God continues to expound on the magnitude of His creation, and Job understands that it is impossible for Man to question God as an equal:
All these things have been brought into show the greatness of divine wisdom and power which produces such marvelous effects. We understand that after Job had heard so many wonderful things about the divine effects he was stunned and silent. But the Lord stirs him to consider that man is not fit to dispute with God, and so the text says, “The Lord fastened his eyes,” adding more to these words, “and spoke to Job,” who was silent. “Is he who asserts himself with confidence against God,” who offers to argue with him, “so easily stopped?”, namely, as if he has been vanquished like you who are silent? “Certainly he who accuses God,” in disputing with him about his just judgments, “ought also to answer him.” For it is just that one who provokes another to dispute should also be prepared to answer.
Lest Job seem obstinate in his opinion even though he was proved wrong, he breaks forth in words of humility, and so the text continues, “Job answered and said to the Lord: What can I who have spoken thoughtlessly answer?” Consider here that Job, speaking in the presence of God and his own conscience is not accusing himself of speaking falsely or of a proud intention, for he had spoken from the purity of his soul, but of thoughtlessness in speech. This is because even if he had not spoken from pride of soul, his words still seemed to smack of arrogance, and so from this his friends took occasion of scandal. For one must not only avoid evil things, but also those things which have the outward appearance of evil, as St. Paul says, “Abstain from every appearance of evil,” (1 Thess. 5:22) and so he says, “I will place my hand over my mouth,” so that I will not break forth in words like these about other things. I do penance for these things which I have said, and so he says, “I have said one thing, and would that I had not,” namely, when I said that I wanted to dispute with God, (13:3) “and another thing,” that I preferred my own justice when it was a question of divine judgments. (6:2) He does not acknowledge the third thing which Eliud had reproved him with, i.e. that he said that the judgment of God was unjust. (33:10) For this does not pertain to thoughtlessness in speaking but to blasphemy. So he does penance for thoughtlessness in speech because he proposes to correct this defect, and so he says, “to which I will not add anything further,” so that I utter anything else thoughtlessly.
We should consider that if this discourse of the Lord to Job is not spoken in an exterior voice, but is by interior inspiration, Job is found to have spoken in three ways in this book. First, he represented the affective desire of the senses in his first loud complaint, when he says, “Let the day when I was born perish.” (3:3) Second, he expressed the deliberation of human reason when he disputed against his friends. Finally, he spoke according to divine inspiration when he introduced words from the person of God. Because human reason must be directed according to divine inspiration, when the Lord has spoken, Job reproves the words which he had said according to human reason.
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