Iyov chapter 26. The response of Iyov that we are now looking at is divided into three distinct discourses separated from one another. In the first discourse, Iyov sets out to refute the approach of Bildad the Shuchite, which we heard in the previous chapter. In fact, Iyov will have two more arguments, but we will introduce those before the coming chapters, as we have three or four consecutive chapters ahead in which Iyov presents his claims.
Bildad's approach was that one can certainly see in this world a righteous person who suffers and a wicked person who prospers, and this stems from the fact that one cannot expect the Holy One, blessed be He, to alter the general order of nature for the sake of a single person. If rain is meant to fall, rain will fall for everyone. Even though there is individual Divine providence (hashgachah pratit), the Holy One, blessed be He, does not alter the general laws of nature for an individual, and He will not create a situation where everyone's fields are watered while the field of the wicked person is not. Therefore, there is a wicked person who enjoys prosperity here in this world - effectively "hitching a ride" on the righteous.
And there is another factor, which is the individual constellation (the ma'arechet ha-peratit). When a person is born, the celestial bodies exert a certain influence, and this is accepted by Chazal as well: one born under the constellation of Tzedek (Jupiter) will be a righteous person, one born under a certain constellation will have such and such traits. It turns out that the time of birth and one's mazal have significance. Thus, it is possible for a person to receive good simply because he was born under a mazal of wealth and blessing, even though on his own merits he is unworthy of it; or conversely, a righteous person may suffer because he was born under an unfavorable mazal, even though he personally deserved good. This is like Rabbi Elazar ben Pedat, as we saw, to whom the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Do you want Me to overturn the entire world so that perhaps you might be reborn under a mazal of wealth?
If so, where is the justice? Bildad says: there is a "course correction." There is a place where the Holy One, blessed be He, settles all accounts - in the World of Truth. The righteous person who suffered because he was born under an unfavorable mazal will receive double reward and eternal delight for his suffering, while the wicked person who received unmerited good in this world - Hashem will exact retribution from him there.
Iyov opens by saying: At last I hear someone who is beginning to agree with me. For what had Iyov claimed all along? That the celestial order and the heavenly bodies govern reality, and that it is because of them that he is suffering, since the celestial order produces injustice and unfairness, and the Holy One, blessed be He, handed the world over to its domain. To be sure, the difference between Iyov and Bildad is that Bildad maintained that the celestial order does not compel a person to be righteous or wicked, and that there is still individual providence and reward and punishment - something Iyov did not accept. We should not mistakenly think that Iyov found Bildad to be a complete supporter of his view. Nevertheless, there is a partial concession here: that individual providence does not overturn what the celestial order directs. If the general order dictates success, you will succeed even if you are wicked. And if things go poorly for the righteous, this may stem from his birth mazal, or because according to the general order there is misfortune for the public right now, even though he personally does not deserve it.
However, the continuation - that ultimately Hashem will reward the righteous and punish the wicked - Iyov does not accept, for as we explained, Iyov did not believe in the afterlife (the immortality of the soul). Therefore, he says: Your answers do not satisfy me; what does satisfy me is that you have begun to move closer to my opinion, that there is a reality in which the celestial order holds sway even when not warranted by Divine providence, and the celestial order at times overrides individual providence.
Regarding the core of Bildad's approach, that the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, cannot punish the wicked in this world contrary to the laws of nature and the celestial order, Iyov comes and demonstrates a contradiction from Bildad's own words. Bildad holds that the stars do not govern everything that happens in the world and do not possess absolute dominion - there are domains over which they rule and domains over which they do not (unlike Iyov, who argued that the celestial systems rule over everything). If so, Iyov asks, what prevents the Holy One, blessed be He, from utilizing specifically those forces that are not subject to the celestial order, and through them rewarding the righteous and punishing the wicked?
As an example: according to the conception held by ancient philosophers, air and water are elements governed by their own nature and are not dependent upon the celestial order, neither upon the stars nor upon the heavenly bodies. They possess, as it were, an intrinsic nature that is not subordinate to the celestial system and can even act contrary to it. If so, Iyov argues: what prevents Hashem from exacting retribution from the wicked by means of water, just as He brought the Flood upon the generation of Noach? You claim to me that everything is tied to the celestial order - yet water is not governed by the celestial systems. Under whose domain are they, if not under the direct individual providence of the Creator of the universe? Let Hashem use them to punish the wicked!
From here Iyov proves his own position: if we see that Hashem does not punish the wicked in this way either, here is proof of what I claimed from the start - that the celestial order rules over everything, there is no individual Divine Providence, and the Holy One, blessed be He, handed over governance into the hands of a "foolish" power, as he defined earlier, meaning a force that acts unjustly and does not operate with righteousness and equity, and on account of this I suffer. Hashem is righteous - but the celestial order is what causes all the troubles. But according to your view, Bildad, that the dominion of the celestial order is limited, let Hashem exact retribution from the wicked person in that domain which is not subject to the celestial order.
וַיַּעַן אִיּוֹב וַיֹּאמַר׃ מֶה עָזַרְתָּ לְלֹא כֹחַ הוֹשַׁעְתָּ זְרוֹעַ לֹא עֹז׃ - And Iyov answered and said: How have you helped him that is without power? How have you saved the arm that has no strength?
Iyov says to him: In your words, you have greatly helped one who is powerless. For my view was that everything depends on the celestial constellations, from which evil issues forth and from which good comes to the wicked, operating autonomously outside the Creator's providence. Until today, you all contradicted this claim, and Iyov was like a powerless victim - yet now you have come and aided him, conceding that the celestial order indeed has power and even acts contrary to Providence, and that there are domains where Providence does not operate, as it were. And also, "How have you saved the arm that has no strength" - until now Iyov's arm was an arm without strength, and you came, saved it, and lifted it up. This is a metaphor explaining how Bildad inadvertently reinforced Iyov's argument.
מַה יָּעַצְתָּ לְלֹא חָכְמָה וְתֻשִׁיָּה לָרֹב הוֹדָעְתָּ׃ - How have you counseled him that has no wisdom, and abundantly declared sound wisdom?
My approach was considered foolishness in your eyes, a position lacking wisdom and logic, and that is how you treated me when I claimed that the Holy One, blessed be He, surrendered His world to the celestial constellations. And now you come and offer counsel to support that very approach - you even aided it and added another layer to it. "And abundantly declared sound wisdom" - you presented the matter in a manner that the multitude of people could accept. For my own position was extreme: there is no providence at all, which is why I continually ask for Hashem to speak with me, as I have complaints that the celestial system brings troubles upon me. You, however, offered a compromise: there is a celestial system, and in a significant part there is no providence and we are abandoned to its rule, but there is also a part where Hashem supervises. Consequently, what was once alienated from human reason - you brought closer to their intellect, making my position less extreme and far more intellectually plausible.
אֶת מִי הִגַּדְתָּ מִלִּין וְנִשְׁמַת מִי יָצְאָה מִמֶּךָּ׃ - To whom have you uttered words, and whose spirit came forth from you?
In essence, you reinforced my thesis, for you proved what I have always maintained: that Hashem does not alter the celestial order on account of human actions. The righteous person suffers afflictions because his constellation is bad, and the wicked person prospers because his constellation is good - and this aligns precisely with my view. This is why he says: "To whom have you uttered words" - are you coming to explain this to me? I have been shouting this incessantly! "And whose spirit came forth from you" - where do the foundations of this argument originate if not from me? This is my soul, this is what I have been arguing all along.
Thus, the question stands in all its force: there appears to be injustice in Divine governance, as the Holy One, blessed be He, seemingly does not judge His world with equity and justice - the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper. To this Bildad retorts: Do not make me a partner to your philosophy, for in my view there is an afterlife - there is the World to Come, there is reward and punishment, and there everything is reconciled. To this, Iyov responds:
הָרְפָאִים יְחוֹלָלוּ מִתַּחַת מַיִם וְשֹׁכְנֵיהֶם׃ עָרוֹם שְׁאוֹל נֶגְדּוֹ וְאֵין כְּסוּת לָאֲבַדּוֹן׃ - The shades tremble beneath the waters and their inhabitants. Sheol is naked before Him, and Abaddon has no covering.
"The Refa'im" are the dead who descended to the grave and were buried in the depths, in a place close to the subterranean waters that burst forth from below. Iyov says to him: Will the Holy One, blessed be He, bring them out from that place where they were buried? In other words - is there life after death? And if so, why are you speaking to me about a reward where the righteous will receive what they deserve and the wicked will be punished as befits them? Once a person has reached the grave - how will he rise and live?
The Malbim explains that this poetic expression is directed against an ancient fable. "Refa'im" in the Torah refers to the giants, and the ancients attributed divine status and supernatural powers to them. Part of their belief was that these giants descended into the depths of the abyss, emerged from beneath the waters, were reborn a second time, and became deities, new beings - "as is well known from the vanities of mythology," in the words of the Malbim. There is no need to read such things, as they are truly nonsense and vanity, but it is worth knowing what a distorted perception the nations had regarding all sorts of gods and powers that lived, died, arose, and returned to life; indeed, throughout history there were those who were killed and promised to return, and other such nonsense.
And regarding this, he asks: "She'ol is naked before Him" - how can She'ol bring them out, give birth to them, and revive them a second time? For the body the person once had rotted and disintegrated, and it is naked - with what will She'ol clothe it? She'ol has nothing with which to clothe the souls of those people, so how can they rise and live? And how can you claim, Bildad, that in the end they will receive a reward?
The Malbim further explains that in these verses Iyov comes to challenge the very core of Bildad's approach. You claim that Hashem does not punish the wicked and that he prospers because he was born under a favorable constellation, and the order of nature and the celestial system dictate that things go well for him, and Hashem does not alter the order of the celestial system for the sake of an individual. To this, Iyov responds: Come and see, there are laws of nature that have nothing to do with the celestial system at all, as we mentioned earlier.
And this is the meaning of "The Refa'im tremble from beneath the waters and their dwellers" - surely Hashem can bring forth those subterranean forces, which are the powers of the water, flood the world with them, and punish the wicked through them, just as occurred in the days of Enosh and during the generation of the Flood. You claim that there is a celestial system and Hashem does not intervene - but the Holy One, blessed be He, still retained more than enough instruments that were never handed over to the celestial system, such as the waters and their dwellers. Why does Hashem not deploy them against the wicked?
And this is the meaning of "She'ol is naked before Him, and destruction has no covering": that which lies in the belly of the underworld and in the depths of the waters is not subject to the rules of the celestial system. And the destruction in the depths - it has no covering, meaning it is not concealed from Hashem, but rather exposed before Him. When Hashem entrusted a person's fate to the celestial system, it is, as it were, concealed from Him - 'I have handed this over to the celestial order, I do not intervene.' But She'ol and Abaddon are naked and bare before Him, and the Holy One, blessed be He, reserved them in His own hand to act through them, even if He handed everything else over to the celestial system.
Thus, a weapon remains in the hand of Divine Providence - so why does Hashem not wield it against the wicked? This is Iyov's challenge. This question cannot be raised against Iyov himself, for according to his own position nothing remained; Hashem handed everything over to the celestial system and there is no individual Divine Providence at all, so all his claims are that the celestial system is treating him unjustly. But according to your approach, Bildad, that a part is still reserved in the hand of Divine Providence - let the Creator of the world deploy it against the wicked! And this applies even though, regarding what was given over to the celestial system, you claim He does not intervene, not because He is limited, Heaven forbid, but because He chose to limit Himself.