Commentary Par XXIX 13-18

We are in the highest part of God's creation in time, a mixture of form and matter, the heavens.  This sphere, we remember, is governed by the Seraphim, the highest order of angels, dedicated to loving God.  Dante has asked a most difficult theological question: If God is self-sufficient, if He has no 'needs,' why did He bother to create anything at all?  The answer that Beatrice offers is simplicity itself: He created because He loves and wanted the angels to enjoy His love in their being, loving Him in return.

For consideration of Dante's reflections on the Creation, see Boyde (Boyd.1981.1), pp. 235-47.  On the canto as a whole, see Nardi's lectura (Nard.1956.1).  For Dante's recasting in it of the relatively anthropomorphic view of creation found in Genesis for a more abstract and philosophical one, see Boitani (Boit.2002.1).  Boitani further maintains (p. 95) that Dante's rescripting of Genesis goes far beyond what is authorized by the Bible in portraying the creation of the angels, a subject about which Scripture is silent.