Job 28:7

[There is] a path which no fowl knoweth,.... A path made by miners to the gold, silver, brass, and iron ores; to the places where gems and precious stones lie; the way to which was never seen, and

There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen: Fowl , [ `aayiT (H5861)] - rather, rarenous bird, or eagle, which is the most sharp-sighted of birds (Isaiah 46:11).

A path, to wit, in the dark depths and bowels of the earth. The vulture; whose eye is very quick and strong, and which searcheth all places for its prey, but cannot reach to these places, which yet the wisdom of man by the direction of God’ s providence findeth out.

Job 28:7 [There is] a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’ s eye hath not seen:Ver. 7. There is a path which no fowl knoweth] That is, say some, those places where this gold lieth are so barren, as they bring forth nothing else but gold, nothing for fowls to feed upon, no, not discernible by the eye of the vulture, which excelleth in seeing afar off, and smelleth out his prey at a very great distance (Albert. Dionys. Aquin.). But men make their ways even here, to dig and find out gold, being herein more perspicacious and sagacious than the very vultures. The covetous would do well to consider, saith a good author, that for the most part those countries that are furnished with gold are destitute of better provision, both temporal and spiritual; that it lieth furthest from heaven, and the best of it in India, furthest from the Church; that though Adam had it in the first paradise, Genesis 2:11-12, yet in the second we shall not need it; but God shall be our gold, and we shall have plenty of that which is better than silver, Job 22:25. That wise men have esteemed it as the stones of the streets, 2 Chronicles 9:27, and that the children of wisdom might not possess it in their purses, Matthew 10:9; that wicked men have the most of it as their portion, Psalms 17:14, and that the devil danceth in rich and pleasant palaces, Isaiah 13:21-22, &c. And which the vulture’ s eye hath not seen] Or, the kite’ s eye, or the pie’ s, or the chough’ s, which yet is said to be sitiens auri, desirous of gold, and to hide it when she hath gotten it, though she can make no use of it. Some good interpreters by this path in the text understand the mines themselves, those underground places, as far underground as the fowls fly above ground; and that are by them and the most prey seeking beasts unknown and untrod; yet thither goeth the miners, by his skill and industry, letting in both light and vital air, Quem follibus arte mirifica e sublimi deducit, ut respirent artifices, et alantur lucernae, which with wonderful art he by bellows bringeth from above into those low holes, that the workmen may breathe, and the lights may be kept burning.

Verse 7. There is a path which no fowl knoweth] The instinct of birds is most surprising. They traverse vast forests, c., in search of food, at a great distance from the place which they have chosen for their general residence and return in all weathers, never missing their track: they also find their own nest without ever mistaking another of the same kind for it. Birds of passage, also, after tarrying in a foreign clime for six or seven months, return to their original abode over kingdoms and oceans, without missing their way, or deviating in the least from the proper direction; not having a single object of sight to direct their peregrinations. In such cases even the keen scent of the vulture, and the quick, piercing sight of the eagle, would be of no use. It is possible that Job may here refer to undiscovered mines and minerals; that notwithstanding man had already discovered much, yet much remained undiscovered, especially in the internal structure and contents of the earth. Since his time innumerable discoveries have been made; and yet how little do we know! Our various conflicting and contradictory theories of the earth are full proofs of our ignorance, and strong evidences of our folly. The present dogmatical systems of geology itself are almost the ne plus ultra of brain-sick visionaries, and system-mad mortals. They talk as confidently of the structure of the globe, and the manner and time in which all was formed, as if they had examined every part from the centre to the circumference; though not a soul of man has ever penetrated two miles in perpendicular depth into the bowels of the earth. And with this scanty, defective knowledge, they pretend to build systems of the universe, and blaspheme the revelation of God! Poor souls! All these things are to them a path which no fowl knoweth, which the vulture's eye hath not seen, on which the lion's whelps have not trodden, and by which the fierce lion have not passed. The wisdom necessary to such investigations is out of their reach; and they have not simplicity of heart to seek it where it may be found. One of the Chaldee Targums gives a strange turn to this verse: - "The path of the tree of life Sammael, (Satan,) though flying like a bird, hath not known; nor hath the eye of Eve beheld it. The children of men have not walked in it; nor hath the serpent turned towards it."

7. there is a path] Rather, that path no eagle knoweth, lit.—a path which no eagle &c., the words taking up what is said in Job 28:6,—the way to the place of sapphires. The sharp-sighted birds of prey have not seen that path.

There is a path which no fowl knoweth - That is, a path in searching for gold and precious stones. The miner treads a way which is unseen by the bird of keenest vision. He penetrates into the deep darkness of the earth.

7. There is a path — The path — no fowl (rather, bird of prey) hath known it, and the vulture’s eye hath not seen it. The vulture — The ayyah, Tristram supposes to have been the red kite; others, the vulture.