Job 28
OGCTODAY’S ENGLISH VERSION
In Praise of Wisdom
1 There are mines where silver is dug There are places where gold is refined.
2 Men dig iron out of the ground
And melt copper out of the stones.
3 Men explore the deepest darkness.
They search the depths of the earth And dig for rocks in the darkness.
4 Far from where anyone lives,
Or human feet ever travel, Men dig the shafts of mines. There they work in loneliness, Clinging to ropes in the pits.
5 Food grows out of the earth,
But underneath the same earth All is torn up and crushed.
6 The stones of the earth contain sapphires,
And the dust contains gold.
7 No hawk sees the roads to the mines
And no vulture ever flies over them.
8 No lion or other fierce beast
Ever travels those lonely roads.
9 Men dig the hardest rocks,
Dig mountains away at their base.
10 As they tunnel through the rocks
They discover precious stones.
11 They dig to the sources of rivers
And bring to light what is hidden.
12 But where is the source of wisdom?
Where can we learn to understand?
13 Wisdom is not to be found among men;
No one knows its true value.
14 The depths of the oceans and seas
Say that wisdom is not found there.
15 It cannot be bought with silver or gold. 16 The finest gold and jewels
Cannot pay its price.
17 Its value is more than gold,
Than a gold vase or finest glass,
18 The value of wisdom is more
Than coral, or crystal, or rubies.
19 The finest topaz and the purest gold
Cannot compare with the value of wisdom.
20 Where, then, is the source of wisdom?
Where can we learn to understand?
21 No living creature can see it,
Not even a bird in flight.
22 Even death and destruction
Admit they have heard only rumors.
23 God alone knows the way,
Knows the place where wisdom is found,
24 Because he sees the ends of the earth,
Sees everything under the sky.
25 When God gave the wind its power,
And determined the size of the sea;
26 When God decided where the rain would fall,
And the path that the thunderclouds travel;
27 It was then he saw wisdom and tested its value
He established it and gave his approval.
28 God said to men,
To be wise, you must fear the Lord. To understand, you must turn from evil.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 28:1-28
What is the theme of chapter 28? Show how it is divided.
Discuss how important this chapter is to man today.
What is the point of verse one?
Is there confirmation of the presence of iron and copper in Palestine? Where?
What is described in verse three? The methods used for mining have not changed. Discuss.
What a graphic picture is found in verse four! What is it?
The surface of the earth is compared to what is beneath. What is below the surface? Cf. Job 28:5.
What gem is possible as being mentioned in verse six?
There is a strong comparison being made throughout these verses. What is it? Cf. Job 28:7.
The sons of pride nor the lion have not been to the place described in this chapter. What is it?
Job 28:3-4; Job 28:9-11 are alike. How so? Discuss the point being made.
Man can mine gold and silver. What is he unable to do? Where shall wisdom be found?
Is the price or the location of wisdom the point of Job 28:13?
What is the deep of Job 28:14?
The term gold of Job 28:15 is of a particular kind of gold. What is it?
What was unusual about the gold from Egypt?
How is the only reference to glass used?
What of the definite gems of Job 28:18? i.e., what is said in the Hebrew text?
What color is topaz?
Perhaps we are reading the verses of a song. Cf. Job 28:12; Job 28:20. Discuss.
Why is wisdom so elusive? Or is it? Discuss.
What is meant by destruction in Job 28:22? What could be meant by rumor in Job 28:22?
What is meant by saying that God stands in the emphatic position.?
Job 28:1-11
C. SOURCE OF TRUE WISDOM (Job 28:1-28)
- Man finds hidden treasures of the earth, as in mining. (Job 28:1-11)
TEXT 28:1-11
**1 Surely there is a mine for silver,
And a place for gold which they refine.
2 Iron is taken out of the earth,
And copper is molten out of the stone.
3 Man setteth an end to darkness,
And searcheth out, to the farthest bound, The stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.
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.
COMMENT 28:1-11
Job 28:1**The theme of this marvelous chapter[282] is the transcendence of divine wisdom and its inaccessibility to man. Man may discover certain dimensions of God’s wisdom, but human efforts can never completely fathom the divine purpose.[283] This beautiful portion of Job falls into three divisions:
[282] See the doctoral thesis of C. C. Settlemire, The Meaning, Importance, and Original Position of Job 28, Diss. Drew Univ., 1969, cf. Diss. Abstracts, 1969.
[283] For analysis of the Near Eastern and biblical doctrine of wisdom (hokma), see James Wood, Wisdom Literature (London: Duckworth, 1967); H. H. Rowley, Wisdom in Israel and in the Ancient Near East, Supplement, V. T., 1955; H. H. Schmid, Eine Untersuchuung zur altorientalischen und israelitischen Weisheitsliteratur, 1966; A. Hulsbosch, Sagesse creatrive et educatrice, Augustinianum, 1961, pp. 217-235; G. von Rad, Wisdom in Israel (Nashville: Abingdon, E. T., 1972), pp. 144-176; U. Wilckens, Weisheit und Torheit, 1959, esp. pp. 174ff; R. B. Y. Scott, Wisdom in Creation, Vetus Testamentum, 1960, pp. 213ff; J. J. van Dipk, La Sagesse Sumero accadienne (Brill, 1953).
(1) There is no known road to attain wisdomJob 28:1-11;
(2) No price can purchase itJob 28:12-19 (Job 28:14-19 are missing from the LXX); and (3) God alone possesses it, and only when God makes it available through special revelation can man possess itJob 28:20-28.
How appropriate this great poem is to contemporary homo faber (man the maker). The Promethian spirit is once more upon us. Technologically dominated man operates on the mythological assumption of his unlimited possibilities. From the Greeks to twentieth century man, optimism has always outrun his concrete performance. This verse clearly means that every valuable thing in creation has a dwelling place. The verse begins with for which continues to trouble commentators because it suggests a logical sequence to something which is no longer in our text. The emphasis in Hebrew is on the there is a source (Heb. mosaplace of coming forth, i.e., the mining of silver and gold). Mosa is used of water in 2 Kings 2:21; Isaiah 41:18; Isaiah 58:11; Psalms 107:33; 2 Chronicles 32:30; and of the sunrise in Psalms 65:9; Psalms 75:7. In this verse the translation requires mine, and there are only a few references to mining in the Old TestamentDeu 8:9; Jeremiah 10:9; Ezekiel 27:12. After the excavations of the late Nelson Glueck, we have confirmation of the presence of a great copper refinery, from the time of Solomon, near Ezion geber. Silver was not mined, to our knowledge, in Palestine but was imported from TarshishJer 10:9; Ezekiel 27:12. (On Tarshish, see Herodotus, IV. 152.) The name Tarshish is probably derived from the Akkadian word meaning refinery.[284] Gold was imported from OphirIsa 13:12; 1 Kings 10:11; 1 Chronicles 29:4; and ShebaPsa 72:15 and 1 Kings 10:2. The verse is concerned with the source of silver and gold in contrast to wisdom.
[284] W. F. Albright suggests that the ships of Tarshish means refinery fleetBulletin American Society Oriental Research, 1941, pp. 21ff.
**Job 28:2**The promised land was described as one whose stones are ironDeu 8:9. In Saul’s day the Philistines monopolized the iron deposits1 Samuel 13:19-22; 1 Samuel 17:7. In David’s time iron became plentiful. Blommerde takes the second line to read and from stone is the smelting of copper. Copper was smelted very early in PalestineDeu 8:9. Major sources being Cyprus, in Edom, and in the Sinai Peninsula.[285]
[285] For details from original excavations,‘See N. Glueck, Biblical Archaeologist, 1938, pp. 13-16; 1939, pp. 37-41; 1940, pp. 51-55; 1965, pp. 70-87.
**Job 28:3**The metaphors express how the miners penetrate the dark recesses of the earth with their lamps. Miners open up deep shafts and let the sunlight into the hole. The subject is not expressed in this verse; it literally says one puts an end to darkness, (Hebrew shadows of death, darkness can mean ignorance or unrighteousness, here physical darkness), i.e., there is a limit to which the laborers will goJob 3:5 and Job 26:10.[286]
[286] See R. J. Forbes, Mining and Geology in Antiquity (Brill, 1940); and Bulletin of American Society of Oriental Research, 1938, pp. 3-17; 1939, pp. 8-22; and 1946, pp. 2-18.
**Job 28:4**Perhaps Graetz’s suggestion is best. He proposes that the first line means alien people break shafts, i.e., slave labor is being used to do the mining. The second line suggests that they are deep within the earth and thus the miners are remote from those walking or working above ground. The third line is probably a reference to miners suspended by ropes into the ground and swinging in the dark caverns digging for copper.
**Job 28:5**As the surface of the earth produces food, so deep below a smelting operation is yielding rich orePsa 104:14; or perhaps more likely, the mining below produces piles of debris similar to that produced by a fireEze 27:14, where stones of fire are precious gems.
**Job 28:6**The earth yields not only metals but precious stones. It is impossible to identify the specific gem which the text has in mind, but in view of the poetic parallelism, it is not impossible that lapis lazuli (as R. S. V. marginal reading) is meant; thus the iron pyrites particles found in lapis lazuli which glitters like gold provides a meaning for dust of gold which has already been mentioned in the verse.
**Job 28:7**The paths of miners are remote from most men, as is wisdom. Birds (perhaps falcon, LXX has vulture) of prey live even more remote from men than do the miners. The bird intended by this reference is impossible to identify with certainty, but the reference to its keenness of sight suggests the falcon. The gold mines worked by the Egyptians in Nubia were more than a seven-days-’ journey into the desert. The emphasis here in verses four and seven is on the remoteness and inaccessibility of the mines, and indirectly also of wisdom.
**Job 28:8**The sons of pride[287] have not even been there, i.e., where wisdom is found. It is imperative that we keep in mind a poetic play on words for originsmasafind and maqomplace, source of origin. Man and beast can find many valuable things, but not wisdom. Even the fierce lion (Heb. sahalJob 4:10 ff; Hosea 5:14; Hosea 13:7; Proverbs 26:13) has not been there, i.e., where wisdom is found.
[287] Only here and Job 41:26, see Sigmund Mowinckel, Hebrew and Semitic Studies, presented to G. R. Driver, eds. D. W. Thomas and W. D. McHardy, 1963, p. 97, for his effort to connect with mythology. It is an unwarranted claim in a context of real birds and beasts.
**Job 28:9**The images hereJob 28:9-11as in Job 28:3-4 emphasize man’s stubborn insistence in searching for treasure (note Jesus and the Pearl of Great Price). Human achievement emphasizing homo faber is the central thrust of the images. Flint, the hardest rock, yields to his persuasive insistence, and the mountains maintain only momentary resistance.
**Job 28:10**The word rendered channels (ye-‘orim) is the plural of the designation of the Nile, ye or, the one which also describes the Nile. It can refer to mine shafts or drainage ditchesIsa 33:21. Example of cutting through solid rock is the Siloam tunnel, and the rock city of Petra.
**Job 28:11**Difficulties in this verse can be overcome by taking the suggestions of some that the meaning is that of a man exploring the sources of rivers by digging down to their underground springs. This also provides a parallel with the next line.[288]
[288] For this suggestion, see M. Mansoor, Revue de Qumran, 1961-2, pp. 392ff; and G. M. Landes, Bulletin of American Society of Oriental Research, 1956, pp. 32ff.
Job 28:12-28
- But where wisdom is, man cannot discover; only God knows. (Job 28:12-28)
TEXT 28:12-28
**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 birds of the heavens.
22 Destruction and Death say,
We have heard a rumor 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 ram,
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.**
COMMENT 28:12-28
**Job 28:12**Man can mine silver, gold, precious gems, but what about wisdom and understanding?Proverbs 1:2; Proverbs 4:5; Proverbs 4:7; Proverbs 9:10; Proverbs 16:16. The wisdom with which God governs creation eludes man’s search. (The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Paul calls Jesus the wisdom of God, 1 Corinthians 1:30 ff). This verse is repeated with little modification in Job 28:20.
**Job 28:13**Though the Hebrew text has its price (-erkah) as A. V., this verse is concerned with locating wisdom; Job 28:15 ff treat the value or price of wisdom. Thus it would be appropriate to emend the text to read the way to it, (darkah)[289] instead of its price, following the LXX. The thesis here is that man knows the way to find the things discussed in the preceding verses; but he is completely at a loss as to how to locate wisdom. The parallelism strongly favors the emendation, which follows the LXX. The second line suggests that wisdom is not found in the land of the living either, a metaphor for inhabited earthPsa 27:13; Psalms 52:7, Job 28:22; Isaiah 38:11; Isaiah 53:8; Jeremiah 11:19; and Ezekiel 26:20.
[289] Perhaps more support is now available for M. Dahood’s suggestion which produces the emendation house or abode of wisdomBiblica, 1969, p. 355. Still the emphasis is on the location of wisdom, not its price.
**Job 28:14**Tehom, the deep, says wisdom is not there eitherGen 7:11; Genesis 49:25; and Job 3:18. Man may explore the watery abyss as he digs for gold and silver, but he will not find wisdom.
**Job 28:15**Wisdom cannot be purchased with gold (Heb. segorgold bullion, pure gold). The word is found only here, but a slightly different word is used to describe the gold of Temple ornaments1 Kings 6:20. The root meaning is enclose, perhaps prized, or even gold bars1 Kings 7:49; Job 10:21; 2 Chronicles 4:20; 2 Chronicles 4:22; 2 Chronicles 9:20. In the ancient world, money was weighed not countedGen 23:16; Zechariah 11:12.
**Job 28:16**Wisdom cannot be obtained for gold (Heb. ketenwhich is a derivation from the Egyptian source of goldNubia). The verb rendered be valued is found only here and Job 28:19 and means to be weighed againstJob 22:24. The precious gem (Heb. sohom) can be given only a precarious and conjectural meaningGen 2:12; Exodus 39:13; and Ezekiel 29:13, but the meaning is clear. The things men value most cannot purchase wisdom.
**Job 28:17**The only direct reference to glass (gabiscrystal, used of hail stones in Ezekiel 13:11; Ezekiel 13:13; and Ezekiel 38:22) in the Old Testament is found here. Glass was made in Egypt as early as 4000 B.C. It was used for ornamentation and was very valuable. Because of its value, no one would exchange wisdom for vessels of fine goldPsa 19:10; Proverbs 8:19.
**Job 28:18**The gems mentioned here cannot be identified with certainty, but Lamentations 4:7 gives us a clue to their color as being reddishPro 31:10; Ezekiel 27:16.[290]
[290] See S. T. Byington, JBL, 1945, pp. 340ff.
**Job 28:19**The price of wisdom continues to be contrasted with topaz (green pearl or yellowish stone) and pure goldJob 28:16. Pliny (Historia Naturalis, XXXVII, XXXII, 108) indicates that there was an island in the Red Sea called Topazos.
**Job 28:20**Perhaps this verse is a refrainJob 28:12. Both the living and the dead fail to ensnare wisdom. All human searching is futile.
**Job 28:21**Wisdom is not made available to man through his searching the earth, sea, Sheol, or the heavensJob 28:13-14; Job 28:22. No one can locate the hiding place of wisdom. Neither heights nor depths provide a vantage point for observation in order to provide advantage in reconnaissance; wisdom is no place to be found.
**Job 28:22**Destruction, AbaddonJob 26:6 band death personified have only a rumour; they have no direct concrete knowledge of wisdom. The dread powers have only heard with their ears2 Samuel 7:22; Psalms 44:2, i.e., have only second-hand evidence. Man’s most dreaded enemydeathhas only a vague rumour as to wisdom’s home, source.
**Job 28:23**God stands in the emphatic position both in the text and in the Universe. He alone knows the nature and source of wisdom.
**Job 28:24**Heaven and earth were created by wisdom and understandingPro 3:19; Job 37:3; Job 41:3; Isaiah 40:28; Isaiah 41:5; Isaiah 41:9. The Creator surveys His entire creation and knows its every need.
**Job 28:25**God’s providential guidance of the cosmos is illustrated by the fact that He regulates the force of the wind and measures the watersJob 5:10; Job 36:27-33; Job 38:26-27; Isaiah 40:12; note and contrast with Job 12:15.
**Job 28:26**The Hebrew wordhoqshould not be translated decree as in the A. V., but in the sense of boundary or limit as in Jeremiah 5:22; Proverbs 8:29; Psalms 148:6. The root significance of hoq is to engrave (cf. Job 38:25 a uses te-‘alahtrench or groove). God also sets limits on the way (darekpath)[291] lightning of the thunder (R. S. V.thunderbolt, see Zechariah 10:1). Probably this means a thunderstorm (haziz qolot)Job 37:4; Zechariah 10:1; Psalms 18:13; Isaiah 30:30 ff; and Jeremiah 10:13.
[291] See E. F. Sutcliffe, The Clouds as Water Carriers in Hebrew Thoughts, Vetus Testamentum, 1953, pp. 99-103.
**Job 28:27**The reference here is to the time of creation. Man was not present; therefore, He could not reveal the nature of wisdom to man. The A. V. rendering of declare (verb, sprappraise, evaluate, or count) might suggest that God announced it to man, but this is impossible in that man did not yet exist. The significance of the first two verbs suggests that God perfectly understood the nature of wisdomJob 14:6; Job 38:37; Psalms 22:18. God appraised (spr) and established (hekinah, rather than the emendation hebinahdiscerned) and tested wisdom. God exhaustively evaluated wisdom in the process of creation. An analogue might be that of a computer evaluating all possible options in a finite system.
**Job 28:28**After evaluating the process of creation, after man is created, God (-dnyadonai is found nowhere else in Job) says to him that there is a practical wisdom available to man, which is the way to ultimate wisdom, that isStand in awe before God. In Proverbs 9:10 and Psalms 111:10 the authors declare that awe or reverence (not fear as dread or horror) of God is the chief (roshhead) or foundation for wisdom. Reverent submission to the gracious will of God is the only place in the universe where one gains hope of ultimate victory over sin and evil. Evil is irrational in that there is no logical explanation nor technological way of removing evil from the fallen universe. The empirical evidence remains intact; man is separated from God, self, others, and nature by sinful self-elevation When pride is destroyed by being born again, the self is crucified, and we accept a new center from which to maintain integritythat new center is Job’s redeemer, Lord of heaven and earth.[292]
[292] See statement regarding the problem which chapter 28 presents in F. I. Andersen, Job, pp. 222-229.