Ivan Ayvazovsky

Chaos (The Creation), 1841, Oil on canvas, 106 x 75 cm, Museo Armeno, Venice; Bridgeman Images

Ordering Chaos with a Spoken Word

Commentary by David Emanuel

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Ivan Ayvazovsky’s depiction of creation imagines an instant in time, during the early stages of the Genesis creation account, when God is described as shaping and forming the world. The painting appears to show the moment when God utters the words, ‘Let there be light’, in Genesis 1:3. However, as opposed to the light of the sun and moon on the fourth day of creation, Ayvazovsky depicts a different light, one emanating from God himself, whose humanoid form, composed entirely of light, emerges like the sun from behind a dark cloud. This light marks the very beginning of the creation process, before God subdues the dark chaotic waters, shown at the bottom of the painting, and separates them, allowing the land to arise.

God’s spoken word in Genesis constitutes the primary means through which he fashions order from chaos, and it serves this function again in Job 38:1: ‘Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind’. Here, from the depths of a storm, God’s words once again bring order, not to creation, but to the heated discussions of Job and his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.

Throughout the book, Job’s three companions all adhere strictly to the principle of retribution: God unfailingly blesses those who are righteous and punishes sinners. Consequently, they view Job’s physical ailments as resulting directly from divine wrath levelled against him on account of concealed sins in his life.

Job, on the other hand, vehemently protests his innocence, demanding an audience with God so he can vindicate himself in person (23:3–7). The ever-increasing tension from the back-and-forth arguments concerning the character and justice of God ends in chapter 38 because at this point God himself enters the fray, speaking on his own behalf. The verbally chaotic argument between Job and his companions abruptly ends, as God settles the dispute, silencing the incorrect perceptions of his character and justice portrayed by Job and his companions.

 

References

Chilvers, I. (ed.). 2004. The Oxford Dictionary of Art, 3rd edn. (Oxford: Oxford University Press), p. 12

Tsevat, M. 1996. ‘The Meaning of the Book of Job’, Hebrew Union College Annual 37, pp. 73–106

See full exhibition for Job 38

Job 38

Revised Standard Version

38 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:

2“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

3Gird up your loins like a man,

I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

4“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell me, if you have understanding.

5Who determined its measurements—surely you know!

Or who stretched the line upon it?

6On what were its bases sunk,

or who laid its cornerstone,

7when the morning stars sang together,

and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8“Or who shut in the sea with doors,

when it burst forth from the womb;

9when I made clouds its garment,

and thick darkness its swaddling band,

10and prescribed bounds for it,

and set bars and doors,

11and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,

and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

12“Have you commanded the morning since your days began,

and caused the dawn to know its place,

13that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,

and the wicked be shaken out of it?

14It is changed like clay under the seal,

and it is dyed like a garment.

15From the wicked their light is withheld,

and their uplifted arm is broken.

16“Have you entered into the springs of the sea,

or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17Have the gates of death been revealed to you,

or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

18Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?

Declare, if you know all this.

19“Where is the way to the dwelling of light,

and where is the place of darkness,

20that you may take it to its territory

and that you may discern the paths to its home?

21You know, for you were born then,

and the number of your days is great!

22“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,

or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

23which I have reserved for the time of trouble,

for the day of battle and war?

24What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,

or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

25“Who has cleft a channel for the torents of rain,

and a way for the thunderbolt,

26to bring rain on a land where no man is,

on the desert in which there is no man;

27to satisfy the waste and desolate land,

and to make the ground put forth grass?

28“Has the rain a father,

or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29From whose womb did the ice come forth,

and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?

30The waters become hard like stone,

and the face of the deep is frozen.

31“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiʹades,

or loose the cords of Orion?

32Can you lead forth the Mazʹzaroth in their season,

or can you guide the Bear with its children?

33Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?

Can you establish their rule on the earth?

34“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,

that a flood of waters may cover you?

35Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go

and say to you, ‘Here we are’?

36Who has put wisdom in the clouds,

or given understanding to the mists?

37Who can number the clouds by wisdom?

Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,

38when the dust runs into a mass

and the clods cleave fast together?

39“Can you hunt the prey for the lion,

or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40when they crouch in their dens,

or lie in wait in their covert?

41Who provides for the raven its prey,

when its young ones cry to God,

and wander about for lack of food?

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