Job 28:27

Then did he see it, and declare it,.... His own wisdom, when he made and executed his decrees concerning rain, lightning, and thunder; he saw it in himself, and as it appeared in the works of his

Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out. Declare - manifest her-namely, in His works (Psalms 19:1-2). So the approval bestowed by the Creator on His works (Genesis 1:10; Genesis 1:31); cf.

Then; either from eternity, when he decreed what he would do, or when he first created them. Did he see it, i.e. wisdom, which is the subject matter of the present discourse. This God saw not abroad, but within himself; he looked or reflected upon it in his own mind, as the rule by which he would proceed in the creation and government of all things, managing them in such ways and methods as were most agreeable to his own most wise and unsearchable counsels, which no human or created wit can reach or pierce into. Or, he saw it, so as to declare it, as it follows; so as to make it visible and manifest in some measure to his creatures. Or, he saw it, i.e. he enjoyed it, seeing being oft put for enjoying, as 34:12 3:13. Compare . Declare it, i.e. he made it evident, he discovered his deep wisdom, which lay hid before in his own breast; or he laid the foundation of that discovery of it, which then was, or afterward should be, made to angels and men, as the heavens did in themselves declare the glory of God, , before there was such a creature as man to take notice of it, because the object was visible in itself, and not made so by the eye which afterwards beheld it. Or, did number it, i.e. showed it as it were by number; not only in gross, but as it were by retail, in all the several works which he made. He prepared it, i.e. he had it in readiness for the doing of all his works, as if he had been for a long time preparing materials for them. So it is a speech of God after the manner of men. Or, he disposed it, i.e. used or employed it in his works. Or, he settled or established it, i.e. he firmly purposed to do such and such things in such manner as he thought meet, and he established the order which he first made in the world, that it should continue in after-ages. Or, he directed it, and directed and ordered all things by it. Searched it out; not properly; for so searching implies ignorance, and that a man is at a loss, and requires time and industry, all which is repugnant to the Divine reflections; but figuratively, as such expressions are oft used concerning God, i.e. he did and doth all things with that absolute and perfect wisdom, and he knoweth all his own counsels and actions, and the reasons of them, so exactly and perfectly, as if he had bestowed a long time in searching and judging to find them out. And this and the other acts mentioned in this verse are to be understood of God solely and exclusively, it being here, as it is oft elsewhere in this book, sufficiently implied, that this kind of Divine wisdom, which consists in the accurate knowledge of all God’ s counsels and works, is far above, out of man’ s reach.

Job 28:27 Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.Ver. 27. Then did he see it, and declare it, &c.] Or, Then doth he see it, and number it, &c., sc. When he ordereth winds, waters, and other creatures, he hath wisdom ready et in numerate, as we say; as well known and as familiar as men have those things they daily deal in. Illa vero verborum congeries, saith Merlin. This heap of words, God saw it, numbered it, prepared it, searched it out, serveth but to show how intimate wisdom is with God, and how proper to him. And lest any should say, Hath God then communicated no heavenly wisdom to his creature? Yes, saith Job, but such as is thus circumscribed.

(27) The terms employed with reference to the Lord’s knowledge of wisdom are remarkable. They are: (1) seeing, or intuition; (2) declaring or numbering, ratiocination; (3) preparing or establishing, determination; (4) searching out, or investigation. Each of these actions implies the operation of mind, and is so far opposed to the fatality of an impersonal law or the fixed necessity of an inevitable nature.

Verse 27. Then did he see it, and declare it] When he had finished all his creative operations, and tried and proved his work, חקרה chakarah, investigated and found it to be very good; then he gave the needful revelation to man; for,

27. then did he see it] then, i. e. when He made a decree for the rain—in the act or at the time of creation, when He gave material agencies their laws. Then He “saw” Wisdom, she presented herself to His view. and declare it] The margin number or count (ch. Job 38:37) gives a very good sense, the meaning being that God went over, enumerated or surveyed the parts and complex powers of Wisdom. The meaning will not be greatly different if the rendering “declare” be retained and taken in the sense of uttered. This might be done by pronouncing the name of Wisdom, as God presents before His own mind the meaning of any servant or agent of His by calling him by his name (Isaiah 43:1; Isaiah 45:3). Others take “declare” in the sense that God gave expression to Wisdom in the varied works of creation. This is a very unnatural sense in which to take “declare.” Besides, of the four expressions used, “saw,” “declared,” “established,” “searched out,” the first and last refer exclusively to acts of the Divine mind and it is improbable that the middle terms should refer to acts or operations of God’s creative hand. Nor is there allusion to any to whom the declaration was made, God alone being referred to in the verse. he prepared it] Or, established it. The sense appears to be the same as in Proverbs 8:22 “the Lord formed me,” i. e. gave me existence. The Writer conceives Wisdom, if not as a person, at least as something that has being or existence of its own. According to Proverbs 8:23 seq. Wisdom received its existence prior to the creation of the world. In the present passage it is not quite easy to say whether the idea be that Wisdom received existence in creation or before it, at least it did so in connexion with creation (“then”). It is unnecessary, however, and contrary to the Poet’s vivid conception of Wisdom as a real thing or being, to suppose that it was “established” when embodied in the stable, permanent order of created things, as if, being merely an idea before, with wavering outlines, it then became fixed. Neither can the meaning be that God “set up” Wisdom before Him merely as an object of contemplation; much less that He set it up as a “model” after which to work in creating the world, or constituted it “the conductor of the whole general order of the world.” These are all additional ideas, hardly warranted by the expression employed. yea, and searched it out] The word yea implies that this searching out of Wisdom was something higher than the preceding acts. God explored Wisdom, He saw through it, and brought before Himself the full idea of all that was in its nature and its powers. The word can hardly mean He proved it, e. g. to see whether it was suitable or able for its great function, the guidance of the course of things in the world.

Then did he see it - That is, then did he see wisdom. When in the work of creation he gave laws to the rain and the thunder storm; when he weighed out the winds and measured out the waters, then he

27. Then — At the time of creation, He contemplated Wisdom; made her known through the medium of her works; established her as governor of the world; and searched out her works to see whether they