Job 28

1. STRELY there is a mine for silver, And a place for gold which they refine. 2 Iron is taken out of the earth, And brass is molten out of the stone. 3 Man setteth an end to darkness, And searcheth out to the furthest bound The stones of thick darkness and of the shadow of death. 4 He breaketh open a shaft away from where men sojourn; They are forgotten of the foot; They hang afar from men, they swing to and fro. 5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: And underneath it is turned up as it were by fire. 6 The stones thereof are the place of sapphires, And it hath dust of gold. 7 That path no bird of prey knoweth, Neither hath the falcon’s eye seen it: 8 The proud beasts have not trodden it, Nor hath the fierce lion passed thereby. 9 He putteth forth his hand upon the flinty rock; He overturneth the mountains by the roots. 10 He cutteth out channels among the rocks; And his eye seeth every precious thing. 11 He bindeth the streams that they trickle not; And the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light. 12 But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? 13 Man knoweth not the price thereof; Neither is it found in the land of the living. 14 The deep saith, It is not in me:

And the sea saith, It is not with me.

15. It cannot be gotten for gold, Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.

16. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, With the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

17. Gold and glass cannot equal it: Neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

18. No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal: Yea, the price of wisdom is above rubies.

19. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

20. Whence then cometh wisdom? And where is the place of understanding?

21. Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, And kept close from the fowls of the air.

22. Destruction and Death say, We have heard a rumour thereof with our ears.

23. God understandeth the way thereof, And he knoweth the place thereof.

24. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, And seeth under the whole heaven;

25. To make a weight for the wind; Yea, he meteth out the waters by measure.

26. When he made a decree for the rain, And a way for the lightning of the thunder:

27. Then did he see it, and declare it; He established it, yea, and searched it out.

28. And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;

And to depart from evil is understanding.

HAVING portrayed the extreme of unwisdom (with which in the old philosophy wickedness was identified), the life that has not the future nor is built therefor, it is natural that Job should next speak of its contrast, the true wisdom and foresight whereby to build human life and character. There are many marvellous things that man may know or search out; but many also are unsearchable. He cannot see as God sees, perhaps cannot reach absolute truth.

But there is a wisdom for him, which points to the absolute good as the needle points to the pole. J. F. G.—In this chapter Job turns to the great principle, which, once thoroughly accepted, shows the futility of all speculations touching apparent difficulties or inequalities in God’s government. Man has marvellous faculties; in the investigation of physical phenomena, in his mastery over external nature, his powers are indefinite, his tact sure, his achievements a matter of rational admiration; but as for understanding which can penetrate God’s secrets and comprehend His ways, man knoweth it not, it is not found in the place of the living. Wisdom, in that sense, belongs to God; it is His alone; all the wisdom and understanding of man is summed up in the fear of God and in the hatred of sin. With this declaration Job disposes of the whole argument; he does not profess to account for his own sufferings, or for any inexplicable events in the world’s history; such attempts do but savor of presumption, their failure causes inconceivable scandal; one thing is sure, that he who fears God and departs from evil hath the true secret of life and eternity. In the three following chapters Job takes a review of his whole life, as though he would settle the question of his innocence once and forever; the conclusion is, that he holds fast to his integrity, but remains in a state of absolute perplexity touching the cause of his terrible sufferings, which he describes in the thirtieth chapter. Cook.

The inequalities of human conditions, the success of wickedness, the sorrows of good men, the removal of those who apparently could least be spared, the survival of others who are a burden or perhaps a curse, the failure of enterprises wholly benevolent, the seemingly capricious ebb and flow of civilization in different ages and lands, the vicissitudes and disappointments of individuals and communities—these, and many like features of human life, baffle all attempts to account for them under the government of a wise and sovereign Ruler. Numerous philosophical systems have been propounded as solutions of the problem; but all have failed. Reasonable persons must admit that there is a Divine order in the universe. The world is not the sport of chance, nor the passive victim of unintelligent and inexorable fate, and still less is it subject to a Ruler who is indeed almighty, but neither wise nor holy. No, there is a principle of administration which, did we but know it, would reconcile all contradictions and illumine all mysteries. But we do not, cannot know it. Our faculties fail to take it in. Yet we are not left helpless, but have all that we really need for the conduct of life and the attainment of life’s great end. This is the sum of what is contained in the brilliant twenty-eighth chapter of the Book of Job. Chambers.—The secret that resolves all mysteries, harmonizes all strifes, reconciles all contradictions, and reduces this seemingly inextricable confusion to perfect symmetry and order, is hidden in the infinite mind alone. But the

Most High has revealed to man all that is necessary for his practical guidance. He may not know how God governs the world, or what rules He prescribes for His own procedure; but he has been sufficiently taught how to direct his own conduct and to govern his own life. He cannot solve the mysteries of Providence; but he need be in no doubt how to accomplish the true end of his own being and to secure his own highest welfare. “The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” W. H. G.

Analysis of Chapter. Wisdom can nowhere be found by man; God alone is in possession of it; the wisdom of man is to fear the Lord. The thought that wisdom cannot be reached by man is set forth and illustrated in many ways and with much poetical adornment. First (vs. 1-14), the precious ores and stones have a place where they may be found, to which men penetrate and from which they bring them forth to the light; but wisdom has no place where it can be found in all the land of the living. Second (vs. 15-22), wisdom is not to be seen in the marts of mankind; it cannot be purchased though gold and all precious things were offered for it. It is not found even in the world below, the realm of the dead. Third (vs. 23-28), God alone knoweth the way to it and is in possession of it, for He is the Creator of the world. The wisdom of man is the fear of the Lord. A. B. D.

1-11. Here Job shows what a great way the wit of man may go, in diving into the depths of nature and seizing the riches of it; what a great deal of knowledge and wealth men may, by their ingenious and industrious searches, make themselves masters of. But does it therefore follow that men may, by their wit, comprehend the reasons why some wicked people prosper and others are punished, why some good people prosper and others are afflicted? No, by no means. H.—These verses are remarkable for the knowledge of mining operations which they indicate in the writer. Though many expressions are still obscure, and will probably remain matters of controversy, we find in them singularly accurate and graphic descriptions of the processes of miners. It is an interesting question where the writer could have acquired such minute and accurate knowledge; certainly not in Palestine, where mining was unknown. But in very remote ages, far more ancient than that assigned to Job, there were gold mines in Egypt; silver was brought from the far east by Phoenician merchants; iron was found, and copper mines were worked in the Sinaitic peninsula by Egyptians from the third dynasty, at least some thousand years before Job, until the nineteenth dynasty. Cook.

1. Modern science instead of confuting only confirms the aphorism of the patriarch Job, who has shadowed forth the downward persistence of the one (silver), and the superficial distribution of the other (gold). “Surely there is a vein for the silver—the earth hath dust of gold.” The indisputable fact is that the chief quantities of gold originally embedded in the upper portions of the vein have been broken up and transported, with the débris of the mountain-tops, into adjacent slopes and valleys. Silver and argentiferous lead, on the contrary, extended so largely downward into the bowels of the earth, that they must yield enormous profit to the miner for ages to come. Murchison.

1,2. The statements seem purposely indefinite; the things predicated belong to both silver and gold—both have a place in the mine, and also in the refinery. Iron is also taken from the earth, and brass or copper is obtained from stone by melting, or, in the language of the art, by smelting. These are simply matter-of-fact statements as to how these metals are obtained.

6. Both of the statements of this verse are well-known facts of mineralogy and mining. Crystals lie embodied in the rocks, and also gold in particles, or flakes, or nuggets. Curry.—And it hath dust of gold; or, and dust of gold is for him, for the miner. The great riches which reward the toils and talents of the miners, are contrasted with the empty results of speculation about the hidden things of God’s government.

7,8. Or, a path which the eagle knoweth not, and the eye of the culture hath not espied it. In the next clause, read “the fierce beasts,” literally, “the sons of pride or fierceness.” The mine is a path which none but man could discern. The ingenuity of man is thus contrasted with the instinctive sagacity of animals, the far-reaching and keen vision of the eagle and hawk, the strength and force of the lion. The astonishment and admiration excited by the natural powers of the brute creation are especially noticeable in the monuments of Egypt. Job shows how far more wonderful and admirable are the faculties of man.

9. The rock. The word so translated means “granite” or “quartz.” Job evidently alludes to excavations in the granitic and porphyritic rocks; the expression, “putteth forth his hand,” denotes the severe and continued exertions required to penetrate the rock. Overturneth. By fire. Pliny describes various processes of blasting. Cook.—The operation described here, seems to be the breaking in pieces and dislodging, in order to come at the ore, the hardest flint or marble; which are the roots—that is, the foundation of the mountain. Scott.

10. Channels. To drain the mine, a process of great labor and danger in the infancy of hydraulic science, yet familiar to the Egyptians from the earliest times.

11. Trickle not. The miner not only turns the course of subterranean rivers which he meets in his excavation, but prevents the least leakage, or “weeping,” a picturesque and perhaps technical term. Forth to light. The last grand result, the hidden treasures are brought into the light for the use and glory of man. Cook.—The metal that was hid in the ore is refined from its dross and brought forth pure out of the furnace; and then he thinks his pains well bestowed. Go to the miners, then, thou sluggard in religion, consider their ways and be wise. Let their courage, diligence, and constancy in seeking the wealth that perisheth, shame us out of slothfulness and faint-heartedness in laboring for the true riches. H.

12-19. The precious ores and costly stones, though hidden, have a place where they may be found, and man knows how to reach it and bring that which is hid to light; but where can wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? It has no place, and is unattainable by man; it is not to be found in the land of the living, in the deep, nor in the sea. A. B. D.—Job points out that there is absolutely no relation between the results of human ingenuity and true wisdom, they are utterly incommensurable. Man may traverse the habitable earth, explore the depths of the ocean, sail over all seas, possess all that the diver, the miner has collected, and the merchant transported from India to Ethiopia, but he acquires nothing which he can exchange for wisdom. This is no mere truism. Wisdom and the acquisition of wealth are inseparable in the minds of most men; when that acquisition involves the discipline and development of high moral and intellectual faculties, it has a claim readily conceded to it by the leaders of human thought. Job, doubtless, taught a truth new and strange, and likely to be contested by many of his contemporaries. Cook.

13-14. The whole realm of nature is exhausted. Man can find every precious material thing, but wisdom eludes his sharpest scrutiny. The most difficult material labors he performs with ease. Neither height nor depth, neither land nor sea, perplex him. Only let him know where anything of value is, and he will find or make a way to it. The fertility of his invention respecting such matters is something marvellous. But it utterly fails when applied to the effort to ascertain the moral order of the world. Chambers.

15-19. As the preceding verses (1-14) expressed the idea that there was no “place” of wisdom where men could find it and from which they could bring it forth, these verses express the idea that it can be acquired by no price which men can offer for it. It is altogether unattainable. Vs. 20-22 declare this explicitly. A. B. D.

16. It is doubtful what gem is meant by that which we translate the onyx; the epithet precious, as Schultens remarks, gives a distinction to it, which the onyx, a sort of agate, does not merit. The Chaldee interpreter renders it beryls. The beryl of the ancients was a transparent gem of a sea-green color. The sapphire is of a beautiful sky blue. Some will have the Hebrew word to signify the ruby; others the carbuncle, which is a stone of the ruby kind, very rare, and of a rich, glowing blood color. Scott.

20-22. Whence then cometh wisdom. The declared failure of the quest through all the world suggests this inquiry. It is too precious to be foregone, and yet a search over the whole world and into its most secret recesses fails to discover it. Another realm, the unseen underworld, is next questioned, and Destruction (Abaddon, the Destroyer) and Death, the custodian of those dark domains, respond that they have heard of it, but only in unintelligible rumors—they cannot tell what it is nor where it may be found. Curry.

22. By a grand personification Job summons the abyss (Abaddon) and Death to bear witness. They have heard a rumor. Perhaps Job felt that some dim intimation of the great truth reached “the spirits of the departed even in their state of imperfect consciousness,” but the thought is vague and dimly expressed. It may be that he simply means that the dead and the living are equally incapable of comprehending the wisdom of God. Cook.—The words “we have heard the report thereof” ascribe neither a less nor a greater knowledge of wisdom to Death than the living possess. Both are equally ignorant of it, and equally without it. As vs. 13, 14 told how wisdom was nowhere to be found in the upper world, so v. 22 states that it is not to be found in the underworld. The process of exhaustion is complete; wisdom is nowhere to be found; neither in the earth nor in the sea, neither in the land of the living nor in the place of the dead.

23-27. Wisdom in this passage, as in other parts of Scripture where it is spoken of, is properly the idea or conception lying behind or under the fixed order of the universe, the world-plan. This fixed order itself, with all its phenomena and occurrences, is nothing but God fulfilling Himself in many ways, but these ways may be reduced to one conception, and this is wisdom, which is thus conceived as a thing having an objective existence of its own. Naturally such an objective thing is apt to be personified, and may be “seen,” “established,” “searched out,” and the like. In the same way the question may be put, Where is wisdom to be found? and the answer given that it can be found nowhere. This question and answer merely mean that man cannot attain to intellectual apprehension of the idea of the universe, nor understand the principle underlying the phenomena and events of the world and human life. This wisdom can nowhere be found either by man or by any creature (v. 21), only by the Creator. God knoweth the place of it and is in possession of it, for He is the maker and upholder of the universe with all its agencies. And He has assigned to man as his wisdom the fear of the Lord (v. 28). A. B. D.

23. As for wisdom, “God understandeth the way thereof, and He knoweth the place thereof.” The seat of wisdom is, was, and ever has been, the bosom of God. It is He and He only before whose comprehensive gaze all worlds are spread out; the world of nature in all the richness of its variety, the world of providence in all the intricacies of its counsels, the world of grace in all the profoundness of its depths. The subtlest powers of nature are His creation, and under His control. The deep designs which regulate the administration of events are the offspring of His mind. The great works of grace, redemption, sanctification, glorification, are all the result of His immediate agency. E. M. G.

24. This does not mean merely that He is omniscient, but that, as Creator, He has universal oversight of the work of His hands. All sprang from Him, and is, therefore, under His inspection and control. This is illustrated by two examples set forth in vs. 25, 26. Chambers.—The winds and “waters” are examples taken to represent all of the agencies and forces of creation. These were and continue all weighed and measured, adjusted and directed by God. A. B. D.

25. In the still atmosphere there slumbers amazing power; it has a weight, or substantiality, by which it upholds the clouds or the waters; and there is in its movements a force which is appalling when in tempest it rushes hither and thither, distributing desolation and death. In that silent process by which the clouds are uplifted, there is put forth in a single year a weight or an amount of force that is almost incredible; it has been calculated by Arago as greater than the united strength of all the nations of the earth if put forth for twenty thousand years. W. Fraser.

Nothing sensible is to us more unaccountable than the wind; but God gives it out by weight, wisely ordering both from what point it shall blow and with what strength. The waters of the sea and the rain waters He both weighs and measures; allotting the proportion of every tide and every shower A great and constant communication there is between clouds and seas, the waters above the firmament and those under it; vapors go up, rains come down, air is condensed into water, water rarefied into air; but the great God keeps an exact account of all the stock with which this trade is carried on for the public benefit, and sees that none of it be lost. Now if in these things Providence be so exact, how much more in dispensing frowns and favors, rewards and punishments to the children of men according to the rules of equity! H.

28. And unto man He said. This ordinance in regard to man is also considered contemporary with creation: then God saw and searched out wisdom, and at the same time, as suitable to man’s place, He ordained for him his wisdom, which is the fear of the Lord and to depart from evil. The wisdom spoken of throughout the chapter is a possession of God alone; it is His who is Creator; man has a wisdom also, which is that of the creature, to fear the Lord. A. B. D.

It is to be remarked that Job thus unconsciously sets the seal upon his own triumph. His character is described by God Himself (chap. 1) as “one that feareth God and departeth from evil.” The Hebrew has the same word in both places. Cook.

These are just what Job started with (chap. 1), but they have reached a significance far beyond what they had then. He has tested and maintained them through the fiercest fires of struggle and affliction; and not only has he proved them true, but he has defined as never before what it involves to fear God and shun evil—even all that Satan doubted of him. Further, that very integrity has been to Job for insight into the deeps of things; the faith that was born of his loyalty to what was holy and loving has indeed proved itself “understanding.” This, then, is the highest expression of Job’s vindication. Thus Job, the man perfect and upright, who feared God and shunned evil, has not only answered Satan’s question, but solved for every man the problem of life. His solution is not new, nor does it contradict the wise precepts of the friends. And yet it is new; for it comes now with a whole world of fact and experience behind it, reporting that in the most searching trial this rule of life has stood the test. To fear God and shun evil is wisdom, in spite of the affliction that righteousness suffers, in spite of the prospered wickedness that is rampant in the world. And in the deepest sense, too, the solution does contradict, if not the friends’ words, yet the friends’ whole false attitude toward God; for with Job to fear God and shun evil is not to fear and shun appearances, or to trim the sails according to the way in which the breeze of God’s favor seems for the time to set; it is to be true to the soul’s ideal of the godlike in scorn of consequence. They say Job was impatient. If patience means holding one consistent mind through a hard experience, and if patience has her perfect work in believing and enduring, was he impatient? J. F. G.

The fear of the Lord. Higher than all knowledge of natural things is that which has God Himself for its object, and which defines man’s relations to Him. Everywhere in His self-manifestation God is teaching man what are his spiritual relations toward his Maker and Keeper; and the disposition of mind in which man must apprehend God is expressed by the word fear. The idea of the apprehension of danger, though not wholly wanting, is subordinated to higher and better sentiments, including faith and trust warmed and elevated into love and active devotion, with a corresponding repulsion from all moral evil. Curry.—The fear of the Lord is the spring and summary of all religion. There is a slavish fear of God springing from hard thoughts of Him, which is contrary to religion (Matt. 25:24). There is a selfish fear of God springing from dreadful thoughts of Him, which may be a good step toward religion (Acts 9:5). But there is a filial fear of God springing from great and high thoughts of Him, which is the life and soul of all religion. And wherever this reigns in the heart it will appear by a constant care to depart from evil (Prov. 16:6). This is essential to religion ; we must first cease to do evil or we shall never learn to do well. H.

Instead of the solution of the problem of the universe, God has given to man what is far better, the guiding principle of life, the key to usefulness and happiness.

" And unto man He said,

Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom ; And to depart from evil is understanding."

What a world of significance lies in these lines ! " The fear," not of the deist’s God, not of the agnostic’s force, not of any humanly invented Deity, but " of the Lord"—Jehovah, the eternal and self-existent One, who has made Himself known to men, not only by His works, but also by His Word, the revealed God of the Scriptures. For this Being man is to cherish fear, not terror, but reverence, the happy compound of submission and fear, such as is expressed in the address of the Lord’s Prayer which unites the tenderness of a father with the majesty of one enthroned in heaven, or in the preface to the Decalogue, where we are taught to feel awe toward the Creator as Jehovah our God, and at the same time grateful love to Him as the one who brought us out of the house of bondage. This is religion, the bond which unites with the unseen and eternal, the principle which introduces the supernatural into the sphere of the natural, the mighty spiritual force which alone can supply the needs of the human soul. Properly understood, the fear of the Lord covers the whole sphere of human life, and takes in every relation that man can hold.

And to depart from evil is understanding. The negative form of the statement is owing, doubtless, to the character of man as sinful and fallen. Prone as he is by nature and practice to follow that which is evil, naturally the precept to him takes the prohibitory form found in the Decalogue. To depart from evil, is to revolutionize a man’s whole course and character. It takes in thought, word, and deed. It comprehends all relations—domestic, social, civil, and ecclesiastical. It extends from the dawn of conscious moral agency to the last expiring breath. Nor is it possible to depart from evil without in the very act following that which is good, and so fulfilling one’s whole duty. Chambers.

The world gives the name of wisdom to many higher and lower manifestations of intellectual foresight and practical sense, but Scripture sees in it nothing save one single law of life : " The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom ; and to depart from evil is understanding." Some one may say, Is any knowledge worth the attainment save the one knowledge which is wisdom ? The answer is, To the true Christian every school will be a school of Christ. On the ample leaf of knowledge, whether it be rich with the secrets of nature or with the spoils of time, we will read no name save the name of God. To seek for knowledge where it is possible is the clear duty of man ; to win it is the gift of God. Knowledge apart from wisdom is like a vestibule dissevered from its temple, but it may, on the other hand, be the worthy vestibule of that sacred shrine. Knowledge is a vain thing only when it is sought out of unworthy motives and applied to selfish ends ; but it becomes noble and glorious when it is desired solely for man’s benefit and consecrated wholly to God’s praise. Farrar.

Our faith is more precious in His eyes than our knowledge. By being left unacquainted with the secrets of the Divine wisdom in some things, we are in the better position for glorifying His wisdom in all things. If we cannot see the reason of His doings we are yet enabled, from what we do know, to conclude that the Lord is holy in all His ways, and righteous in all His works ; and in this confidence can rest content, happy, waiting in the posture that best becomes a believer, and which honors Him more than any amount of knowledge of His high secrets which He could bestow upon us. We know the whole counsel of God concerning faith and repentance ; concerning eternal life, and the way into it ; concerning the whole mystery of Christ crucified. All this—all that concerns our salvation, has been made open and plain to us. Is not this enough ? Kitto.

In the Book of Job mention is made of kings, princes, nobles, judges, merchants, warriors, travellers, and slaves. The pen of iron had begun to engrave inscriptions upon rocks : the mining shaft was sunk for gold and silver ; and palaces that had been built for kings and nobles had fallen into ruin. Astronomy had begun to acquaint men with the heavenly bodies, and many of the stars and constellations had received well-known names. Altogether, the state of civilization was highly advanced. The more closely we study those early times, the more erroneous appears the opinion, that man began his career as a savage, and gradually worked his way up to refinement and civilization. The reverse of this is nearer the truth. " God made man upright"—civilized and refined, as well as intelligent and holy ; but as man departed from God, he lost these early

blessings. Sometimes a considerable degree of refinement has been reached by other paths; but by far the richest and best civilization is

that which has come with true religion—with the pure knowledge and simple worship of the one true God. W. G. B.