Incidentally, this scriptural basis didn’t stop Thomas from theological speculation. IIRC, Summa Theological is the work which is the source of the legend of arguing how many angels can fit on the head of the pin. (The actual argument is whether two or more angels can occupy the same physical space, which, in turn reflects whether angels have volume, which in turn reflects whether angels exist in what Einstein would call time-space... so while it’s speculative, it’s hardly as inane as Disraeli’s satire makes it to be.)
(And to be fair: Thomas’ arguments are based on scripture, and he acknowledges where logical induction is used.)