Job 38:4

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Here we see that he exalts the sovereign perfection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is he who has come to heal all those whom the venom of the serpent had struck with death, and no one should wish to find in himself his salvation. This God is not like those of whom it is said: "You are Gods and the Sons of the Most High." "He has not usurped, proclaiming himself the equal of his Father." He is not the son of men like the children of men in whom there is no salvation, but he is above all those of whom he has become equal. He is not holy like Job, like Paul, like the Church; he sanctifies others, for he is the only begotten of the Father, filled with grace and truth (5). In order, then, to establish what distinguishes divine humanity from Him in whom the prince of this world has found nothing, 6 for he paid in his passion what he had not stolen; to teach also that the remission of sins operates the justification of the saints and that these gathered in one body form, the Church, of which Job, in the historical sense, is only a small part since it is justified, but it represents the whole in the prophetic sense; he begins with these words: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Is it because he did not exist yet or because he was not founded by him as by the only-begotten Son? Is it the earth, or the Church itself? For it is the Church that has received the cornerstone that will be discussed (8). "Tell me if you have the intelligence. All that God has done for us in time is the object of our science.

Where wast thou when I was laying the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if thou hast understanding. ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION Behold all things are put together in historical narration, as if concerning the origin of the world. But something is immediately subjoined, which seems to be said of the creation, not of the world, but of the Church. For it is said; Or who hath laid the corner stone thereof? For by this, which was not done at the beginning of the world, it is shewn that that former expression was not used of the creation of the world. For some obscure subjects of a different character are blended with those that are plain and obvious, for this very purpose; that in consequence of that which agrees not with the literal meaning, that also may be examined mystically, which sounds as if spoken literally. For as, by some things which are opened we learn others which are closed; so are we compelled by those which are closed, to knock with a deeper understanding at those which we believed to be open. Let Him say then; Where wast thou, when I was laying the foundations of the earth? In Holy Scripture what else do we understand by foundations but holy preachers? For since God had placed them first in the Church, the whole structure of the subsequent fabric has risen up upon them. Whence also the priest is ordered, when he enters the tabernacle, to bear twelve stones on his breast. [Ex. 28, 21] Because, namely, our High Priest, in offering Himself a sacrifice for us, when He set forth mighty preachers at the very beginning, carried twelve stones under His head in the front of His body. The holy Apostles therefore are stones on the breast, to be displayed as an ornament in front, and foundations in the ground for the first firm basis of the edifice. And hence when David the Prophet beheld Holy Church established and built on the lofty minds of the Apostles, he says; Her foundations are on the holy hills. [Ps. 87, l] But when in holy Scripture 'foundations' are not spoken of, but 'a foundation,' in the singular number, no one is designated, except the Lord Himself, by the power of Whose Divinity the tottering hearts of our infirmity are made strong. Of Whom also Paul says; Other foundation can no man lay, but that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. For He is in truth the foundation of the foundations, because He is the first commencement of beginners, and…