdom. So to show that God knows the place of wisdom, he continues saying that he knows the universe of creatures. First he shows this as to the most elevated creatures under which all things are contained, and so he then says, “He sees the ends of the earth,” which are the most excellent creatures in which the order of creatures terminates in ascending from lower creatures, and these are heavenly bodies and the heavenly spirits. Then he shows this as to the other creatures contained under them, like the elements, and so he then says, “and he sees everything which is under the heaven.”
Lest anyone believe that God receives knowledge taken from things like we do, he shows, consequently, that he knows things as the cause of everything. He therefore continues as to the hidden creatures like the winds and the rains, “he gave the winds their strength,” for he gave them their inclination of motion so that sometimes they move in this direction and sometimes in that. Then he speaks about the rains, first that and raised to become clouds in vapor, and so he then says, “and the waters,” subject to evaporation”, he holds suspended,” in the air, “in measure,” so that they do not overflow and flood everything if they were to overflow, or if they decrease unduly, make everything dry out. Next he speaks about the very generation of the rains when he says, “when he made a law for the rains,” to come down at certain times and in certain places. Third he speaks about their effect, especially in the sea which is disturbed by atmospheric changes, and so he continues, “and” he was setting, “the way for the storm,” the waves, “which roar,” from great agitation, because even storms of this kind arise at certain times and in a certain intensity.
Go here to read the rest. Amassing endless factual knowledge without the wisdom to use it properly is a dead end, as our contemporary society is experiencing.
