Chapter 38 opens the nineteenth speech in Sefer Iyov - Hashem's response from the whirlwind. After the entire lengthy debate between Iyov and his companions, followed by the words of Elihu ben Berachel the Buzite, the Holy One, blessed be He, reveals Himself to Iyov from the whirlwind. He tells him to gird his loins and gather strength, for his afflictions will cease, and behold, I now come to debate with you. Already here, a fundamental principle must be introduced: the revelation itself is the answer. The moment the Holy One, blessed be He, comes to speak with Iyov, to explain to him and ask him questions, all of Iyov's doubts are already resolved. Let us explain how.
Iyov's first claim was that there is no individual Divine providence: the Holy One, blessed be He, has abandoned the earth, does not oversee the details, and leaves me ruled by the celestial forces. Yet when the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself comes and speaks with you, you see with your own eyes that there is Providence. And not merely general providence, but providence over the finest details - to the extent that the Creator reveals Himself to a single creature of clay and speaks with him. Iyov's initial premise is refuted on its own.
Second: let us reflect upon the very nature of a Divine revelation to flesh and blood. How can the Holy One, blessed be He, speak with a mortal human being? Only because within man there is "a portion of God from above," and "one who blows, blows from his own inner essence" - our soul is a part of the Divine breath, from the breath of Shaddai, and therefore a bond exists between man and the Creator. But if man did not possess a portion of God from above, how could he ever communicate with the Infinite? Perforce, if a physical creature of clay is capable of communicating with the Creator of the universe, it is a sign that man is not merely physical matter; rather, his soul is spiritual and a part of His very essence, may He be blessed.
And if so, there is no longer any room for Iyov's doubt as to whether the soul survives after death. Behold, you see that even during life the soul is capable of divesting itself of physical corporeality: when a person sees a prophetic vision and God reveals Himself to him, the soul, as it were, sheds all physical sensations and cleaves to the Creator of the universe. If this is possible in life, it certainly endures forever - for as a portion of God from above, just as God is never nullified, so too the soul exists for eternity.
Through this very realization, the Holy One, blessed be He, also answered his question of why the righteous suffer and why tzaddikim endure tribulations. Once you see that the essence of man is the soul, and that it is with the soul that the Holy One, blessed be He, communicates, and that when a person speaks with the Creator of the universe he sheds his physical faculties and becomes entirely a spiritual reality - as we have discussed several times, that during prophecy the prophets would divest themselves of corporeality, lying on the ground like a lifeless corpse, or trembling, or seized by convulsions, or experiencing it only in a dream, since a physical, material person cannot receive prophecy, and the body acts as a dividing barrier between him and Hashem, may He be blessed - if so, man's true essence is the spiritual soul, which at the time of death separates from the body that decomposes in the dust and endures forever, cleaving to God to gaze upon the pleasantness of Hashem and to visit in His sanctuary.
And if so, there is no place at all to question why the righteous person suffers here. Is this world the place for receiving reward? Is it here that we are to measure whether things are good or bad for a person? What is this world compared to eternity - not even a grain of sand, not even dust. The soul cleaves to God after death, and that is the primary time of receiving reward.
From this point onward, the Holy One, blessed be He, shows him in detail how His individual Providence encompasses everything He created in His world, and every single creature individually: He provides food for each one, prepares for all the animals the habitat where they find shelter, and oversees their existence, their birth, and the sustenance of their offspring. And if this is so for hinds, beasts, dogs, and creeping creatures - how much more so for man, who is a portion of God from above, the pinnacle of all creation, for whose sake the entire purpose of creating the world exists.
After explaining this matter to him, the Holy One, blessed be He, addresses him once more, answering Iyov's question of why the wicked prosper. Iyov had argued: The wicked are like predatory beasts that harm people, and justice would dictate that the Holy One, blessed be He, destroy them and not allow them to do harm. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: You ought to have asked this same question about the animal kingdom as well. For among them, too, there are predators and prey, the pursuer and the pursued, and there are acts that appear cruel to us - even though an animal cannot truly be called cruel, since this is its ingrained nature - such as a lion tearing apart a deer. You should have asked: Why did Hashem create such animals? Perhaps He should have created only feeble creeping creatures, only sheep and lambs, and not lions, bears, leopards, and terrifying beasts?
To this, the answer is: It does not reflect the greatness of the Creator to fashion only frail, feeble creatures. On the contrary, the greatness of the Creator is demonstrated precisely through fearsome, mighty creatures that cast dread upon man and beast alike, for in them His majesty is made evident. When a person looks at a small mound versus towering mountains - where does he see more of the Creator's greatness? When he beholds a tiny brook versus a mighty river or a vast ocean - where is His majesty more apparent? Whenever we gaze upon something powerful and immense, we perceive more of the Creator's grandeur. Would you have preferred Hashem to create only roaches and ants?
Nevertheless, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: Do not think that this is the sole reason I created fearsome beasts. Know that I gave the weaker animals the strength and capability to survive even in a menacing jungle and in perilous environments. "For one higher than the high watches" - the Holy One, blessed be He, watches from on high and gave them the means to survive in this harsh reality. The proof is before you: you see that the weaker creatures endure; they are not wiped out or driven to extinction by the strong.
The same applies to human beings: there are tyrants, despots, and mighty men, yet in His providence, Hashem arranged reality such that mankind possesses the power to overcome them. This is essentially Elihu's answer in chapter 35: the Holy One, blessed be He, gave people the ability to unite, gather together, establish laws, form a police force, and build institutions to protect themselves against tyrants. And if they fail to do so and do not defend themselves, why complain against the Creator of the world? While the Creator indeed made the weak alongside the strong, He endowed the weak with the strength to protect themselves. This is like songbirds, which are inherently weak and vulnerable to predatory birds, yet possess the power to gather together by singing; when they flock together, they protect one another and cannot be harmed. In the same way, Hashem gave human beings the capacity to defend themselves, just as He did for the weakest creatures.
At the conclusion of the debate, Iyov admits that he had failed to comprehend all that Hashem revealed to him, and that everything he underwent was merely a trial: the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to test the level of his fear of Heaven and his service of Hashem - whether it stemmed from love or merely from fear. Here, Iyov reveals a profound insight. Many have asked: Is this the righteous Iyov? An Iyov who seemingly denies the immortality of the soul, divine providence (hashgachah peratit), and free will? How could it be said of him that he was "God-fearing and shunning evil," and how could even greater praise be said of Iyov than of Avraham? After all, everything we have witnessed until now sounds like heresy!
The answer is that throughout the entire debate, his heart did not follow his mouth. All of his arguments were merely lip service; deep within his heart, he believed in divine providence, the immortality of the soul, the existence of the Creator, and reward and punishment - in everything. Why, then, did he raise heretical arguments? Rather, in the words of the Malbim, he asked "strictly by way of investigation" - in order to find answers through contemplation and intellect.
Let us explain this concept. If you were to ask a simple person of a previous generation: Do you believe there is a Creator of the world? He would say yes. The Giving of the Torah? Yes. Can you prove that the Torah is true? No, but I believe with complete, simple faith in the Creator of the world Who gave the Torah. Now consider another person who comes and says: I do not believe; provide me with proof. There are two possibilities here: either he genuinely does not believe and is waiting for proof, or he is merely prodding you so that you will produce evidence. A person may possess simple, pure faith and yet declare, "I do not believe; convince me" - so that you will present him with proofs and documentation, thereby clarifying and sharpening his intellectual grasp that there are indeed rational proofs for the existence of the Creator and Torah from Heaven.
This is essentially what Moshe requested: "Show me, please, Your glory." In other words: In my heart, I believe with complete, pure faith, but I wish to attain this through the intellect as well - to receive irrefutable proofs, rational demonstrations, such that intellect alone compels this conclusion. And so, who wrote the Book of Iyov? Moshe. For Moshe Rabbeinu was the one who engaged in these very inquiries and investigations, seeking to reach these truths not only through complete faith, but through inquiry, knowledge, and proof. And when he saw that it is impossible to comprehend everything through human reason alone, he asked Hashem to make it known to him directly - "Show me, please, Your glory," that He show him the glory of His judgments and His guidance, just as He revealed to Iyov. Indeed, some matters can be proven: that there is a Creator of the world can be proven, and that the Torah is from Heaven can be proven. But how justice is administered to each individual - this cannot be demonstrated. Of this it is said, "Were I to know Him, I would be Him" - to understand that, one would have to be the Creator of the world, familiar with His ledgers, and aware of everything a person has undergone from the day he was born until this very moment.
וַיַּעַן־יְהֹוָה אֶת־אִיּוֹב מִן הַסְּעָרָה וַיֹּאמַר׃ - Then Hashem answered Iyov out of the whirlwind, and said:
In the Zohar Chadash on Megillat Ruth (27a) it is brought: Come and see, when the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to Iyov, what is written? "Then Hashem answered Iyov out of the whirlwind, and said." Rabbi Yose bar Chalafta said: He answered him concerning what he had said, "He who crushes me with a tempest (*se'arah* / hair)." For Iyov had said: Master of the Universe, perhaps a stormy wind passed before You and You confused my name - *Iyov* with *oyev* (enemy)? Perhaps a stormy wind blew and jumbled the letters, and instead of Iyov it came out *oyev*, and therefore You made me a target for arrows and sent harsh and terrible afflictions upon me. And this is what is written, "And You consider me Your enemy." Therefore, He answered him out of the whirlwind (*se'arah*).
One interpretation we have already seen above, and it will be mentioned only briefly: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: I do not confuse one hair (*se'arah*) with another hair - each and every hair has its own distinct follicle to draw sustenance from, and the hundreds of thousands of hairs on every person's head are never confused before Me. There is no error in the central system, and you think that I confused *Iyov* with *oyev*?
However, here in the Zohar it is explained in a different way. The Rabbis say: "Out of the whirlwind (*se'arah*)" - this refers to the tempest of the Satan, who tempestuously racked Iyov's body. And from where do we know that the Satan is called *se'arah*? As it is written, "Stormy wind (*ruach se'arah*) fulfilling His word" - "His word" teaches that he has no permission to do anything except by the word of the Holy One, blessed be He. That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him through the Satan, through those harsh afflictions that Iyov endured. Rabbi Bon says: It is written with a *shin* - "He who crushes me with a tempest (*bis'arah*)," and it is written with a *samech* - "out of the whirlwind (*min hase'arah*)." The commentators on the Zohar explain that the male Satan is spelled with a *shin* and his female counterpart with a *samech*. And in the terminology of *se'irim* (demons / he-goats), we find, "to the demons (*se'irim*) after whom they go astray" - which also denotes forces of impurity. And Rabbi Rechumai said: One time male and one time female. Male - "And the goat (*sa'ir*) shall bear upon itself," "Behold, Eisav my brother is a hairy man (*ish sa'ir*)"; female - "So Eisav returned that day on his way to Seir (*Se'irah*)." And here it is written with a *samech*, "out of the whirlwind (*min hase'arah*)" - a feminine form. And why is it called *se'arah*? Because it agitates and storms through (*mas'ir*) a person's body.
And regarding this, the Zohar brings: But isn't it written, "And Eliyahu went up by a whirlwind into heaven"? The Gemara says that when the Holy One, blessed be He, brought Eliyahu up to heaven, the Angel of Death stood against him - and he is the whirlwind (*se'arah*), the Samael. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "It was on this condition that I created the heavens, that Eliyahu would ascend there." The Angel of Death said to Him: "Master of the Universe, now people will have an excuse to protest - they will say, 'It is possible to ascend alive, so why are you killing me?'" The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "This one is not like other mortals; he is capable of removing you from the world, and you do not know his power." He said to Him: "Master of the Universe, give me permission and I will go down to him." He said to him: "Go down." He descended immediately. When Eliyahu saw him, he forced him under his feet and sought to eliminate him from the world - he saw an opportunity to bring about the end of the story, "He will swallow up death forever." But the Holy One, blessed be He, did not give him permission, for the world still needed him, as we saw with Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: spiritual refinement is achieved only through the Angel of Death. Immediately, Eliyahu subjugated him beneath himself and ascended to heaven, as it is stated, "And Eliyahu went up by a whirlwind into heaven."
And when the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to Iyov, that same storm came and appeared to him, as it is written, "out of the whirlwind (*min hase'arah*)." And notice how it is written: in the text (*ketiv*), it is written as a single word - *Minhase'arah* - with a bent *nun* in the middle, and not a final *nun*, even though the reading (*keri*) is two words, *min hase'arah*. And what is the significance of that bent *nun* rather than a straight, final one? The Holy One, blessed be He, bent him like a serpent on its belly and spoke with him - that same Satan who was bent under Eliyahu the Prophet was now bent by the Creator like a serpent, and He spoke with Iyov. And what did He say to him? "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?" as we will see further on. Immediately Iyov fell silent and could not withstand His rebuke, demonstrating that the deeds of the Holy One, blessed be He, are truth.
The Malbim explains: Through that very same storm in which Hashem collapsed the house upon his children and destroyed his home, through that very storm He says to him: I am watching over you to restore you to your dwelling and to make your end better than your beginning. Out of the very storm through which the terrible tragedy befell you - out of that very storm I will restore you to your former state. And this is the meaning of "out of the whirlwind": with that which He strikes, with that He heals, healing bitter with bitter. With a tempest He struck, and with a tempest He heals.
מִי זֶה מַחְשִׁיךְ עֵצָה בְמִלִּין בְּלִי־דָעַת׃ - Who is this that darkens counsel with words devoid of knowledge?
Hashem says to him: How can you darken Hashem's counsel, the manner in which He directs His world, which itself is the light of the world? 'He forms light and creates darkness,' 'Hashem is my light.' This very light of the Creator's Divine Providence over His world, you come and darken, claiming that the world is subject to mere chance and that everything is darkness - and this is without knowledge, for whoever speaks such things speaks devoid of knowledge.
Come and see how much Iyov lost because he darkened counsel with words, asserting that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not exercise Divine Providence, and uttering words that were inappropriate toward Heaven with a multitude of speech. The Midrash states in Pesikta Rabbati (Parashat Acharei Mot, sec. 3): Fortunate is the person upon whom afflictions have come, yet he subdued his anger and did not protest against the attribute of justice. When afflictions came upon Iyov, had he subdued his anger and not protested against the attribute of justice, he would have attained a great and exalted level. And what does 'protest' (kara tegar) mean? From the term tegarah, quarrel: he went and picked a quarrel with the Creator of the world. Had he not done so, he would have merited a great and exalted level.
Rabbi Chanina bar Pappa said: Had Iyov not protested, just as we say now in prayer, 'the God of Avraham, the God of Yitzchak, and the God of Yaakov,' so would they have said, 'and the God of Iyov' - forever mentioning and joining the Name of Heaven with his name. For the Holy One, blessed be He, took counsel before the holy ones on high, before the angels, and said to them: Iyov My servant possesses four great traits - a blameless and upright man, God-fearing, and shunning evil. Now all these afflictions will come upon him; if he endures them and does not protest, I will join My Name to his just as I joined My Name to the Patriarchs, and I will be called 'the God of Iyov.' But Iyov did not do so; rather, once the afflictions arrived, he began to kick, saying, 'If only I knew where I might find Him!' Immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You have darkened the counsel I took on high. I had a plan that they would say 'the God of Iyov' - and you darkened it, and it is a pity that it will not come to fruition.
And so Rashi explained: The Holy One, blessed be He, said, Who is this that darkens counsel - ruining with words and with a torrent of speech what I wrote of him, 'a blameless and upright man,' at the beginning of the book, which was meant to lead to joining My Name with his; yet he came and darkened and ruined what I had planned with his multitude of words.
Iyov came and said: Master of the Universe, 'Who is this that conceals counsel?' Why did You not reveal it to me? Had You revealed to me that You had a plan that they would say 'the God of Iyov,' and that it was for this purpose that You brought afflictions upon me, I would not have spoken so much! Had You notified me before the test that it was a test, I would have endured it. Indeed, to whom did they announce in advance that it was a test? To David. David also asked that they say 'the God of David,' and the Holy One, blessed be He, told him: To you I reveal what I did not reveal to the holy Patriarchs - I will test you, and I will even tell you what the test will be: forbidden relations. And in the end, he did not withstand it.
But to Iyov, the Holy One, blessed be He, responds: Did Avraham know? Yet he endured ten trials! When I said to him, 'Take your son, your only one, whom you love, Yitzchak, and offer him there as an elevation-offering,' did I say to him: Know, Avraham, that in the end I will tell you not to lay a hand on him, this is only a test? I said no such thing to him. And what wisdom is there in revealing the test in advance? If the test is revealed, where is the test? Avraham endured it, and you did not endure it, so I cannot say 'the God of Iyov.'
The Chida cites a fascinating point in Chomat Anach in the name of the book Birkat Shmuel. Iyov, as is known, was the reincarnation of Terach - and with God's help we will study the matter of Iyov and his reincarnations in the final lesson on the book, exploring who Iyov was and what he came to rectify. According to this, 'Iyov' (איוב) is an acronym for: Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov his sons (אברהם, יצחק ויעקב בניו). For if he was Terach, they are all considered his descendants, and he was the progenitor of them all - and yet he did not merit having 'the God of Iyov' said of him. From here we see the high and tremendous level Iyov could have reached, had he only not rebelled against afflictions and not opened his mouth against Hashem, blessed be He. The moment he spoke, Hashem said to him: You darkened counsel with words - you ruined My plans.
Chapter 38 opens Hashem's response from the whirlwind, and the revelation itself is already the answer to all of Iyov's questions: if the Creator speaks with flesh and blood, there is individual Divine providence, and man possesses a part of G-d from above and an eternal soul; consequently, this world is not the place where reward is received, and there is no room to question why the righteous suffer. Later, Hashem will detail for him His providence over each and every creature, and in the second response He will explain that even the ferocious beasts reflect the greatness of the Creator, and that He granted the weak the ability to survive and protect themselves. In the end, Iyov admits that his heart did not follow his mouth, and that all his questions were an inquiry to arrive at the truth through reason - in the manner of Moshe, who said, 'Please show me Your glory,' which is why Moshe was the one who wrote this book. Nevertheless, from the words 'Who is this that darkens counsel with words without knowledge?' we learn a sobering lesson: there was an intended plan to say 'the G-d of Iyov' just as we say 'the G-d of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov,' but once he challenged the attribute of justice, he darkened that counsel and lost everything. Fortunate is the person who is touched by suffering, yet restrains his anger and does not protest.