Fathers

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What the Fathers say

Job 38:29

Western Saints

Gregory the Dialogist

Out of whose womb came the ice, and the frost from heaven, who hath gendered it? For what else do we understand by 'frost' or 'ice,' but the hearts of the Jews frozen and bound with the torpor of unbelief? Who formerly by the receiving of the Law, by the keeping of the commandments, by the ministry of sacrifice, by the mysteries of prophecy, were so kept within the bosom of grace, as if within the womb of the Creator. …

Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXIX ↗

Thomas Aquinas

Consider here that just as rain, when frozen, is snow, so dew, when frozen, is frost, and so he says, "From whose womb did the ice come forth?" Here one should note that cold is the cause of ice and is a feminine quality, whereas the cause of rains and dew is the heat which melts and does not permit the vapor to freeze. Heat is a masculine quality, and so he used clearly the name of father for the generation of the rain and dew. However, concerning the generation of ice he used the term womb which pertains to a mother. …

Commentary on Job ↗