איוב, פרק מ׳, פסוק י׳

God issues a sharp rhetorical challenge to Job, inviting him to take on divine traits of power and kingship to test whether a human being truly has the capacity to govern creation. God calls upon Job to try an experiment: to decorate himself with pride and exaltation, and to wrap himself in majesty and splendor to perform wondrous deeds [מצודת דוד]. There is a careful distinction in how these traits are worn. Majesty and splendor act as the actual clothing, while pride and height function like fine jewelry worn over those garments, expressing the soul's inner elevation above its outward majesty [מלבי"ם].

The primary approach among commentators is that these qualities are distinctly divine. Job is challenged to wear them exactly as God does, since God is the absolute highest authority [רלב"ג, מלבי"ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This highlights a deep contrast between the Creator and humanity. For God, pride and height are fitting ornaments that He uses to humble the wicked and the arrogant. However, for a human being, trying to show off these same traits is nothing but foolishness and shame [רמב"ן].

In contrast to this rhetorical reading, a different spiritual perspective views this challenge as a description of God granting actual divine energy to a person. According to this approach, the jewelry of pride and height represents an abundance of holiness that lifts a person above the limits of death and the rule of earthly kingdoms. In this light, majesty and splendor are the very garments God used to create the world, and allowing a human to wear them grants the ability to rule over all of creation [אלשיך].