Job xxxvii. 16: “Dost thou know the
balancings of the clouds?” In the Septuagint διάκρισιν
νεφῶν may mean “the
separate path of the clouds” (Vulg. “semitas
nubium,”) or “the dissolving,” as in Aristotle
(Meteorol. I. vii. 10: διακρίνεσθαι
καὶ
διαλύεσθαι
τὸ διάτμίζον
ὑγρὸν ὑπὸ
τοῦ πλήθους
τῆς θερμῆς
ἀναθυμιάσεως,
ὥστε μὴ
συνίστασθαι
ῥαδίως εἰς
ὕδωρ. “The moist vapour is
separated and dissolved by the great heat of the evaporation, so that
it does not easily condense into water.” Cf. Plato,
Sophistes 243 B: διακρίσεις
καὶ
συγκρίσεις.