Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 28:1
Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold [where] they fine [it].
1. surely there is ] Rather, for there is. The connexion, however, with the preceding is difficult to perceive (see at the end of the chapter).
there is a vein ] lit. an issue or source. The emphasis falls on is there is a place from which silver comes forth, it has a source out of which it may be gotten.
where they fine it ] Rather, which they (men) refine. The most precious ores, both silver and gold, have a place where they may be found; however distant and dark and deep in the earth their place be, such a place is known, men penetrate to it, and bring them forth. The antithesis is presented in Job 28:12, But whence shall Wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? It hath no place known to man.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Surely there is a vein for silver – Margin, mine Coverdale renders this, There are places where silver is molten. Prof. Lee renders it, There is an outlet for the silver, and supposes it means the coming out or separation of the silver from the earthy particles by which it is surrounded in the ore, not the coming out from the mine. The word rendered vein ( motsa’) means properly a going forth, as the rising of the sun, Psa 19:6; the promulgation of an edict Dan 9:25; then a place of going forth – as a gate, door; Eze 42:11; Eze 43:11, and thence a mine, a vein, or a place of the going forth of metals; that is, a place where they are procured. So the Septuagint here, Esti gar argurio topos hothen ginetai – there is a place for silver whence it is obtained. The idea here is that man had evinced his wisdom in finding out the mines of silver and working them. It was one of the instances of his skill that he had been able to penetrate into the earth, and bring out the ore of the precious metals, and convert it to valuable purposes.
And a place for gold – A workshop, or laboratory, for working the precious metals. Job says, that even in his time such a laboratory was a proof of the wisdom of man. So now, one of the most striking proofs of skill is to be found in the places where the precious metals are purified, and worked into the various forms in which they are adapted to ornament and use.
Where they fine it – – yazoqu. The word used here ( zaqaq) means properly to bind fast, to fetter; and then to compress, to squeeze through a strainer; and hence, to strain, filter; and thence to purify – as wine that is thus filtered, or gold that is purified Mal 3:3. It may refer here to any process of purifying or refining. It is commonly done by the application of heat. One of the instructive uses of the book of Job is the light which it throws incidentally on the state of the ancient arts and sciences, and the condition of society in reference to the comforts of life at the early period of the world when the author lived. In this passage it is clear:
(1) that the metals were then in general use, and
(2) that they were so worked as to furnish, in the view of Job a striking illustration of human wisdom and skill.
Society was so far advanced as to make use not only of gold and silver, but also of copper and brass. The use of gold and silver commonly precedes the discovery of iron, and consequently the mention of iron in any ancient book indicates a considerably advanced state of society. It is of course, not known to what extent the art of working metals was carried in the time of Job, as all that would be indicated here would be that the method of obtaining the pure metal from the ore was understood. It may be interesting, however, to observe, that the art was early known to the Egyptians, and was carried by them to a considerable degree of perfection. Pharaoh arrayed Joseph in vestures of fine linen, and put a chain of gold about his neck; Gen 41:42, and great quantities of gold and silver ornaments were borrowed by the Israelites of the Egyptians, when they were about to go to the promised land. Gold and silver are mentioned as known in the earliest ages; compare Gen 2:11-12; Gen 41:42; Exo 20:23; Gen 23:15-16. Iron is also mentioned as having been early known; Gen 4:22. Tubal Cain was instructor in iron and brass. Gold and silver mines were early worked in Egypt, and if Moses was the compiler of the book of Job, it is possible that some of the descriptions here may have been derived from that country, and at all events the mode of working these precious metals was probably the same in Arabia and Egypt. From the mention of ear rings, bracelets, and jewels of silver and gold, in the days of Abraham, it is evident that the art of metallurgy was known at a very remote period. Workmen are noticed by Homer as excelling in the manufacture of arms, rich vases, and other objects inlaid or ornamented with vessels:
,
.
Peleides d’ aips alla tithei tachutenos aethla,
Argirepm kratera tetugmeion.
Iliad xxiii. 741.
His account of the shield of Achilles (Iliad xviii. 474) proves that the art of working in the precious metals was well known in his time; and the skill required to delineate the various objects which he describes was such as no ordinary artisan, even at this time, could be supposed to possess. In Egypt, ornaments of gold and silver, consisting of rings, bracelets, necklaces, and trinkets, have been found in considerable abundance of the times of Osirtasen I, and Thothmes III, the contemporaries of Joseph and of Moses. Diodorus (i. 49) mentions silver mine of Egypt which produced 3,200 myriads of minae. The gold mines of Egypt remained long unknown, and their position has been ascertained only a few years since by M. Linant and M. Bonomi. They lie in the Bisharee desert, about seventeen days journey to the South-eastward from Derow. The matrix in which the gold in Egypt was found is quartz, and the excavations to procure the gold are exceedingly deep.
The principal excavation is 180 feet deep. The quartz thus obtained was broken by the workmen into small fragments, of the size of a bean, and these were passed through hand mills made of granitic stone, and when reduced to powder the quartz was washed on inclined tables, and the gold was thus separated from the stone. Diodorus says, that the principal persons engaged in mining operations were captives, taken in war, and persons who were compelled to labor in the mines, for offences against the government. They were bound in fetters, and compelled to labor night and day. No attention, he says, is paid to these persons; they have not even a piece of rag to cover themselves; and so wretched is their condition, that every one who witnesses it, deplores the excessive misery which they endure. No rest, no intermission from toil, are given either to the sick or the maimed; neither the weakness of age, nor womens infirmities, are regarded; all are driven to the work with the lash, until, at last, overcome with the intolerable weight of their afflictions, they die in the midst of their toil.
Diodorus adds, Nature indeed, I think, teaches that as gold is obtained with immense labor, so it is kept with difficulty, creating great anxiety, and attended in its use both with pleasure and with grief. It was perhaps, in view of such laborious and difficult operations in obtaining the precious metals, and of the skill which man had evinced in extracting them from the earth, that Job alluded here to the process as a striking proof of human wisdom. On the early use of the metals among the ancient Egyptians, the reader may consult with advantage, Wilkinsohs Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. pp. 215ff.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Job 28:1
A place for gold where they fine it.
Refining the gold
There is a place for the gold where they fine it. This line from the Book of Job–so strong in its monosyllables–describes a spiritual as well as a chemical process. Over and over again in the Bible godly character is described by the happy simile of gold. It would be easy to run out the points of resemblance. All nations, from the polished to the savage, have agreed in regarding it the most beautiful of metals. It typifies the beauty of holiness. It is an imperishable metal. When they opened the tomb of an old Etrurian king, buried twenty-five centuries ago, they found only a heap of royal dust. The only object that remained untouched by time was a fillet of gold which bound the monarchs brow. So doth true godliness survive the havoc of time and the ravages of the grave. Gold is the basis of a solvent currency; and genuine fear of God is the basis of all the virtues which pass current among humanity. The essence of all piety is obedience to God. It is the eternal law of right put into daily practice. Too much is said in these days about the aesthetics of religion and its sensibilities. Religions home is in the conscience. Its watchword is the word ought. Its highest joy is in doing Gods will. (T. L. Cuyler, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XXVIII
Job, in showing the vanity of human pursuits in reference to
genuine wisdom, mentions mining for and refining gold and
silver, 1;
iron and other minerals, 2;
the difficulties of mining, 3, 4;
produce of grain for bread from the earth, and stones of fire
from under it, 5.
He speaks of precious stones and gold dust, 6;
of the instinct of fowls and wild beasts in finding their way,
7, 8;
and of the industry and successful attempts of men in mining
and other operations, 9-11:
but shows that with all their industry, skill, and perseverance,
they cannot find out true wisdom, 12;
of which he gives the most exalted character, 13-22;
and shows that God alone, the fountain of wisdom, knows and can
teach it, 24-27;
and in what this true wisdom consists, 28.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXVIII
Verse 1. Surely there is a vein for the silver] This chapter is the oldest and finest piece of natural history in the world, and gives us very important information on several curious subjects; and could we ascertain the precise meaning of all the original words, we might, most probably, find out allusions to several useful arts which we are apt to think are of modern, or comparatively modern, invention.
The word motsa, which we here translate vein, signifies literally, a going out; i.e., a mine, or place dug in the earth, whence the silver ore is extracted. And this ore lies generally in veins or loads, running in certain directions.
A place for gold where they fine it.] This should rather be translated, A place for gold which they refine. Gold ore has also its peculiar mine, and requires to be refined from earthy impurities.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
There is a vein for the silver; where it is hid by God, and found and fetched out by the art and industry of man. The connexion of this chapter with the former is difficult, and diversly apprehended; but this may seem to be the fairest account of it: Job having in the last chapter discoursed of Gods various providences and carriages towards wicked men, and showed that God doth sometimes for a season give them wealth and prosperity, but afterwards calls them to a sad account, and punisheth them severely for their abuse of his mercies; and having formerly showed that God doth sometimes prosper the wicked all their days, so as they live and die without any visible token of Gods displeasure against them, when, on the contrary, good men are exercised with many and grievous calamities; and perceiving that his friends were, as men in all ages have been, scandalized at these methods of Divine Providence, and denied the thing, because they could not understand the reason of such unequal dispensations: in this chapter he declares that this is one of the depths and secrets of Divine Wisdom, not discoverable by any mortal man in this world; and that although men had some degree of wisdom whereby they could dig deep, and search out many hidden things, as the veins of silver, gold, &c., yet this was a wisdom of a higher nature, and out of mans reach. And hereby he secretly checks the arrogance and confidence of his friends, who, because they had some parts of wisdom, the knowledge of natural things, such as are here contained, and of human affairs, and of some Divine matters, therefore presumed to fathom the depths of Gods wisdom and providence, and to judge of all Gods ways and works by the scantling of their own narrow understandings. Possibly it may be connected thus: Job having been discoursing of the wonderful ways of God, both in the works of nature, Job 26:5-14, and in his providential dispensations towards wicked men, Job 27:13-23 to the end, he here returns to the first branch of his discourse, and discovers more of Gods wisdom and power in natural things. And this he doth partly, that by this manifestation of his singular skill in the ways and actions of God, he might vindicate himself from that contempt which they seemed to have of him, and oblige them to hear what he had further to say with more attention and consideration; and partly that by this representation of the manifold wisdom and power of God, they might be wrought to a greater reverence for God and for his works, and not presume to judge so rashly and boldly of them, and to condemn what they did not understand in them.
Where they fine it; or rather, as it is in the margin of our Bibles, which they, to wit, the refiners, do fine. For he speaks not here of the works of men and of art, but of God and of nature, as is manifest from the foregoing and following words.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. veina mine, from which itgoes forth, Hebrew, “is dug.”
place for golda placewhere gold may be found, which men refine. Not as EnglishVersion, “A placewhere,” (Mal3:3). Contrasted with gold found in the bed and sand of rivers,which does not need refining; as the gold dug from a mine does.Golden ornaments have been found in Egypt, of the times of Joseph.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Surely there is a vein for the silver,…. Silver is mentioned first, not because the most valuable, for gold is preferable to it, as brass is to iron, and yet iron is mentioned first in Job 28:2; but because silver might be first known, or was first in use, especially in the coinage of money; we read of pieces of silver, or shekels of silver, in the times of Abraham, but not of any golden coin,
Ge 23:15; and among the old Romans silver was coined before gold p; it has its name from a word which signifies “desire”, because it is desirable to men, it answering to various uses and purposes; and sometimes the desires and cravings of men after it are enlarged too far, and become criminal, and so the root of all evil to them: and now there is a “vein” for it in the earth, or a mine in which it may be dug for, and found, in which it runs as veins in a man’s body, in certain ramifications, like branches of trees, as they do; and the inhabitants of Hispaniola, and other parts of the West Indies, when found out by Columbus, which abounded with gold mines, declared that they found by experience that the vein of gold is a living tree, (and so the same, perhaps, may be said of silver,) and that it spreads and springs from the root, which they say extends to the centre of the earth by soft pores and passages of the earth, and puts forth branches, even to the uppermost part of the earth, and ceases not till it discovers itself unto the open air; at which time it shows forth certain beautiful colours instead of flowers, round stones of golden earth instead of fruits, and thin plates instead of leaves q; so here there is a vein, or a “going out for the silver” r, by which it makes its way, as observed of the gold, and shows itself by some signs and tokens where it may be found; or rather this egress is made for it, by opening the mine where it is, digging into it, and fetching it out of it, and from whence great quantities are often brought. In Solomon’s time it was made as the stones in Jerusalem, 1Ki 10:27;
and a place for gold [where] they fine [it]; there are particular places for this most excellent of all metals, which has its name in Hebrew from its yellow colour; all countries do not produce it; some are famous for it, and some parts of them, as the land of Havilah, where was gold, and that gold was good, Ge 2:11; and Ophir; hence we often read of the gold of Ophir, so called from the place where it was found, as in this chapter, Job 28:16; and now the Spanish West Indies; but nearer to Job than these gold was found; there were not only mountains that abounded with gold near to Horeb, in the desert of Arabia s, but it was to be found with the Sabeans t, the near neighbours of Job; yea, the Ophir before referred to was in Arabia. Some understand this of the place where pure gold is found already refined, and needs no melting and refining; and of such Pliny u speaks, and of large lumps and masses of it; but for the most part it lies in ore, which needs refining; and so here it may intend the place where it is found in the ore, and from whence it is taken and had to the place where it is refined; for melting places used to be near where the golden ore was found; and so when Hispaniola was first found by Columbus, the gold that was dug out of the mountains of Cibana, and other places, were brought to two shops, which were erected with all things appertaining to melt and refine it, and cast into wedges; and so early as that, in these two shops, were molten yearly three hundred thousand pound weight of gold w.
p Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 33. c. 3. q Peter Martyr. Decad. 3. l. 8. r “exitus”, Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus, Drusius, Michaelis; “egressio”, Vatablus. s Hieron. de loc. Heb. fol. 90. A. t Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 28. u Ut supra, (Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 33.) c. 4. w P. Martyr. Decad. 1. l. 10.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1 For there is a mine for the silver,
And a place for gold which they fine.
2 Iron is taken out of the dust,
And he poureth forth stone as copper.
3 He hath made an end of darkness,
And he searcheth all extremities
For the stone of darkness and of the shadow of death.
4 He breaketh away a shaft from those who tarry above:
There, forgotten by every foot,
They hang and swing far from men.
(Note: Among the expositors of this and the two following strophes, are two acquainted with mining: The director of mines, von Veltheim, whose observations J. D. Michaelis has contributed in the Orient. u. exeg. Bibliothek, xxiii. 7-17; and the inspector of mines, Rudolf Nasse, in Studien und Krit. 1863, 105-111. Umbreit’s Commentary contains some observations by von Leonhard; he understands Job 28:4 as referring to the descent upon a cross bar attached to a rope, Job 28:5 of the lighting up by burning poles, Job 28:6 of the lapis lazuli, and Job 28:10 of the earliest mode of “letting off the water.”)
According to the most natural connection demonstrated by us, Job desires to show that the final lot of the rich man is well merited, because the treasures which he made the object of his avarice and pride, though ever so costly, are still earthy in their nature and origin. Therefore he begins with the most precious metals, with silver, which has the precedence in reference to Job 27:16, and with gold. without any secondary notion of fulness (Schultens) signifies the issuing place, i.e., the place fro which anything naturally comes forth (Job 38:27), or whence it is obtained (1Ki 10:28); here in the latter sense of the place where a mineral is found, or the mine, as the parall. , the place where the gold comes forth, therefore a gold mine. According to the accentuation ( Rebia mugrasch, Mercha, Silluk), it is not to be translated: and a place for the gold where they refine it; but: a place for the gold which they refine. , to strain, filter, is the technical expression for purifying the precious metals from the rock that is mingled with them (Mal 3:3) by washing. The pure gold or silver thus obtained is called (Psa 12:7; 1Ch 28:18; 1Ch 29:4). Diodorus, in his description of mining in Upper Egypt (Job 3:11), after having described the operation of crushing the stone to small fragments,
(Note: Vid., the whole account skilfully translated in Klemm’s Allgem. Cultur-Geschichte, v. 503f.)
proceeds: “Then artificers take the crushed stone and lay it on a broad table, which is slightly inclined, and pour water over it; this washes away the earthy parts, and the gold remains on the slab. This operation is repeated several times, the mass being at first gently rubbed with the hand; then they press it lightly with thin sponges, and thus draw off all that is earthy and light, so that the gold dust is left quite clean. And, finally, other artificers take it up in a mass, shake it in an earthen crucible, and add a proportionate quantity of lead, grains of salt, and a little tin and barley bran; they then place a close-fitting cover over the crucible, and cement it with clay, and leave it five days and nights to seethe constantly in the furnace. After this they allow it to cool, and then finding nothing of the flux in the crucible, they take the pure gold out with only slight diminution.” The expression for the first of these operations, the separation of the gold from the quartz by washing, or indeed sifting (straining, Seihen), is ; and for the other, the separation by exposure to heat, or smelting, is .
Job 28:2 From the mention of silver and gold, the description passes on to iron and ore (copper, cuprum = aes Cyprium ). Iron is called , not with the noun-ending el like (thus Ges., Olsh., and others), but probably expanded from (Frst), like from = , from , from , since, as Pliny testifies, the name of basalt (iron-marble) and iron are related,
(Note: Hist. nat. xxxvi. 7, 11: Invenit eadem Aegyptus in Aethiopia quem vocant basalten (basaniten) ferrei coloris atque duritiae, unde et nomen ei dedit (vid., von Raumer, Palstina, S. 96, 4th edition). Neither Seetzen nor Wetzstein has found proper iron-ore in Basan. Basalt is all the more prevalent there, from which Basan may have its name. For there is no special Semitic word for basalt; Botchor calls in the aid of Arab. nw rucham ‘swd , “a kind of black marble;” but, as Wetzstein informs me, this is only a translation of the phrase of a French dictionary which he had, for the general name of basalt, at least in Syria, is hagar aswad (black stone). Iron is called had d in Arabic (literally a pointed instrument, with the not infrequent transference of the name of the tool to the material from which it is made). ( ) is known in Arabic only in the form firzil , as the name for iron chains and great smith’s shears for cutting iron; but it is remarkable that in Berber, which is related to Egyptian, iron is called even in the present day wazzal ; vid., Lex. geographicum ed. Juynboll, tom. iv. ( adnot.) p. 64, l. 16, and Marcel, Vocabulaire Franaisarabe de dialectes vulgaires africains, p. 249: “ Fer Arab. hdd , hadyd ( en berbere Arab. wzzal , ouezzal ; Arab. ‘wzzal , oouzzal ).” The Coptic name of iron is benipi (dialect. penipe ), according to Prof. Lauth perhaps, as also barot , ore, connected with ba, the hieroglyph name of a very hard mineral; the black basalt of an obelisk in the British Museum is called bechenen in the inscription. If it really be so, that iron and basalt are homonymous in Semitic, the reason could only be sought for in the dark iron-black colour of basalt, in its hardness, and perhaps also its weight (which, however, is only about half the specific gravity of pure iron), not in the magnetic iron, which has only in more modern times been discovered to be a substantial component part of basalt, the grains of which cannot be seen by the naked eye, and are only detected with the magnetic needle, or by chemical analysis.)
and copper is called , for which the book of Job (Job 20:24; Job 28:2; Job 40:18; Job 41:19; comp. even Lev 26:19) always has ( aereum = aes , Arab. nuhas ). Of the iron it is said that it is procured from the , by which the bowels of the earth are meant here, as the surface of the earth in Job 41:25; and of copper it is said that they pour out the stone into copper (vid., Ges. 139, 2), i.e., smelt copper from it: as Job 29:6, fundit, here with a subj. of the most general kind: one pours; on the contrary, Job 41:15. partic. of . Job 28:3 distinctly shows that it is the bowels of the earth from which these metals are obtained: he (man) has made an end of the darkness, since he turns out and lights up the lightless interior of the earth; and , to every extremity, i.e., to the remotest depths, he searches out the stone of deep darkness and of the shadow of death, i.e., hidden in the deepest darkness, far beneath the surface of the earth (vid., on Job 10:22; and comp. Pliny, h. n. xxxiii. proaem. of mining: imus in viscera ejus [terrae] et in sede Manium opes quaerimus ). Most expositors (Hirz., Ew., Hahn, Schlottm., and others) take adverbially, “to the utmost” or “most closely,” but vid., on Job 26:10; might be used thus adverbially, but is to be explained according to , Eze 5:10 (to all the winds).
Job 28:4 Job now describes the operation of mining more minutely; and it is worthy of observation that the last-mentioned metal, with which the description is closely connected, is copper. , which signifies elsewhere a valley, the bed of a river, and the river itself, like the Arab. wadin (not from = , to flow on, as Ges. Thes. and Frst, but from , root to hollow, whence = , a flute, as being a hollowed musical instrument), signifies here the excavation made in the earth, and in fact, as what follows shows, in a perpendicular direction, therefore the shaft. Nasse contends for the signification “valley,” by which one might very well conceive of “the working of a surface vein:” “By this mode of working, a small shaft is made in the vein (consequently in a perpendicular direction), and the ore is worked from both sides at once. At a short distance from the first shaft a second is formed, and worked in the same way. Since thus the work progresses lengthwise, a cutting becomes formed in the mountain which may well be compared to a deep valley, if, as is generally the case where the stone is firm and the ways are almost perpendicular, the space that is hewn out remains open (that is, not broken in or filled in).” But if everywhere else denotes a valley with its watercourse, it has not necessarily a like signification in mining technology. It signifies, perhaps not without reference to its usual signification, the shafts open above and surrounded by walls of rock (in distinction from the more or less horizontal galleries or pit-ways, as they were cut through the excavated rocks in the gold mines of Upper Egypt, often so crooked that, as Diodorus relates, the miners, provided with lights on their forehead, were always obliged to vary the posture of the body (according to the windings of the galleries); and , away from him who remains above, shows that one is to imagine these shafts as being of considerable depth,; but what follows even more clearly indicates this: there forgotten ( with the demonstrative art. as Job 26:5; Psa 18:31; Psa 19:11, Ges. 109 ad init.) of (every) foot (that walks above), they hang (comp. Rabb. , pendulus )
(Note: Vid., Luzzatto on Isa 18:5, where , of the trembling and quivering twigs, is correctly traced to = = ; on the other hand, Isa 14:19, is wrongly translated fundo della fossa , by comparison with Job 28:3. does not signify a shaft, still less the lowest shaft, but stone (rock).)
far from men, hang and swing or are suspended: comp. Pliny, h. n. xxxiii. 4, 21, according to Sillig’s text: is qui caedit funibus pendet, ut procul intuenti species no ferarum quidem sed alitum fiat. Pendentes majori ex parte librant et linias itineri praeducunt . has here the primary signification proper also to the Arab. dll , deorsum pendeere ; and is related to , as nuere , , to nutare . The of , taken strictly, does not correspond to the Greek , neither does it form an adverbial secondary definition standing by itself: far away from the foot; but it is to be understood as is also used elsewhere after , Deu 31:21; Psa 31:13: forgotten out of the mouth, out of the heart; here: forgotten away from the foot, so that this advances without knowing that there is a man beneath; therefore: totally vanished from the remembrance of those who pass by above. is not to be connected with (Hahn, Schlottm.), but with , for Munach is the representative of Rebia mugrasch, according to Psalter, ii. 503, 2; and is regularly Milel, whereas Isa 38:14 is Milra without any evident reason. The accentuation here follows no fixed law with equally regulated exceptions (vid., Olsh. 233, c).
Moreover, the perception that Job 28:4 speaks of the shaft of the mine, and the descent of the miners by a rope, is due to modern exegesis; even Schultens, who here exclaims: Cimmeriae tenebrae, quas me exsuperaturum vix sperare ausim , perceived the right thing, but only imperfectly as yet. By he understands the course or vein of the metal, where it is embedded; and, since he understands after the Arab. garr , foot of the mountain, he translates: rumpit (homo) alveum de pede montis . Rosenm., on the other hand, correctly translates: canalem deorsum actum ex loco quo versatur homo . Schlottm. understands by gr the miner himself dwelling as a stranger in his loneliness; and if we imagine to ourselves the mining districts of the peninsula of Sinai, we might certainly at once conceive the miners’ dwellings themselves which are found in the neighbourhood of the shaft in connection with . But in and for itself signifies only those settled (above), without the secondary idea of strangers.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Extent of Human Discoveries. | B. C. 1520. |
1 Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it. 2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone. 3 He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death. 4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men. 5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire. 6 The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold. 7 There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen: 8 The lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. 9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. 10 He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. 11 He bindeth the floods from overflowing; 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.
Here Job shows, 1. 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. The caverns of the earth may be discovered, but not the counsels of heaven. 2. What a great deal of care and pains worldly men take to get riches. He had observed concerning the wicked man (ch. xxvii. 16) that he heaped up silver as the dust; now here he shows whence that silver came which he was so fond of and how it was obtained, to show what little reason wicked rich men have to be proud of their wealth and pomp. Observe here,
I. The wealth of this world is hidden in the earth. Thence the silver and the gold, which afterwards they refine, are fetched, v. 1. There they lay mixed with a great deal of dirt and dross, like a worthless thing, of no more account than common earth; and abundance of them will so lie neglected, till the earth and all the works therein shall be burnt up. Holy Mr. Herbert, in his poem called Avarice, takes notice of this, to shame men out of the love of money:–
| Money, thou bane of bliss, thou source of woe, Whence com’st thou, that thou art so fresh and fine? I know thy parentage is base and low; Man found thee poor and dirty in a mine. Surely thou didst so little contribute To this great kingdom which thou now hast got That he was fain, when thou wast destitute, To dig thee out of thy dark cave and grot. Man calleth thee his wealth, who made thee rich, And while he digs out thee falls in the ditch. |
Iron and brass, less costly but more serviceable metals, are taken out of the earth (v. 2), and are there found in great abundance, which abates their price indeed, but is a great kindness to man, who could much better be without gold than without iron. Nay, out of the earth comes bread, that is, bread-corn, the necessary support of life, v. 5. Thence man’s maintenance is fetched, to remind him of his own original; he is of the earth, and is hastening to the earth. Under it is turned up as it were fire, precious stones, that sparkle as fire–brimstone, that is apt to take fire–coal, that is proper to feed fire. As we have our food, so we have our fuel, out of the earth. There the sapphires and other gems are, and thence gold-dust is digged up;, v. 6. The wisdom of the Creator has placed these things, 1. Out of our sight, to teach us not to set our eyes upon them, Prov. xxiii. 5. 2. Under our feet, to teach us not to lay them in our bosoms, nor to set our hearts upon them, but to trample upon them with a holy contempt. See how full the earth is of God’s riches (Ps. civ. 24) and infer thence, not only how great a God he is whose the earth is and the fulness thereof (Ps. xxiv. 1), but how full heaven must needs be of God’s riches, which is the city of the great King, in comparison with which this earth is a poor country.
II. The wealth that is hidden in the earth cannot be obtained but with a great deal of difficulty. 1. It is hard to be found out: there is but here and there a vein for the silver, v. 1. The precious stones, though bright themselves, yet, because buried in obscurity and out of sight, are called stones of darkness and the shadow of death. Men may search long before they light on them. 2. When found out it is hard to be fetched out. Men’s wits must be set on work to contrive ways and means to get this hidden treasure into their hands. They must with their lamps set an end to darkness; and if one expedient miscarry, one method fail, they must try another, till they have searched out all perfection, and turned every stone to effect it, v. 3. They must grapple with subterraneous waters (Job 28:4; Job 28:10; Job 28:11), and force their way through rocks which are, as it were, the roots of the mountains, v. 9. Now God has made the getting of gold, and silver, and precious stones, so difficult, (1.) For the exciting and engaging of industry. Dii laboribus omnia vendunt–Labour is the price which the gods affix to all things. If valuable things were too easily obtained men would never learn to take pains. But the difficulty of gaining the riches of this earth may suggest to us what violence the kingdom of heaven suffers. (2.) For the checking and restraining of pomp and luxury. What is for necessity is had with a little labour from the surface of the earth; but what is for ornament must be dug with a great deal of pains out of the bowels of it. To be fed is cheap, but to be fine is chargeable.
III. Though the subterraneous wealth is thus hard to obtain, yet men will have it. He that loves silver is not satisfied with silver, and yet is not satisfied without it; but those that have much must needs have more. See here, 1. What inventions men have to get this wealth. They search out all perfection, v. 3. They have arts and engines to dry up the waters, and carry them off, when they break in upon them in their mines and threaten to drown the work, v. 4. They have pumps, and pipes, and canals, to clear their way, and, obstacles being removed, they tread the path which no fowl knoweth (Job 28:7; Job 28:8), unseen by the vulture’s eye, which is piercing and quick-sighted, and untrodden by the lion’s whelps, which traverse all the paths of the wilderness. 2. What pains men take, and what vast charge they are at, to get this wealth. They work their way through the rocks and undermine the mountains, v. 10. 3. What hazards they run. Those that dig in the mines have their lives in their hands; for they are obliged to bind the floods from overflowing (v. 11), and are continually in danger of being suffocated by damps or crushed or buried alive by the fall of the earth upon them. See how foolish man adds to his own burden. He is sentenced to eat bread in the sweat of his face; but, as if that were not enough, he will get gold and silver at the peril of his life, though the more is gotten the less valuable it is. In Solomon’s time silver was as stones. But, 4. Observe what it is that carries men through all this toil and peril: Their eye sees every precious thing, v. 10. Silver and gold are precious things with them, and they have them in their eye in all these pursuits. They fancy they see them glittering before their faces, and, in the prospect of laying hold of them, they make nothing of all these difficulties; for they make something of their toil at last: That which is hidden bringeth he forth to light, v. 11. What was hidden under ground is laid upon the bank; the metal that was hidden 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 labouring for the true riches. How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! How much easier and safer! Yet gold is sought for, but grace neglected. Will the hopes of precious things out of the earth (so they call them, though really they are paltry and perishing) be such a spur to industry, and shall not the certain prospect of truly precious things in heaven be much more so?
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
JOB – CHAPTER 28
JOB’S REBUTTAL TO BILDAD EXTENDED
Verses 1-28:
Verses 1, 2 use a lesson from the earth to suggest the frequent design of God for affection. As there is a mine from which silver comes forth out of the earth, and a place where gold may be found in the earth, to be refined for the use of men, so man must often pass through refining sorrows and troubles to bring out the greatest glow from his soul, 1Pe 4:12-16; Mal 3:3. “Tribulation worketh patience and patience works hope,” etc. Rom 5:3-5.
As iron is taken in “ore-form” and brass or copper is melted out of “stone-rock” from out of the earth, so must man be tried in the heat of God’s testing ground, before his greatest usefulness to God may often be reached. It was so with Joseph in prison, Moses in Midian, Daniel in the den of lions, Paul in prison repeatedly, and John exiled on the Isle of Patmos, Hebrews ch. 11; Yet these persevered to the honor of God, in faith. See also Isa 1:25; Zec 13:9. The better refined the silver and gold the clearer an image will shine in it. The parallel lesson is that men often must pass through refining heat, great stress and trials, before the image of God can shine brightly from them.
Verse 3 states that man makes an end of darkness in searching out all perfection; He takes a torch-light and keeps on digging, till he completes mining the vein of silver, gold, or brass and copper ore, Pro 2:4; Ecc 1:13; Hab 2:13; Mat 6:23; Luk 16:8. He doesn’t give up in the midst of the vein because the job is tedious or because it is dark. So must men go on in the work of God, knowing the best is yet to be, 1Co 15:58; Gal 6:9.
Verse 4 relates three hardships faced in mining beneath the earth: 1) First, the mines may suddenly strike an underground stream, far from the inhabitants of the earth above; 2) Second, they are “forgotten of the foot,” no longer supported by their feet, but suspended by a rope from above the earth; and 3) Third, they are dried up, gone away from men. The unseen streams are blessings in the dark, from which those upon the earth may draw to quench their thirst, and survive the scorching heat, ere they dry up and perish. The spirit calls thirsty souls to coma and drink, but he will not always call, Isa 55:1-3; Joh 4:14; Joh 7:37; Rev 21:6; Rev 22:17.
Verses 5, 6 continue description of natural phenomena of the earth. Out of it comes bread, from fertile soil, from which food plants grow. Yet from beneath it, deeper down comes forth fire, heat-pressed precious stones that glow like fire. Precious stones are formed by much heat pressure, so are great, glowing, precious jewels in God’s service; It is added that “under it,” the earth that gives bread, are the stones of sapphire and gold dust or gold ore, heated and pressed by pressure and by time. Let the suffering and the persecuted find comfort, hope and assurance in this Divine thought, Mat 5:11-12; Mal 3:16-18.
Verses 7, 8 relate that a path exists where no fowl has ever been and no eagle’s eye has ever seen. Neither has the lion’s whelp passed over it or the ferocious lion passed by it, Isa 46:11. That is the path the miner makes by faith. Keen as the eye of the eagle and vulture is to locate its prey and bold as the lion is to search for food, neither ventures as far below earth as man in search of wealth.
Verses 9,10 certify that there is a sovereign, living God who rules and controls the universe, reaching forth His hand at will to cleave the flint rock, overturning the mountains by the roots, cutting rivers among the rocks, while His eye continually observes every precious thing upon and beneath the earth. In His own purpose He performs His own will and observes the good and the bad in His universe, Psa 11:4; “Beholding the evil and the good,” Pro 15:3.
Verse 11 asserts that it is the Lord who binds or restricts the floods from overflowing, keeps the waters in prepared places, for the good of all the earth. And the thing that is hid He brings to light in His own time and for His own glory. Hidden sins will all one day be judged. And rewards merited will one day be given by the hand of a just God, Ecc 12:13-14; 1Co 3:8; 1Co 3:13-15; 2Ti 4:7-8.
Verses 12, 13 Introduce the source and price of wisdom. Just where may wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? It is asked. Job’s answer was that no man knows its purchase price nor is it found in the land of the living, among deprived, mortal men. Nor can it be mined from the earth like silver and gold. Divine, true wisdom is found in a person, a greater than Solomon, even in Jesus Christ the Son of God; He is wisdom concealed and personified in the Old Testament and revealed in the New, Deu 30:11-14; Deuteronomy 1 Kg 3:9; Psa 36:6; Psa 51:6; Psa 139:6; Pro 2:4; Pro 3:9; Ecc 7:23; Ecc 7:25; 1Co 1:19-20. This wisdom is of price untold, Pro 3:15; Mat 13:44-46.
Verse 14 relates that earth’s depth cries out that the price or worth of wisdom exceeds all that is in her bowels, the gold, the silver, the iron, the brass, the precious stones of sapphire and diamonds. And the sea cries out that the worth or value of wisdom is more than her wealth of minerals, of pearls, and shells; Wisdom’s price is unspeakable; Rom 11:33 expresses Paul’s praise of her value.
Verses 15,16 declare that wisdom can not be gotten in exchange for purest gold, nor secured by any measure or weight of silver, 1Kg 6:20. The precious metals were weighed out for exchange before coining was known, Gen 23:16; Pro 3:13-15; Pro 8:10; Pro 16:16. It is added that it can not be valued even by the gold of Ophir, the most precious of gold, Job 22:24; Psa 45:9. Nor can wisdom be secured in exchange for jewels or vessels of fine gold, sapphires, or onyx, Gen 2:12. Truly the “fear of the Lord” is the beginning of wisdom, that leads to Jesus Christ, the true source of wisdom, Pro 1:7; In Him and by Him all things exist, Col 1:16-17.
Verses 17-19 add that neither gold, nor crystal, nor transparent jewels of the finest gold can purchase or be exchanged for wisdom.
And no mention is to be made of exchanging red coral or crystal. like pearls for wisdom, for its price exceeds the value of the urim and thummin, symbolizing light and perfection. They were still only symbols of the value of Divine wisdom. The topaz of Ethiopia (Cush) would never equal the value of wisdom; Nor would it ever be valued in comparison with God. He who has this wisdom receives it in and through Jesus Christ, 1Co 1:30.
Verses 20, 21 Inquire where then may wisdom be found? and from where does it come? and where is the place of understanding? It is a repeat of v.12, requiring rapt attention. It is hidden from the eyes of all living creatures and kept close from the fowls of the air. They have instincts, but not wisdom in them. Heathen attributed divination to the birds, fowls of the air, but it is hidden from their keenest sight; It escapes the eye of the keenest of vulture or eagle’s vision, Ecc 10:20.
Verses 22, 23 give speeches to death and destruction which witness that they have heard of wisdom with their ears. Wisdom speaks through death and calamities, is the idea. Then it is added by Job that “God understandeth or comprehendeth thereof,” of the place and source of wisdom, Ecc 9:10. See also Act 15:18; Heb 4:13. For “all things are naked and open to Him.”
Verses 24, 25 add that the Great Almighty God “made a decree for the rain,” regulating the time, place, and in what quantity it would fall, on the just and unjust; He also made a way for the lighting of the thunder, through the parted clouds, Job 38:25; Zec 101; Mat 5:45.
Verse 26 states that the Great, Almighty God “made a decree for the rain,” regulating the time, place, and in what quantity it would fall on the just and unjust; He also made a way for the lightning of the thunder, through the parted clouds, Job 38:25; Zec 10:1; Mat 5:45.
Verse 27 declares that “then,” at that time, did He see and declare His wisdom in His works! He prepared it, not created it, for wisdom is from everlasting; He declared His works to be good, Psa 19:1-2; Gen 1:10; Gen 1:31; Pro 8:30. He searched it out, to see if wisdom could govern His universe; And He can and does, in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, Col 1:16-18,
Verse 28 concludes that He then said to man, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is (exists as) wisdom,” and to choose to depart from evil is evidence of understanding, of being wise, Psa 19:9; Pro 1:7. And How may one have, hold, or possess this Divine wisdom? The answer is “let him ask of God,” who liberally gives, and will not even chide, Jas 1:5; Joh 7:17. Job infers that his friends could have that wisdom and understanding if they would seek it from the Lord, (adonai or master) instead of trying to fix imagined evil on him, that they had caused his afflictions. He understood his afflictions were for the glory of the God of wisdom, not because of personal sins, Joh 9:2-3; See also Deu 4:6; Psa 111:10; Pro 9:10; Ecc 12:13.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
JOBS DESCANT ON TRUE WISDOM
The place occupied by this chapter one peculiar to itself. Its connection with the preceding or succeeding portions of the book by no means obvious. Appears scarcely to form a part of the dialogue. Seems, as it stands before us, to have been delivered by Job during a lull in the controversy. Forms a poetical descant on the praises of true wisdom. Job left alone in the field, and now in a much calmer mood, in circumstances to enter on such a subject. Perhaps led to it by what he had stated in the preceding chapter in regard to the wicked, as well as by his own affliction and the inabiltiy of his friends and himself to account for it. Strongly expresses his approbation of true piety, and so affirms his own character. Himself an exemplification of his own definition of true wisdom. That definition the character secretly given him by God, and which Job was resolved at all hazards to hold fast. The section thus appears to be introduced by the author to give prominence to Jobs real character. Probably indicates the authors design in the book to give an exhibition of the nature of true wisdom. Has a special importance in connecting the book with other parts of Scripture, especially with the writings of David and Solomon, and the wise men of that period (1Ki. 4:30-31), and, in the New Testament, with those especially of Paul and James (1 Corinthians 13; Jas. 1:3). Its similarity to passages in the Proverbs at once obvious, especially to chapters 1, 3,
8. The last verse of the section, which gives the key of the whole, almost an echo of Psa. 111:10; Pro. 1:7; and Pro. 9:10. Perhaps an indication thus afforded of the period of the composition of the book, as one when the attention of thoughtful pious men was especially directed to the subject of true wisdom. The section exhibits
(1) The inability of man, by his own unaided powers, either to discover or acquire true wisdom.
(2) The supreme excellence of that wisdom.
(3) Its origin and discovery with God Himself, the Creator of all things.
(4) Its nature, as consisting of true pietythe fear of God and the consequent departing from all evil.
This chapter, the oldest and finest piece of natural history in the world (Adam Clarke). Indicates Job to have lived in a period of considerable advancement in civilization.Barnes.
True Wisdom
I. Man unable, by his own unaided powers, either to discover or acquire it
Wisdom not to be discovered or obtained like metals or gems. These hid in the bowels of the earth, but discovered and obtained by human art and industry. (Job. 28:1)Surely (or, for indeed the speaker being about to show the rarity and excellence of true wisdom as contrasted with what he had said of the prosperous ungodly) there is a vein (or outlet, Margin, mine) for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it (or, which they smelt, to render it fit for the purposes of life). Gold formerly found in Arabia. Abundant in Juda in the time of Solomon (1Ki. 10:12; 1Ki. 10:14-15). The art of extracting and refining it learned at an early period of the world. Mortals soon became metallaries. Trapp. The discovery and earliest manufacture of metals apparently ascribed to the descendants of Cain (Gen. 4:22). The search for gold and silver poetically ascribed by Milton to the suggestion of Mammon, a fallen angel whose name denotes riches:
By him first
Men also, and by his suggestion taught,
Ransackd the centre, and with impious hands
Rifled the bowels of their mother earth,
For treasures better hid.
According to Pliny, gold first found by Cadmus, the Phnician. According to Herodotus, first coined into money by the Syrians. Job. 28:2.Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass (or copper) is molten out of [and so separated from] the stone. He (the miner or metallurgist, in searching for and producing these metals from the earth) setteth an end to darkness [by sinking shafts, and, with the aid of torches, exploring mines], and searcheth out all perfection (or, searcheth out with the utmost thoroughness) the stones of darkness (lying hid beneath the earths surface), and the shadow of death (or places of deepest darkness). Tubal-Cain, probably identical with the Vulcan of Greek and Roman mythology, represented by Moses as the first artificer in brass and iron (Gen. 4:22). The Chalybes, or Cyclops, said by Pliny to be the discoverers and earliest workers of these metals. Brass and iron said by Moses to be found in the rocky mountains of Palestine (Deu. 8:9). Iron appointed by Lycurgus to be used by the Spartans for money instead of gold, to prevent its accumulation. Job. 28:4.The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant (or, he [the miner] openeth a channel or shaft away from the habitations of men,or, from the foot of the mountain); even the waters forgotten of the foot (or, the men forgotten of the foot, i.e., descending to places in the mine untrodden by human or any other feet,nothing in the Hebrew text either for waters or men): they are dried up, they are gone away from men (or, they [the miners] are suspended, viz., by ropes from the mouth of the mine; they swing away from men [who remain above on the surface]). As for the earth, out of it cometh bread (or bread-corn), and under it (or underneath, or its lower parts) is turned up as it were fire (combustible materials, as sulphur, bitumen, naphtha, coal (Gen. 14:10); or perhaps precious stones glowing like lire (Eze. 28:14). NoteUnderground warmth, boiling springs, and red-hot mud, are believed to prove that fire still exists within the globe.The stones of it are the place (or bed) of sapphires, and it hath [belonging to it] the dust of gold (clods or lumps of goldMargin, gold ore). There is (or it is, viz. the mine) a path which no fowl [however keen-sighted] knoweth, and which the vultures eye hath not seen. The lions whelps (or, the proud wild beasts, in their search for prey) have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it [being deep below the surface of the earth]. Yet even there mans skill and enterprise find a way. Job. 28:9.He [the miner] putteth forth his hand upon the rock (Heb., the flinty rock, viz. with a view to its excavation); he overturneth the mountains by the roots [by means of wedges and hammers, acid liquids, or, as in more modern times, by gunpowderovercoming every obstacle that stands in his way]. He cutteth out rivers (or channels) among the rocks [in searching for the precious, metals or still more precious gems]; and his eye [with the aid of torches] seeth every precious thing [whether metal or gem, contained in those dark recesses]. He bindeth the floods from overflowing (stops or dams up the water to prevent them from trickling and overflowing the mine); and the thing that is hid (the metals or gems he is in quest of) bringeth he forth to light. Observe
1. The remarkable provision of Divine goodness and wisdom in making the earth itself a storehouse of substances that should contribute so largely to the comfort, gratification, and improvement of the human race. For example, iron and coal, not to speak of gold, silver, and precious stones. Beds of coal, many feet thick, and extending over an area of many hundreds of miles, stored up far below the earths surface. These beds the remains of ancient forests, and the result of changes on what was the earths surface many thousand years ago. Iron, so important for mans use and progress in the arts of civilized life, largely embedded in rocks, slowly formed thousands of years before man was upon the earth. Remarkable, too, that as these beds of iron-stone required fire both for the extraction and working of the metal, they are generally found in close proximity to beds of coal, as well as to sulphur which facilitates its production.
2. Mans art and industry necessary to the acquisition and use of those, materials which God has stored up in the earth for his benefit. Man intended for work, and so to be a kind of fellow-worker with his Creator. The materials provided for him by God, but, in order to his enjoyment and use of them, requiring to be discovered, obtained, and elaborated by himself through the intellect with which God has endowed him. Man not only to exercise his art and industry on the productions of the earths surface in order to obtain his daily food, but also on what lies beneath it for the purposes of civilized life. In the one case, as well as the other, man must eat his bread in the sweat of his brow.
3. Remarkable adaptation between the productions and content of the earth, and the faculties given to man for their discovery and use. Faculties bestowed on man to fit him for subduing the earth and turning its treasures to his advantage. The art and industry of the miner and metallurgist from the same Creator as the minerals on which he works. The ant operates on his little hill; the bee on its comb; the beaver on his dam; man on the earth itself, with all that it contains. His God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him (Isa. 28:26). Human intelligence and skill a faint reflection of that wisdom with which God made the world, and part of that Divine image in which man was created. This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working (Isa. 28:29).
4. Mans industry in searching for the precious metals an example of the earnestness and perseverance with which he should seek for the better and more enduring riches. Treasures exist for man, compared with which all earthly possessions are but as the dust of the balance. Heavenly wisdom, in which are durable riches and unending happiness, to be sought for as silver, and to be searched for as for hid treasures (Pro. 2:4). The earnestness of the miner, with much less toil, under the direction afforded by the Gospel, sufficient to put a man in speedy possession of gold which no thief can steal, and of which not even death itself can deprive him. Eternal riches close at hand wherever the Gospel is revealed, and awaiting only the humble and earnest seeker (Rev. 3:18; Mat. 13:44).
II. The supreme value and excellence of true wisdom. Job. 28:12-19.But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding [where it may be found like gold and silver]? Man knoweth not the price thereof, neither is it found in the land of the living (not only not to be discovered by the highest human intellect, but not to be purchased with anything on earth). The depth (or abysswaters under the earthperhaps the ocean with its deep un-fathomed caves) saith, It is not in me; and the sea (waters on the earths surface) saith, It is not with me (nothing in either one or the other able either to discover it to man or afford him a price to buy it with). NoteThe oceans bed covered for hundreds of miles with beautiful seaweeds, and with submarine forests and jungles thronged with living beings. It cannot be gotten for gold (the most precious and pure, 1Ki. 6:20-21): neither shall silver be weighed (as in ancient times, Gen. 23:16) for the price-thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir (stamped gold, or the golden wedge or ingot from the place most distinguished for its production), with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal (or vases of crystal and gold) cannot equal it; and the exchange (or barter of it, according to the ancient mode of traffic) shall not be for jewels of fine gold (vessels or ornaments of pure and massive gold, such as have been recently discovered in the coffin of an Egyptian princess living in the time of Joseph, nearly four thousand years ago). No mention shall be made of coral (some costly gem or natural productionlong uncertain what), or of pearls (always held in highest esteem among men, Mat. 13:45-46); for the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it; neither shall it be valued with pure gold. Gold so abundant in Jobs time and country, and so variously employed, that five kinds or forms of it are mentioned in these few verses.
Similar language to that of the text in reference to the excellence and preciousness of true wisdom, found in Pro. 3:13-15; Pro. 4:7; Pro. 8:10-11; Pro. 8:18-19. That exhibited in various particulars by Solomon in the Book of Proverbs, which is only asserted by the author of Job. (Compare Pro. 3:16-18; Pro. 4:5-9; Pro. 8:20-21; Pro. 8:35). The superiority of Divine wisdom or true piety over all earthly treasures evinced
1. In its intrinsic excellence. Other treasures only material, and of the earth; this spirituala thing of the soulas much excelling material treasures as spirit excels matter, and as moral and spiritual beauty excels material. Gems and gold adorn the body, wisdom and piety the soul. Those beautiful and attractive to the eye of sense; these to the spiritual eye, both of God, angels, and holy men. True wisdom, or the fear of God, assimilates us to God Himself, the source and model of wisdom, the only wise God. That which mainly constitutes the Divine image in us (Pro. 3:19-20; Pro. 8:22-31; Col. 3:10). Allies us to all holy beings, the unfallen intelligences of heaven. Is to man what creative and providential wisdom is to God. Prepares us for correct, satisfying, and ever-increasing knowledge of God and of His ways and works. Purifies the heart, sanctifies the will, and enlightens the understanding.
2. In its ability to afford true and solid happiness. Other treasures only gratify the senses, or furnish the means of gratifying them. This gives peace and satisfaction to the soul. Other things unable to repel sickness and trouble, or to give solace under them. This acts like oil on the troubled waters. Divine wisdom like the voice of Jesus to the winds and waves: Peace be still. Her ways pleasantness and her paths peace. Delivers from the disturbing and destructive tyranny of the passions. Secures enjoyment of the Divine favour, which is life. Wisdom is a tree of life to every one who lays hold of her. Gives health to the soul, and even contributes to that of the body. Profitable to all things, having the promise both of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
3. In its endless durability. All earthly treasures perishable. Gold and gems soon cease to delight. At most only follow us to the grave. Unable, except as rightly used, to further our interests or promote our happiness in another world. Wisdom or true piety not only accompanies its possessor to the grave, but beyond it. The greatest of the noble triadfaith, hope, and charity. Faith ultimately changed into sight, and hope into enjoyment; charity or love, another name for wisdom, lives on and never dies. A cut rather than a comfort in the words of Abraham and DivesSon, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things. Sad when our good things must end with our life. The excellence of heavenly wisdom that it not only gives solid peace here, but prepares us for eternal joy hereafter. Wisdom not only accompanies her children through the chilly waves of death, but takes them by the hand on the other side, and introduces them into the presence of God and the Lamb, who is wisdom itself. True wisdom, like its Author and Archetype, everlasting.
III. God Himself the author and revealer of true wisdom (Job. 28:20-28). Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living (or of every beast or animal), and kept close from the fowls of the air (referring to Job. 28:7-8). Destruction and death (the regions of the dead or under-world, or those inhabiting it) say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears (only heard of it, as neither possessing it themselves nor able to communicate it to others, but as if approaching nearer to the knowledge of it, men often having their eyes opened only when it is too late, and regretting the loss of past opportunities for obtaining the knowledge and possession of true wisdom, Pro. 5:11-14). Observe
(1) That of which earlier generations only heard the report, now clearly revealed.
(2) Sad to be only hearing the fame of a good thing which can make us happy, and to be unable to obtain it. The case of the lost in another world; happily not the case of those in this. The rich man in hell saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom, but was unable to reach him. Job. 28:23.God understandeth the way thereof (how it is to be obtained), and He knoweth the place thereof (where it is to be found and in what it consists). For He looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven (penetrating the universe with one glance of His omniscient eye; therefore able to instruct man as to true wisdom,what is his highest interest, and the way to secure it). God, however, not only omniscient and surveying all things, but the all-wise creator and disposer of universal nature, and as such the fountain and model of wisdom to His intelligent creatures. For the same thought see Pro. 3:13-20; Pro. 8:11-29. Divine wisdom displayed in establishing the universe with all its mysterious laws and forces, assigning to each department of nature its bounds and operations. Job. 28:25.To make (while making or about to make) the weight for the winds (giving due weight to the atmospheric air when at restfifteen pounds of it pressing on every square inch of the earths surfaceas well as proper momentum to it when in motion in the form of wind, through the earths motion on its axis, and more especially through the rarefaction of some parts of it by the suns heat, and the rushing in of colder parts to take their place; so as to be not only not hurtful and destructive to the earths inhabitants, but in many respects highly beneficial to them); and He weigheth the waters by measure (having at creation assigned their respective quantities to land and water, so that there should be sufficient of the latter for the irrigation of the former, as also to the waters on the earth, and those suspended in the atmosphere, whether as clouds or invisible vapour). Observe
(1) All things in nature arranged in exact measure and proportion, of which chemistry affords an interesting example.
(2) As winds and waters, so also trials and afflictions are measured (Isa. 27:8). Job. 28:26.When he made a decree for the rain (constituting those natural laws by which it should be formed from the vapour exhaled from land and sea, and should descend in showers according to the earths requirements), and a way for the lightning of the thunder (or the lightning which precedes the thunder; how it should be produced as the electric flash which proceeds from the clouds, when, to restore the equilibrium, the superabundant electricity discharges itself in passing from one cloud to another, causing the thunder to follow it as the report of a gun follows the flash, by the particles of the rent atmosphere suddenly striking together againelectricity, of which that flash is the expression, being one of the most mysterious forces in nature). Then (even when at the creation He prescribed the laws by which external nature was to be governed) did he see it (contemplate this wisdom in its excellence and suitability for mans welfare and happiness), and declare it (Margin, number it, as carefully considering its nature and results,take an exact survey of it, noting it as it were in a book for future communication); he prepared it (set it before him for contemplation, or established it as what should constitute mans true wisdom), yea, and searched it out (examined it fully in all its properties and bearings,actions ascribed to God in condescension to our capacity, in order to indicate the excellence and importance of the thing; spoken of). And unto man [as that work of His hands in whom the image of His own essential wisdom was to be reflected] he said [on the day of his creation, either speaking by an external voice or writing it internally on his conscience, in order that he might know wherein his true interest lay, and what was the true wisdom for him as a moral and intelligent creature], Behold, the fear of the Lord [not the proud self-sufficient scrutiny, or even the mere intellectual study, of the Divine operations, whether in creation or providence], that is wisdom [the wisdom for him, as a finite but moral and intelligent creature]; and to depart from evil [not the knowledge or examination of my secret purposes in dealing thus or thus with any of my creatures] is understanding [that fear of the Lord and departing from evil being at the same time the best way by which he will come to know and understand why I act as I do in my providential dispensations]. This emphatic, cardinal, and ever-outstanding statement introduced with a Behold, as indicating
(1) The importance of it.
(2) The unlikeness of it to what proud man might himself have conceived.
(3) The backwardness of man to believe, learn, and embrace it. Observe
1. All nature under lam prescribed by God Himself. Nature itself Gods work. The universe, with all its laws, only the material expression of His being and attributes. Every part formed and placed by Him in exact fitness to each other, and to the whole. Those laws established by Him at the first in infinite wisdom, and preserved in their operation according to His own will and for His own purposes. Gods kingdom a kingdom of settled law; not of chance or caprice. Hence the comfort and confidence of His intelligent creatures. Men not afflicted capriciously, but in wisdom. The execution as well as constitution of natural laws with God Himself, who may suspend or contravene them for His own purposes as He pleases.
2. Man enabled to penetrate far into the secrets of nature and the facts of the universe, but unable of himself to discover true wisdom. The greatest philosophers of antiquity in the dark in regard to it. Professing themselves wise, they became fools. Man, like the mole, does all his works underground (Epiphanius). Homer called all-wise, and said to know all things human. Aristotle, for his soaring wisdom, called an eagle fallen from the clouds. Yet the greatest of Grecian sages professed they wanted other lights, and took it for granted the time would come when God would impart a further revelation of His will to mankind.
The first and wisest of them all (Socrates) professd
To know this only, that he nothing knew;
The next (Plato) to fabling fell and smooth conceits;
A third sort (Pyrrho) doubted all things, though plain sense;
Others (Aristotle) in virtue placed felicity,
But virtue joined with riches and long life;
In corporal pleasures he (Epicurus), and careless ease;
The Stoic last, in philosophic pride,
By him called virtue; and his virtuous man,
Wise, perfect in himself, and all possessing,
Equal to God, oft shames not to prefer,
As fearing God nor man.
Paradise Regained, Book iv.
Jerome said to have known all that was knowable, yet one of the most devoted students of revelation. The greatest philosophers in our own or any other country, as Newton, Faraday, and Brewster, have loved to sit with the humility of a child at the feet of Jesus, to learn wisdom out of the Scriptures of truth.
3. God alone able to inform man as to his true interests. One of the great problems among the sages of antiquity, wherein lies mans chief good. A question naturally occurring to thinking men. God answers it for man: He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good (Mic. 6:8). As great diversity of opinion among ancient sages about wisdom as about the chief good. With those of Chalda, it was the study of the starry firmament and its interpretation as declarative of the events of Providence; with those of Arabia, that of the designs of God in His dealings with men and the whole system of the Divine government; with those of Egypt, the origin of the universe; with those of Greece and Rome, the nature of the Deity, with the problems of their own existence and of the universe around them. Such Speculations, apart from revealed truth, represented by Milton as the employment, perhaps in part the punishment, of some of the fallen angels.
Others apart sat on a hill retired,
In thoughts more elevate, and reasond high
Of Providence, foreknowledge, will, and fate;
Fixd fate, free-will, foreknowledge absolute;
And found no end, in wandering mazes lost.
Of good and evil much they argued then,
Of happiness and final misery,
Passion and apathy, and glory and shame;
Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy.
In opposition to all this, God Himself declares what is the true wisdom for man,the fear of the Lord, and as its consequence, to depart from evil. This prescribed by God to man in the exercise of His own infinite wisdom as Creator and Governor of the universe. Made the law for man by Him who gave laws to universal nature, and at the time that He did so. A wisdom that is earthly, sensual, devilish. True wisdom from above,the gift of the Father of lights. The law (or revealed will) of the Lord maketh wise the simple. The Scriptures able to make men wise unto salvation. The Gospel of Christ the hidden wisdom. Christ Himself the wisdom of God and the light of the world. Whoever follows Him shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Christ the teacher come from God. Anoints with eye salve the eyes of the spiritually blind, that they may see. Gives the unction of the Holy One, that we know all things. Nature, in all its departments, tells of a God, but not how to obtain His favour and forgiveness. Christ reveals both in His Word. Himself, as the Son of God, eternal wisdom; as the Son of Man, incarnate wisdom; and of God is made wisdom to all who are in Him (1Co. 1:24; 1Co. 1:30; Pro. 8:12-36).
IV. The nature of true wisdom. Job. 28:28.The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. The gold and the silver, the sapphire and the ruby, have their place in the bowels of the earth. Wisdom has its place in the fear of the Lord and the departing from evil. The one the root, the other the stem and the branches. The former the spring, the latter the streams issuing from it.
1. The fear of the Lord (Heb. Adonai, denoting lord or governor,usually applied to the Messiah, and by the Jews substituted for Jehovah) the first part of true wisdom. That fear not a slavish, but a filial one. A reverential feeling and conduct as much allied to love as fear. The fear rather of a child in regard to a beloved parent, than of a slave in regard to a dreaded master. When genuine, always combined, if not identical, with love. Love as directed to a superior, especially to the Supreme Being. A feeling and deportment due from an intelligent creature to his Creatora being at once of unbounded goodness, infinite excellence, supreme majesty, and almighty power. A fear that shudders at offending, not so much from the dread of punishment as from an inward consciousness of, and love to, what is right. A principle originally implanted in man as the law of his being. Obedience to it his wisdom and interest. The violation of it his ruin. Actually violated and cast off at the Fall. Now universally violated by fallen humanity. Its violation the cause of all the misery in the world. Its observance the harmony of the soul, the harmony of man with man, and the harmony of man with his Maker. May be re-implanted in mans breast. Its re-implanting the object of the Saviours mission, and the effect of the Holy Spirits grace in the soul (Jer. 32:40).
2. To depart from evil the second part of true wisdom. Moral evil, or sin, that abominable thing which the Lord hates (Jer. 44:4). To be departed from
(1) As contrary to the nature and will of our Creator.
(2) As opposed to our own interest and happiness. All sin the opposite of Gods character which is goodness, purity, and holiness. Moral evil the necessary source of all physical and social evil. The fear of the Lord necessarily evinced by, and conducting to, a departure from evil. The two combined constitute the perfect man. Jobs own character (ch. Job. 1:1.], 8). Evil to be departed from
(1) Earnestly.
(2) Entirely.
(3) Perseveringly.
(4) At all hazards. Moral evil both internal and externalboth in heart and life. Both to be equally departed from. Departure from evil necessarily connected with the practice of good. The only way for a fallen man to depart from evil is by the implantation of a new nature through the operation of Gods Spirit in the heart. Hence the promise (Jer. 24:7; Jer. 32:39; Eze. 11:19; Eze. 36:26-27).
3. The fear of God or true religion the wisdom of man. Wisdom the choice of the best end, and employment of the best means for attaining it. True religion both aims at and secures glory to God and our own best interests. Seeks and secures the chief end for which man was madeto glorify God and enjoy Him for ever. The only means of mans happiness, either here or hereafter. Godliness favourable both to his physical and spiritual, temporal and eternal, welfare. Has the promise both of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. The way to make the best of both worlds. Gives much in the hand, more in the hope. Is in harmony with mans moral nature given him by his Creator. The foundation of personal and domestic, social and civil, peace. Fits for the enjoyment of the Divine fellowshipmans highest happiness. Smooths the pillow of death. Prepares for a happy eternity beyond the grave. Preserves him from many troubles, and enables him calmly to meet and patiently to endure those that are unavoidable. Allies him with the noblest and choicest of Gods intelligent creatures. Opens to him an ever-brightening path of excellence and delight. Renders him a blessing to others and a fellow-worker with God.
4. Lay testimonies from Statesmen, Philosophers, and Poets, to the value of true religion in promoting mens best interests.
That summum bonum which is only able to make thee happy, as well as in thy death as in thy life; I mean the true knowledge and worship of thy Creator and Redeemer, without which all other things are vain and miserable.Lord Burleigh to his Son.
I have lived to see five sovereigns, and have been privy councillor to four of them; I have seen the most remarkable things in foreign parts, and have been present at most state transactions for the last thirty years; and I have learned, after so many years experience, that seriousness is the greatest wisdom, temperance the best physic, and a good conscience the best estate.Sir John Mason: died 1566.
Love my memory, cherish my friends, but, above all, govern your will and affections by the will and Word of your Creator; in me beholding the end of this world with all her vanities.Sir Philip Sidney to his Brother, 1586.
Love God, and begin betimes. In Him you shall find everlasting and endless comfort; when you have travelled and wearied yourself with all sorts of worldly cogitations, you shall sit down by sorrow in the end.Sir Walter Raleigh to his Wife, before his execution, 1618.
Living in an age of extraordinary events and revolutions, I have learned from thence this truth, which I desire might thus be communicated to posterity: that all is vanity which is not honest, and that there is no solid wisdom but in real piety.John EcelynEpitaph by Himself, 1706.
Depend upon this truth, that every man is the worse looked upon, and the less trusted, for being thought to have no religion, in spite of all the pompous, specious epithets he may assume, of esprits forts, free-thinker, or moral philosopher; and a wise atheist, if such thing there is, would, for his own interest and character in this world, pretend to some religion.Lord ChesterfieldLetters to his Son.
Philosophy may infuse stubbornness, but religion only can give patience.Dr. S. Johnson.
Hold fast, therefore, by this sheet anchor of happiness, religion. You will often want it in the times of most dangerthe storms and tempests of life. Cherish true religion as preciously as you would fly with abhorrence and contempt from superstition and enthusiasm. The first is the perfection and glory of human nature; the two last the depravation and disgrace of it. Remember, the essence of religion is a heart void of offence towards God and man; not subtle, speculative opinions, but an active vital, principle of faith.Lord ChathamLetters to his Nephew.
To religion, then, we must hold in every circumstance of life for our truest comforts; for, if we are already happy, it is a pleasure to think that we can make that happiness unending; and if we are miserable, it is very consoling to think there is a place of rest. Thus, to the fortunate, religion holds out a continuance of bliss; to the wretched, a change from pain.Oliver Goldsmith.
We know, and, what is better, we feel inwardly, that religion is the basis of civil society, and the source of all good and of all comfort.Edmund Burke, on the French Revolution.
With all my follies of youth, and, I fear, a few vices of manhood, still I congratulate myself as having had, in early days, religion strongly impressed on my mind. I look on the man who is firmly persuaded of infinite wisdom and goodness, superintending and directing every circumstance that can happen in his lot, I felicitate such a man as having a solid foundation for his mutual enjoyment, a firm prop and sure stay in the hour of difficulty, trouble, and distress; and a never-failing anchor of hope when he looks beyond the grave.Robert Burns.
Where there is most love of God, there will be the truest and most enlarged philanthropy. No other foundation is secure. There is no other means whereby nations can be reformed, than that by which alone individuals can be regenerated. While men are subject to disease, infirmity, affliction, and death, the good never will exist without the hopes of religion; the wicked never without its fears.Southey.
I envy no quality of the mind or intellect in others; not genius, wit, or fancy. But if I could choose what would be most delightful, and I believe most useful to me, I should prefer a firm religious belief to every other blessing. For it makes life a discipline of goodness, creates new hopes when all earthly hopes vanish, and throws over the decay and the destruction of existence, the most gorgeous of all rights; awakens life even in death; and from corruption and decay calls up beauty and divinity; makes an instrument of torture and of shame the ladder of ascent to paradise.Sir Humphrey Davy.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
C. SOURCE OF TRUE WISDOM (Job. 28:1-28)
1. Man finds hidden treasures of the earth, as in mining. (Job. 28:1-11)
TEXT 28:111
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 falcons 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 28:111
Job. 28:1The theme of this marvelous chapter[282] is the transcendence of divine wisdom and its inaccessibility to man. Man may discover certain dimensions of Gods 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. 217235; G. von Rad, Wisdom in Israel (Nashville: Abingdon, E. T., 1972), pp. 144176; 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 2Ki. 2:21; Isa. 41:18; Isa. 58:11; Psa. 107:33; 2Ch. 32:30; and of the sunrise in Psa. 65:9; Psa. 75:7. In this verse the translation requires mine, and there are only a few references to mining in the Old TestamentDeu. 8:9; Jer. 10:9; Eze. 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; Eze. 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; 1Ki. 10:11; 1Ch. 29:4; and ShebaPsa. 72:15 and 1Ki. 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. 28:2The promised land was described as one whose stones are ironDeu. 8:9. In Sauls day the Philistines monopolized the iron deposits1Sa. 13:19-22; 1Sa. 17:7. In Davids 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. 1316; 1939, pp. 3741; 1940, pp. 5155; 1965, pp. 7087.
Job. 28:3The 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. 317; 1939, pp. 822; and 1946, pp. 218.
Job. 28:4Perhaps Graetzs 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. 28:5As 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. 28:6The 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. 28:7The 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. 28:8The 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; Hos. 5:14; Hos. 13:7; Pro. 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. 28:9The images hereJob. 28:9-11as in Job. 28:3-4 emphasize mans 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. 28:10The word rendered channels (yeorim) 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. 28:11Difficulties 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, 19612, pp. 392ff; and G. M. Landes, Bulletin of American Society of Oriental Research, 1956, pp. 32ff.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XXVIII.
(1) Surely there is a vein for the silver.In this chapter Job draws out a magnificent contrast between human skill and ingenuity and Divine wisdom. The difficulty to the ordinary reader is in not perceiving that the person spoken of in Job. 28:3 is man, and not God. Man possesses and exercises this mastery over nature, but yet is ignorant of wisdom unless God bestows it on him. That Job should say this is but natural, after his painful experience of the want of wisdom in his friends.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Section third PANEGYRIC OF WISDOM, chap. 28.
First strophe Man has wonderful power and skill for surmounting the obstacles of nature and extracting from the gloomiest depths of earth her most precious treasures, Job 28:1-11.
1. For beauty of thought and richness of imagery, Job’s eulogium of wisdom is worthy to be compared with Paul’s panegyric of charity. (1 Corinthians 13.) Delitzsch calls it “a song of triumph without vain-glory.” Job is unconsciously carving for himself a monolith with an ineffaceable inscription of the two predominant traits of his character, the fear of God and the eschewing of evil. (Compare Job 28:28 with Job 1:8.) The deep mysteriousness of the divine procedure in the punishment of the wicked, the main thought of the preceding chapter, leads him to speak of divine wisdom in general, whose ways are unsearchable, and, like the field of the miner’s toil, buried in darkness. The wicked through toil and danger may, like the miner, acquire jewels, precious stones, and great store of wealth, but the true and abiding treasures are with God, and come from God alone. The covetous rich man treasures up silver and costly vestments, Job 27:16, but fails of celestial good the divine wisdom, a “pearl of great price;” and this loss is his punishment also a carrying forward of the retributive thought of the preceding chapter. Hengstenberg, following Von Hofmann, thus traces the connexion: “Sin is the destruction of men; the wicked man must go to the ground; FOR wisdom, which alone can ward off destruction, is to be found only in God; the sinner is excluded from this wisdom, and must therefore run into the arms of destruction.” “The sea of life abounds in rocks on which the bark must soon split, if so be wisdom sit not at the helm.” 2:181, 172. “In the organism of the work this chapter is the jewelled clasp that binds the one half, the complication of the plot, to the other half, its solution.” Delitzsch.
Surely For, links the entire chapter with the last ten verses of 27. The transition is abrupt, and is in perfect keeping with Job and the Oriental mode of thought in general.
A vein Literally, outlet, for the silver. In the most ancient times silver was more scarce than gold. Hence throughout the Old Testament we find keseph, silver, used as a term for money. Abraham bought the field of Ephron for “four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.” Gen 23:16. The most important silver mines of the ancients were in Spain.
A place for gold Gold abounded in Ethiopia, also in Nubia, as is indicated by the word noub, old Egyptian for gold. There remains to the present time an historical tablet of Rameses II., relating to the gold mines of Ethiopia, possibly the very mines which have been recently discovered in the Bisharee desert, by Linant and Bonomi. Jerome speaks of ancient gold mines in Idumaea, Job’s home.
Where they fine Which they refine. The two different words employed by the Hebrew for refining, , of the text, and tsaraph, point to two different processes of refining, the one (that of the text) of filtering or straining, the other of smelting by fire. Both of these Hebrew words for refining appear in Mal 3:3, and are in later times probably used interchangeably.
The process of refining by filtering is described at length by Diodorus, iii, chap. 1. The figure below illustrates the Egyptian mode of smelting.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 28:1-11 Man’s Endless Search for Treasures – Job 28:1-11 illustrate man’s endless search for hidden treasures in the earth. Job 28:11 is the key verse to this opening passage because it summarizes the first eleven verses by saying that man brings forth the hidden things of the earth.
Job 28:11, “He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light .”
Job 28:13 Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.
Job 28:13
Dan 2:27-28, “Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Job’s Dialogue with Three Friends – Job 3:1 to Job 31:40, which makes up the major portion of this book, consists of a dialogue between Job and his three friends. In this dialogue, Job’s friends engage in three rounds of accusations against Job, with him offering three defenses of his righteousness. Thus, Job and his friends are able to confirm each of their views with three speeches, since the Scriptures tell us that a matter is confirmed in the mouth of two or three witnesses (2Co 13:1). The underlying theme of this lengthy dialogue is man’s attempt to explain how a person is justified before God. Job will express his intense grief (Job 3:1-26), in which his three friends will answer by finding fault with Job. He will eventually respond to this condemnation in a declaration of faith that God Himself will provide a redeemer, who shall stand on earth in the latter days (Job 19:25-27). This is generally understood as a reference to the coming of Jesus Christ to redeem mankind from their sins.
Job’s declaration of his redeemer in Job 19:23-29, which would be recorded for ever, certainly moved the heart of God. This is perhaps the most popular passage in the book of Job, and reflects the depth of Job’s suffering and plea to God for redemption. God certainly answered his prayer by recording Job’s story in the eternal Word of God and by allowing Job to meet His Redeemer in Heaven. I can imagine God being moved by this prayer of Job and moving upon earth to provide someone to record Job’s testimony, and moving in the life of a man, such as Abraham, to prepare for the Coming of Christ. Perhaps it is this prayer that moved God to call Abraham out of the East and into the Promised Land.
The order in which these three friends deliver their speeches probably reflects their age of seniority, or their position in society.
Scene 1 First Round of Speeches Job 3:1 to Job 14:22
Scene 2 Second Round of Speeches Job 15:1 to Job 21:34
Scene 3 Third Round of Speeches Job 22:1 to Job 31:40
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Man’s Foolish Search for Riches
v. 1. Surely there is a vein for the silver, v. 2. Iron is taken out of the earth, v. 3. He setteth an end to darkness, v. 4. The flood, v. 5. As for the earth, out of it cometh bread, v. 6. The stones of it are the place of sapphires, v. 7. There is a path which no fowl knoweth, v. 8. the lion’s whelps have not trodden it, v. 9. He, v. 10. He cutteth out rivers among the rocks, v. 11. He bindeth the floods from overflowing,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Job 28:1-28
The connection of this chapter with the preceding is somewhat obscure. Probably we are to regard Job as led to see, even while he is justifying God’s ways with sinners (Job 27:8-23), how many and how great are the difficulties in the way of forming a single consistent theory of the Divine action, which shall be applicable to all cases. Hence he comes to the conclusion that God is incomprehensible by man and inscrutable; and that it is only given to man to know him sufficiently for his practical guidance. To impress this on his hearers is his main object (verses 12-28); and, to impress it the more, he introduces it by a sharp contrast. Wonderful as is man’s cleverness and ingenuity in respect of earthly things and physical phenomena (verses 1-11), with respect to heavenly things and the spiritual worldwherewith true wisdom is concernedhe knows next to nothing. All that he knows is just enough to guide his conduct aright (verse 28).
Job 28:1
Surely there is a vein for the silver; literally, an issue for silver? i.e. a place or places whence it is drawn forth from the earth. The silver-mines of Spain were very early worked by the Phoenicians, and produced the metal in great abundance. But Asia itself was probably the source whence silver was obtained in primitive times. And a place for gold where they fine it; or, fuse it. Gold is very widely spread over the earth’s surface, and in ancient times was especially abundant in Arabia (Diod. Sic.. 2.1; 3.42; Strabo, 16.4. 18; Pit,y, ‘Hist. Nat.,’ 6.32, etc.); so that Job might easily have been acquainted with the processes of fusing and refining it. Two processes of refining are mentioned by Diedorus as practised by the Egyptians (3.11).
Job 28:2
Iron is taken out of the earth (see the comment on Job 20:24). Iron was found in the hills of Palestine (Deu 8:9), in the trans-Jordanic region (Josephus, ‘Bell. Jud,’ 4.8. 2), in the sandstone of the Lebanon, and in Egypt, probably also in many other places. It is scarcely ever found except in the shape of iron ore, and so has to be “taken out of the earth.” And brass is molten out of the stone. By “brass” we must understand copper, since the amalgam brass is never found in a natural state. Copper was yielded abundantly in very early times by the mines which the Egyptians worked in the Sinaitic peninsula. It was also obtainable from Palestine (Deu 8:9), Cyprus, and Armenia (Eze 27:13). Sometimes it is found pure, but generally in the shape of copper ore, which has to be “molten” for the pure metal to run off.
Job 28:3
He setteth an end to darkness. Man, in his desire to obtain these metals, “setteth an end to darkness,” i.e. letteth in the light of day, or the artificial light which he carries with him, upon the natural abode of darkness, the inner parts of the earth. The miner’s first operation is to pierce the ground with a shaft, perpendicular, horizontal, or oblique, as suits his purpose. Through this the light enters into what was previously pitch darkness. And searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death; rather, and searcheth out to the furthest bound the stones of thick darkness and of the shadow of death; explores, i.e.‘ the entire murky regina within the earth, notwithstanding its fearful gloom and obscurity.
Job 28:4
The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant. This passage is very obscure; but recent critics suggest, as its probable meaning, “He (i.e. the miner) breaketh open a shaft, away from where men inhabit” (see the Revised Version). The miner does not wish to be interfered with, and therefore sinks his shaft in some wild spot, far from the habitations of men. Even the waters forgotten of the foot; rather, they are forgotten of the foot; i.e. no one visits them; they are left alone; they are “forgotten of the foot” of the passer-by. They are dried up, they are gone away from men; rather, they hang swinging to and fro, far from men. The descent of the shaft is made by a rope, to which they “hang swinging” all the time that they defend. As they have sought secrecy, all this takes place far from the haunts of men.
Job 28:5
As for the earth, out of it cometh bread. Man’s cleverness is such that he turns the earth to various uses. By tillage of its surface he causes it to produce the staff of life, bread: and by his mining operations the under part of it is turned up as fire, or rather, as by fire. Fire was used in some of the processes whereby masses of material were detached and forced to yield their treasures (see Pliny, ‘Hist. Nat.,’ 33.4. 73).
Job 28:6
The stones of it are the place of sapphires. Among the rocks and stones whereof the interior of the earth is mainly composed are found gems of inestinable value, for instance, sapphires. It is doubtful whether the Hebrew sapphire () was the gem which bears that name among ourselves, or the lapis lazuli. In either case it was highly esteemed, and appeared in kings’ crowns (Eze 28:13), and in the high priest’s breastplate (Exo 28:18); Job notes its high value in verse 16. And it (i.e. the earth) hath dust of gold; literally, dusts; i.e. a multitude of small specks or atoms. In the auriferous rocks gold is commonly scattered in such specks.
Job 28:7
There is a path which no fowl knoweth; or, his is a path which no bird of prey knoweth (see the Revised Version). The miner’s path through the bowels of the earth is intended. And which the vulture’s eye hath not seen. The vulture is probably the most keen-sighted of birds, but it cannot even get a glimpse of the subterraneous path which the miner treads.
Job 28:8
The lion’s whelps have not trodden it; literally, the sons of the fiercethe whelps of lions, tigers, or leopards may be intended. These beasts would haunt the mountains and penetrate into natural caverns, bat would never adventure themselves in the shafts and adits of miners. Nor the fierce lion passed by it; rather, passed thereby (see the Revised Version).
Job 28:9
He putteth forth his hand upon the rock. Our Revisers translate, upon the flinty rock; while Canon Cook maintains that “the word used means either granite or quartz.” Probably Job meant no more than that man does not shrink from attacking anyeven the hardestrock; but will subdue it, and cut his way through it, if he has occasion so to do. He overturneth the mountains by the roots. Herodotus, in describing what he had seen of the Phoenician mining operations in the island of Thasos, observes, “a huge, mountain has been turned upside down in the search for ores” (Herod; 6.47). Pliny says of the process employed for detaching huge masses from the metalliferous hills in Spain, “They attack the rock with iron wedges and hammers. When this work is complete, they destroy the supports, and notify by signal that the fall is about to take place. A watchman, stationed on the mountain-top, alone understands the signal; and he proceeds at once to have all the workmen called in, and himself makes a hurried retreat. Then the mountain falls m upon itself with a crash that cannot be imagined, and an incredible concussion of the air. The successful engineers contemplate the ruin which they have achieved” (‘Hist. Nat.,’ 33.4. 73).
Job 28:10
He cutteth out rivers among the rocks. Some understand this of man’s general ability to cut canals and tunnels, and change the course of rivers. But the allusion is more probably to the works undertaken in mines for the carrying off of the water from them. Diodorus says that when subterranean springs were tapped in mines, which threatened to flood them, it was usual to construct ducts, or tunnels, by which the inconvenient liquid might be carried off to a lower level (Diod. Siculus, 5.37. 3). And his eye seeth every precious thing. Nothing escapes his notice. Even as he constructs these duets he has his eye open to note any signs of mineral wealth, of metals or of precious stones, that occur along the line of his excavation.
Job 28:11
He bindeth the floods from overflowing. This, again, may be either taken generally of man’s ability to create dams, dykes, and embankments, whereby the overflow of waters is prevented; or specially of such works when connected with mines, from which it is possible, in some instances, to dam out water that would otherwise interfere with their working. The word translated “overflowing” means probably “weeping,” and seems to point to that leakage from the roofs and sides of galleries and adits which is more difficult to control and stop than even subterranean springs or rivers. And the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light. This is the final result of mining operations. Things useful or beautiful that are hiddden deep down in the heart of the earth, and that might have seemed wholly inaccessible, are brought out of the pit’s month into the light of day for the service and delectation of mankind.
Job 28:12-28
Here we come on an abrupt change. From human ingenuity and contrivance Job turns to the consideration of “wisdom”that wisdom which has been defined as “the reason which deals with principles “(Canon Cook). “Where,” he asks, “is this to be found?” It is a wholly different thing from cleverness and ingenuity. It inquires into causes and origins, into the ends and purposes of things; it seeks to solve the riddle of the universe. Perfect wisdom can, of course, only dwell with God (verse 23). Man must be content with something much below this. With him “the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding” (verse 28).
Job 28:12
But where shall wisdom be found? “Wisdom is the principal thing,” says Solomon (Pro 4:7); and again, “It is better to get wisdom than gold” (Pro 16:16). But where is it to be found? Job’s three friends thought that it dwelt with them (Job 12:2); but this was a mistake, since God reproaches them with their “folly” (Job 42:8). Job does not claim to possess it (Job 26:3); he only desires it. It is his deep conviction that it is only possessed, in the true sense of the word, by God. And where is the place of understanding? It is not quite clear whether Job intends to make any distinction between “wisdom” () and “understanding” (). Canon Cook suggests that “wisdom” is “the reason which deals with principles,” and “understanding” “the faculty which discerns and appreciates their application.” But refined distinctions of this kind are scarcely suitable to the age of Job. Dean Plumptre, in his comment on Proverbs, accepts the distinction implied in the Septuagint translation of that book, which renders by ‘ and by . This is a much simpler and more easily understood distinction, being that which separates between scientific know. ledge and the practical intelligence which directs conduct. But it may be doubted whether Job does not use the two words as synonyms.
Job 28:13
Man knoweth not the price thereof. The real value of wisdom cannot be estimated in terms of ordinary human calculation. It transcends figures. Neither is it found in the land of the living. True wisdom, such as Job is speaking of (see the comment on verses 12-28), does not exist among men. It transcends human faculties, and is among the peculiar possessions of the Most High (verse 23). Hence the Most High is altogether inscrutable by man” his ways are past finding out.”
Job 28:14
The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me. The deep abysses of the ocean declare that it is not with them; and the wide reaches of the far-extending sea proclaim that it is not with them either.
Job 28:15
It cannot be gotten for gold. No amount of gold can purchase it; no, not of the purest and most refined quality (1Ki 6:20, 1Ki 6:21), for it is not a thing that can be bought or sold God must grant it, and find a way of imparting it; which he certainly will not do for a sum of money. Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. If gold cannot purchase it, much less can silverthe less valuable medium of exchange. (On the weighing of silver, in sales, see Gen 23:16; Jer 32:9; Ezr 8:26.)
Job 28:16
It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir. The locality of Ophir has been much contested, but, on the whole, the weight of evidence would seem to be in favour of Arabia, on the south-east coast (see the article on “Ophir” in Smith’s ‘Dict. of the Bible,’ which exhausts all that can be said on the subject). The high estimation in which “gold of Ophir” was held appears not only in this passage, but also in Job 22:24; Psa 45:9 : and Isa 13:12. It is to be accounted for by the imperfection of all the anciently known processes of refining, which left the best refined gold inferior to the natural product of the Ophir mines or washings. With the precious onyx, or the sapphire. (On the latter of these two stones, see the comment upon Isa 13:6.) The “onyx” is probably the stone now known as the “sardonyx,” which was highly prized by the ancients. It had a place in the breastplate of the high priest (Exo 28:20), and is mentioned among the treasures of the King of Tyre (Eze 28:13). The sardonyx presents layers variously coloured, as blue, black, white, and vermilion.
Job 28:17
The gold and the crystal cannot equal it; rather, gold and crystal. This second mention of gold (see verse ]5) seems superfluous, but perhaps the patriarch is thinking of some goblet or ornament in which crystal and gold were combined together. Ornaments of this kind bare been found in Phoenicia. And the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold; or, vessels of fine gold. Both in Egypt and Phoenicia vessels of gold were common.
Job 28:18
No mention shall be made of coral. The word translated “coral” () means properly “things that are high.” It occurs only here and in Eze 27:16. The rabbinical interpretation of the word as “coral” is doubtful, since it was unknown to the LXX. Or of pearls. The word gabish () occurs only in this place. Some identify it with rock-crystal. For the price of wisdom is above rubies. Here we have another obscure word (), which is variously rendered by “rubies,” “pearls,” “carbuncles,” and “red coral.” The balance of authority is in favour of pearls.
Job 28:19
The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it. It is generally allowed that the pithdath () is either the “topaz” or the “chrysolite.” In favour of its being the chrysolite is the passage of Pliny which mentions its being esteemed for its green tints (‘Hist. Nat.,’ Job 37:8). Otherwise “topaz” might have appeared to be the best rendering. By “Cush,” here translated “Ethiopia,” is probably meant Cushite Arabia, or the southern and south-eastern regions. Neither shall it be valued with pare gold. Of the four words used for “gold” in this passage (Job 28:15-17), one () seems to be the common name, and to designate the metal by its coleus, “yellow,” since means “to be yellow” Another () means properly “what is treasured,” or “shut up,” from , “to shut.” The third () seems to be the name for “native gold,” or that found in river-washings and nuggets, which was regarded as the purest. The fourth () is a poetical name only, and designates gold of extreme purity (So Job 5:11), whether highly refined or native. Job uses them all, to show that there was no gold of any kind wherewith it was possible to purchase wisdom.
Job 28:20
Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? This is a repetition of Job 28:12, with a mere variant of the verb in the first line. Job’s elaborate inquiry of verses 14-19 having thresh no light on the subject, the original question recursWhere does wisdom come from?
Job 28:21
Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living. Man cannot see it, because it is immaterial, but he cannot even conconceive of it, because its nature transcends him. And kept close from the fowls of the air. (comp. Job 28:7). The sight of birds is far keener than that of man; but even birds cannot detect where wisdom is.
Job 28:22
Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. “Death and destruction” seem to represent the inhabitants of Sheolthe world of the departed. Job personifies them, and represents them as saying, that in their gloomy and remote abode (Job 10:21, Job 10:22) they have heard some dim rumour, some vague report, of the “place” of wisdom and understanding, the nature of which, however, they do not communicate to him. His idea seems to be that their knowledge on the subject does not much transcend the knowledge of living men, whom he regards as profoundly ignorant with respect to it. He thus prepares the way for his assertion in the next verse. Man, neither living nor dead, can make any answer to the great question raised; but
Job 28:23
God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. God only understands what true wisdom is. It is a part of his being, an essential element of his nature. He knows “the way” of it, i.e. how it works and manifests itself; and he knows “the place’ of it, i.e. where it dwells, what limits it has, if any, and how far it is communicable to any beside himself. The highest knowledge is all hid in God (Colossians 2-3); and, except so far as God imparts it to him, man can know nothing of it.
Job 28:24
For he looketh to the ends of the earth. Man is conditioned. God is unconditioned. Man’s knowledge has strict and narrow limits. God “looketh unto the ends of the earth.“ It is the universality of God’s knowledge that makes each item of it perfect. Where knowledge is circumscribed, it is impossible to be sure that some truth outside the circle of the person’s cognizance has not a bearing on that which is within his cognizancea bearing, which, if he were aware of it, would give the truth a different aspect. With God alone there are no such limits, everything being within his cognizance. And seeth under the whole heaven. As his knowledge of earthly things is unlimited, so is his knowledge of heavenly things also; and not only of heavenly things in a material sense, as of sun, moon, stars, comets, planets, nebulae, etc; but also of causes, principles, ends, laws, and the like, whereby both material and immaterial things are governed, ordered, and maintained in being. Of matters of this kind and character man can only say, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; I cannot attain unto it” (Psa 139:6).
Job 28:25
To make the weight for the winds. God by his wisdom gives to winds their exactly fitting degree of force and violence, so that they perform the work in the world which they were intended to perform, and which would not be performed, were they either of a less or of a greater intensity. And he weigheth the waters by measure (comp. Isa 40:12, “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?”). Everything in creation is duly proportioned to every other thing. All is ordered “by weight and with care.”
Job 28:26
When he made a decree for the rain. God “made a decree for the rain” when be placed the fall of rain under fixed and unalterable laws. In some countries rainy seasons begin almost regularly on a fixed day in the calendar, while for several months in the year it is almost certain that rain will not fall. Even where there is no such exact regularity as this, the rainfall has its laws, since there are maxima and minima which are never exceeded. And a way for the lightning of the thunder. God gave laws to the electric current, and prescribed the “way” that it should take in its passage from heaven to earth, or from cloud to cloud, or from earth to heaven. Everything was ruled beforehand by Infinite Wisdom.
Job 28:27
Then did he see it, and declare it. From the creation of the world, and before it, God foresaw all that was necessary to maintain his universe in the perfect order and the perfect beauty that he designed for it. At the Creation he, in a certain sense, “declared it,” or set it forth, before such intelligences as then existed. Subsequently, in part to Adam, in part to Noah, in part to Moses, he further declared, by revelation, at any rate a portion of the design of his creation, and of the laws by which it was regulated. He prepared it, yea, and searched it out. This is an inversion of what seems to us the natural order, whereof there are many examples. God must first have investigated and searched out, in his own secret counsels, the entire scheme of creation, and afterwards have proceeded to the “preparation” or “establishment” of it.
Job 28:28
And unto man he said. Not in so many words, not by any written or spoken revelation; but by the nature which he implanted in man, and especially by the conscience wherewith he endowed him. Man feels in his heart of hearts that whatever wisdom may be in the abstract, his true wisdom is “the fear of God,” his true understanding “to depart from evil.” No amount of intelligence, no amount of cleverness, or of information, or of knowledge, or of worldly or scientific wisdom, will be of any avail to him, unless he starts with this “beginning” (Psa 111:10; Pro 1:7), and builds on this foundation. This foundation, at any rate, Job had. since God bore him witness that he had it (Job 2:3).
HOMILETICS
Job 28:1-28
Job’s first parable: 3. A discourse upon true wisdom.
I. THE WISDOM UNDISCOVERABLE BY HUMAN GENIUS. Among the stupendous efforts of human industry and skill with which Job was acquainted, nothing was better fitted to impress the mind with a sense of man’s illimitable daring, resistless might, and wonderful success in searching out all perfection (verse 3), and brining hidden things to light (vet, 11), than the operations of the miner. These, a knowledge of which may have been derived from mines then being worked in Egypt, the Sinaitic peninsula, and Arabia (vide Exposition; and cf. Delitzsch, in loco), are with much accuracy and vividness portrayed.
1. The treasures the miner seeks. These are set forth by their names and the places where they commonly are found.
(1) Silver from the issuing place, i.e. from the mine; and gold, which men refine, from its place, i.e. also from the mine. Expositors generally remark upon the accuracy of these statements, which speak of silver as being found in a vein or “issue” at some depth below the ground, and gold as obtained near the surface; of the silver as requiring to be dug from the earth, and of gold as needing to be washed out from the pulverized rock. The first mention in Scripture of “gold and silver” is in connection with Abraham’s return out of Egypt (Gen 13:2), though gold afterwards abounded in Arabia and Judaea in the time of Solomon (1Ki 10:2, 1Ki 10:21, 1Ki 10:27). If “the use of gold and silver commonly precedes the. discovery of iron (Barnes), then it is probable that those precious metals were not unknown to Tubal-Cain and his contemporaries (Gen 4:22). It is impossible to say to what extent the art of metal-working had advanced in Job s time, but the mention of ear-rings and bracelets in the days of Abraham (Gen 24:30), and of silver cups, gold rings, and gold chains in the age of Joseph (Gen 41:42; Gen 44:2), makes it obvious that considerable proficiency had been attained prior to the era of Moses. In the estimation of Job the procuring and preparing of these precious metals were signal illustrations of the power and skill of man.
(2) Iron from the dust, i.e. from the bowels of the earth, and copper from the stone, i.e. from the ore by smelting. Tubal-Cain is the first known worker in brass (copper) and iron (Gen 4:22). Iron is afterwards mentioned in the time of Og King of Bashan, B.c. 1350. The working of iron and copper mines is more difficult than those of gold or silver; hence the use of the former metals indicates a more advanced state of civilization.
(3) Stones of darkness and of the shadow of death. These may be the copper and iron ores which are fetched up from the lowest depths of the earth; the miner in pursuit of them penetrating into the remotest regions, making an end of darkness, lighting up the lightless interior of the earth, and carrying his search into every extremity, i.e. into every nook and corner (verse 3). Or they may include all kinds of precious stones, such as the sapphire (verse 6), lying buried in the dark recesses of the earth, which, in order to appease man’s insatiable thirst of acquisition, are turned up as it were by fire, although out of it, i.e. from the surface of the earth, there cometh forth bread (verse 5).
2. The path the miner follows. A solitary path.
(1) Remote from human ken (verse 4). Out amid the solitudes of the Sinaitic peninsula the miner sinks his shaft down beneath the surface of the ground, leaving behind him the homes and habitations of men. There, forgotten by travellers overhead, he swings himself down the pit-shaft by a rope, descending to his lonely toil; or, perhaps, sitting suspended at his work, he swings to and fro, far removed from human-kind.
(2) Withdrawn from creature-observation (verses 7, 8). Sweeping far and wide in search of prey, the eagle’s or the vulture’s eye cannot gaze on the hidden path by which the miner presses towards his spoils; nay, in quest of earth’s treasures he travels by a road inaccessible to, and even imperceptible by, the lion and other proud beasts of prey. That man can penetrate to secret retreats in pursuit of wealth, where neither quick-sighted bird nor keen-scented beast can follow, is a striking testimony to man’s superiority over the brute creation.
3. The works the miner executes. Some of these have been mentioned already, but for the sake of continuity may be here repeated.
(1) Sinking a shaft (verse 4), down which he descends by a rope.
(2) Exploring the interior of the earth’s crust (verse 5), turning it up as it were by fire.
(3) Blasting and clearing away the rock that contains no ore (verse 9), laying his hand upon the quartz and turning up the mountains by the roots. That blasting was practised in ancient times is stated by Pliny (vide Exposition; and of. Delitzsch).
(4) Cutting channels, or galleries, in the rock to drain off the water (verse 10), or, according to another view, to bring in water to wash the gold ore.
(5) Guarding against the flooding of the mine (verse 11), by binding up the watercourses that they weep not (a technical term still used among colliers), i.e. damming up the water that percolates through the roof and sides of the pit, which would otherwise interfere with the operations of the miner, but which, being restrained, enables him to bring to light whatever precious things the bowels of the earth conceal. And now, having finished this vivid and instructive sketch of the enterprise, skill, and power with which the miner explores the deep places of the earth in search of wealth, the poet tarns to ask in triumphWhere are man’s corresponding successes in the pursuit of wisdom? Man can dig and cut and blast his way through rocks and mountains till he reaches the place of sapphires; but the haunt of wisdom, i.e. of the true principles of the Divine administration, and the place of understanding, i.e. the faculty of applying these to particular cases, are and must remain for ever beyond his ken.
II. TRUE WISDOM INCOMPARABLE IN ITS VALUE. Picturing a pearl-merchant anxious to purchase this heavenly treasure (of. Mat 13:45, Mat 13:46), Job remarks:
1. That it cannot be discovered in order to be valued. Should one roam through the land of the living, i.e. traverse the face of earth in every direction in pursuit of it, it would still elude his observation. Should he “take the wings of the morning, and flee to the uttermost parts of the sea” (Psa 139:9), inquiring after it, the sea with every rippling billow would reply, “It is not with me.” Nay, should he dive into the subterranean abyss of waters (Psa 139:8), still prosecuting his research after wisdom, up from those dark depths would sound the answer, “Not in me.”
2. That, if it could be discovered, man cannot estimate its worth. “A mortal knoweth not its price” (verse 13). So transcendent in its excellence is this heavenly wisdom, so l at surpassing man’s ordinary conceptions, that the task of appreciating its essential value is beyond the capacities of his finite understanding. “Man is the measure of the universe,” said Pythagoras. “Be it so,” is Job’s thought; “here is something outside of the universe of which the vastest human intelligence is not the measure “the Divine wisdom, in accordance with which it has been framed, and by which it is continually governed, including the Divine intelligence that devised the ideal plan of the world, the ideal plan or pattern itself, and the combined wisdom and power by which that plan is carried forward into minute and complete realization.
3. That, even if its price could be told, its equivalent could not be found by man. “The poet lays everything under contribution to illustrate the thought that the worth of wisdom exceeds the worth of the most valuable earthly thing” (Delitzsch). Nothing that the miner can bring up from the bowels of the earth, nor aught that the merchant can import from foreign climes; nay, not all of these together can be set in comparison with heaven’s jewel of eternal wisdom (Pro 3:14, Pro 3:15). Gold and silver of the rarest, purest, brightest quality; costly pearls of most delicate hue and of fabulous worth; the entire wealth of a world, cannot purchase it (Pro 8:10, Pro 8:11). What Job asserts of the wisdom which enables one to understand and appreciate the. principles of Divine government on earth is more true of that wisdom which maketh wise unto salvation. It also is in itself undiscoverable by man (1Co 1:21). Its true worth cannot properly be appreciated by man (Rom 11:33). Its mercantile equivalent cannot be offered or even found by man (Mat 16:26). The price of him who is the Wisdom of God (1Co 1:24) is above rubies.
III. TRUE WISDOM POSSESSED BY GOD ALONE. Since wisdom can neither be discovered by man’s intelligence nor purchased by man’s gold, the question naturally recurs, “Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?” in response to which Job affirms:
1. That true wisdom is the secret of God alone. God’s exclusive knowledge of wisdom is impressively represented by a renewed declaration of the utter ignorance of all created beings concerning this transcendent theme.
(1) Man is absolutely powerless to speak a profitable word upon the subject, “seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living” (verse 21). So the Divine plan of redemption is one which it never would have entered into the mind of man to conceive (1Co 2:8, 1Co 2:9). And hence human schemes of salvation have ever proved insufficient and worthless.
(2) The creatures generally are unable to afford information on this lofty question. Even the far-seeing birds, to which ancient diviners were wont to turn in their perplexities, have no oracle to utter, seeing it is “kept close from the fowls of the air” (verse 21).
(3) The inhabitants of the underworld are equally at a loss on this high matter. “Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears” (verse 22). That is to say, the dwellers in the realms of the dead are aware of its existence, but can communicate no knowledge of its nature and worth. And, having thus shut off all created beings from participation in this wisdom, the poet ends by solemnly declaring:
2. That true wisdom is the property of God alone. “God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof” (verse 23). Besides stating that God knows whence true wisdom is to be obtained, Job designs to convey the thought that God alone is in possession of this wisdom. Looking to the ends of the earth and searching under the whole heaven, he not only comprehends with his omniscient glance “where wisdom dwelleth;” but, in virtue of that knowledge, he is himself the infinitely wise and understanding One (Job 12:13).
3. That true wisdom has been exemplified by God alone. The creation of the world was a sublime manifestation of this wisdom (Pro 8:27-31). In particular the establishment of those laws which regulate the force of the wind, the distribution of land and water, the collecting and emptying of the rain-clouds, and the origin and course of the lightning, was a signal display of celestial intelligence (verses 25, 26). Nay, when the almighty Artificer fashioned the universe, then did he search out this wisdom, assign to it a place and function in his grand creative work, and commit to it the production, preservation, and providential government of all finite things (verse 27). With this unbeginning Wisdom St. John (Joh 1:1-4) identifies the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
IV. TRUE WISDOM DIVINELY REVEALED TO MAN. Though undiscoverable by human genius, and unpurchaseable by human gold, true wisdom has not been withheld from man. He has received it by revelation.
1. The Divinity of this revelation. It has not been imparted by nature. The material fabric of creation is a product and a display of celestial wisdom; but it is not sufficient for man as a law by conforming to which he too may attain unto wisdom. Nor has man himself discovered it, either by physical or scientific research, or by philosophical or religious speculation, or by heathen and superstitious divination. The law which should constitute man a participator in eternal wisdom was and is something distinct from the laws which regulate matter. It was a something communicated to man over and above all that God said to him indirectly through the medium of nature.
2. The antiquity of this revelation. At various subsequent periods, as e.g. at Sinai, and again at the Advent, repeated and enlarged, it was yet first delivered in the day of man’s creation, when God, having made man an intelligent and responsible creature, placed him under the law of right, engraven on the fleshy tablets of his heart.
3. The import of this revelation. That heavenly wisdom has for man an inward essential principle, and an outward permanent expression.
(1) The inward essential principle: “the fear of the Lord (Adonai).“ This fear is not a slavish dread, but a filial and reverential awe, based upon a just conception of God’s greatness (Job 25:2), and of man’s relation to him as moral Governor (Psa 33:8). Such fear is the root and mainspring of all piety in souls (Deu 5:29; Deu 10:12; 2Ki 17:36; Psa 96:4, Psa 96:9; Psa 147:11; Ecc 12:13; Mat 10:28; 1Pe 1:17). It is also the true source and commencement of all genuine wisdom (Psa 111:5; Pro 1:7; Pro 9:10). Hence “wisdom “and “piety” “or religion” are synonymous terms. Nor can it be doubted that for a human soul to fear God, in the comprehensive and exalted sense above referred to, is supremely reasonable in itself, and incontestably wise as a principle for the regulation of life. The term briefly defines the attitude intelligent beings should maintain towards God, the all-glorious moral Governor of the universe. Originally implanted in man at creation, and afterwards obliterated by the Fall, it is now being reimplanted or reawakened in man by the gospel.
(2) The outward permanent expression: “to depart from evil.” To fear God and yet continue in sin is a moral contradiction. The soul that reveres God’s majesty and trembles at God’s power, much more that admires God’s character and loves God’s Person, will of necessity find its highest happiness in respecting God’s Word and doing God’s will. Hence a prompt, earnest, decisive, complete, and final separation from evil (i.e. from errors both in doctrine and practice) of every kind is largely insisted on as the only satisfactory evidence of genuine religion (Job 11:14; Job 22:23; Psa 4:4; Isa 1:16; Pro 3:7; Pro 8:13; Pro 16:6), while the truly pious, whose hearts are really possessed by holy fear, are ever characterized by a more or less resolute determination to keep the Divine Law (Psa 112:1; Psa 119:63; Pro 14:2, Pro 14:16; 2Co 7:1; Eph 5:21; 1Pe 1:17). Cf. the language of an ancient religious hymn to Amen: “I cry, The beginning of wisdom is the way of Amen”.
Learn:
1. To admire God’s wisdom and goodness in the construction and arrangement of this material globe. Besides being fashioned by Divine wisdom, the earth is also full of the Divine riches.
2. To see in the monuments of man’s engineering skill, mechanical industry, commercial enterprise, and scientific research at once a striking testimony to man’s dominion over the creatures, and an admirable confirmation of the truth of Scripture.
3. To rate material wealth at its true value, observing both its weakness and its power. While contributing largely to man’s physical comfort and social influence, it cannot impart either wisdom or happiness, and still less can it serve as a substitute for religion and salvation.
4. To reason that the same Divine wisdom which placed the material creation under law would not forget to institute a rule of life for man. Hence morality and religion are not accidental and relative, but absolute and eternal, being inseparably bound up with man’s constitution as an intelligent and responsible creature.
5. To recognize the inborn foolishness of those who neither fear God nor depart from evil. “The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.”
6. To gratefully acknowledge the Divine loving-kindness in making known to man the manifold wisdom of God in Christ and his salvation. The secret of the Divine administration which Job could not fathom has been clearly discovered in the gospel.
7. To perceive that ever since the Fall the world has been governed on substantially the same principles. Christ conducts mundane affairs to-day as he did in Job’s time by the law of grace and in the interests of holiness.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON
Job 29:1 -28
Praises of Divine wisdom.
Amidst the darkness of suffering, and the deep sense of the mysteries of life, inexplicable by human wisdom, Job rises to the contemplation of that Divine wisdom which has founded all things, which knows all things, and in the reverent acknowledgment of which man may find for himself the true path both of wisdom and of power. Already the spirit of Job, purified by long suffering and experience, is rising into that presence where there is light and no darkness at all; and from this height of calm contemplation is fitted to become the teacher of his teachers, the “instructor of many.”
I. TRUE WISDOM TO BE FOUND NOWHERE ON EARTH. (Verses 1-11.) To illustrate this, we are pointed, in a fine description, to the art of mining, by which man lays open the costly treasures of the earth (Deu 8:9), but cannot gain possession of this highest and best treasure of all. Gold, silver, iron, and copper are dug out of the bowels of the earth, and melted from their ores; the miner’s lamp dispels the darkness, as in every direction he searches for the “ore of darkness and deadly night.” It is a picture of the eager, industrious, untiring toil with which men in all ages in the mines of Egypt, of Palestine, of the old and the new worlds, have sought to gather and to lay up treasures on earth for themselves. There is often even a frenzy, a reckless disregard of health and of life, in this passionate pursuit. With what eagerness should we rather pursue the quest of the heavenly treasures, the inward blessings which make men truly rich and happy (Mat 16:26)! The description proceeds. The shaft (verse 4) is broken away from those who dwell above; the miners plunge deeply into the earth, further and further from the habitations of men, so that they are forgotten by the step of every one who walks above. They are depicted as hanging far from mortals by ropes on the perilous descent of the shaft in their way to obtain the ore (Pliny, ‘Hist. Nat.’ 33.4. 21). Above, upon the bright earth, the bread-corn is growing, while belong. men are stirring, and rummaging in its bowels, using sometimes the disturbing and destructive force of fire (verse 5). Precious stones as well as metals, sapphires as well as golden ore, fall a prize to the diligent miner (verse 6). Then, to heighten the description, the inaccessibility of these subterranean ways is depicted. The all-roaming birds and beasts of prey have not discovered them (verse 8). But undaunted man lays his hand on the flint, uproots the mountains, and bursts open paths through the rocks, and the fire of eager desire glitters in his eye as it falls on each precious thing. He toils to keep the water out of his shafts, by which they are so readily overflowed and spoiled; and thus he brings the hidden treasures to light (verse 11). Such are the splendid capabilities of manthe courage, the energy, the defiance of dangercalled out by his desires. His reward comes; but does it correspond to his exertions? Having passed the best of his days in these severe toils and anxieties and dangers, he thinks to sit down and solace his age with the acquisitions of his younger and more daring yea, s; but does the enjoyment of the poor remainder of life balance these struggles which perhaps brought age upon him before his time, and cut him off from pleasure in the proper days of pleasure, and from the youthful satisfactions that were then denied? “I am this day fourscore years old, and can I yet taste what I eat and what I drink?” (2Sa 19:35). “Whoever lives to Parzillai’s years shall not be able, with all Barzillai’s wealth and greatness, to procure himself a quicker and better relish of what shall be set before him than Barzillai had” (South).
II. WISDOM NO OUTWARD GOOD, AND BY NO OUTWARD MEANS TO BE FOUND. (Verses 12-22.) Practical wisdom, the principle of right conduct, and theoretical wisdom, or insight,where in all the wide world shall they be found (verse 12)? None knows the purchase-price, nor the market for wisdom in all the wide land of the living. “Put money in thy purse” is the one maxim which applies in everything but this. “Money answereth all things;” but there are exceptions, and this is one. Gold and silver have no more power than stones and clods in this spiritual commerce. Cross the seas; visit the great cities; enter the churches; study at the schools; see and hear all; yet still the aching heart will cry, “Where is wisdom to be found? and what is its price?” All the gold and jewels of the Indies cannot buy it. Its worth is incomparable. Weight nor measure can be applied to it; it has no place in the business and exchange of the world (verses 13-19). Again, then, and again tie question recurs, “Whence comes wisdom? where is the place of understanding?” Science cannot answer, with all her keenness of vision and wealth of knowledge; no brightest eagle-eye has searched out its locale. Neither the living nor the kingdom of the dead can bring us news of its site (verses 20-22). It must, then, be immaterial. And being real, it must be sought for and found by that which is real and spiritual in ourselves. The things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor imagination conceived, God reveals to the spirit. We must be conscious of a spiritual life and of spiritual needs; of a destiny for heavenly as well as earthly things; we must yield to the spiritual impulse, and labor for the satisfaction of the spiritual hunger as well as for the bread that perisheth, if this great question is ever for us to be answered.
III. WISDOM IS IN THE FEAR OF GOD. (Verses 23-28.)
1. The question answered. God knows the way to wisdom, for he knows its seat and place. (Verse 23.) He is himself the All-wise One. His wisdom is seen in the marvellous construction and arrangement of the natural world. He regulates the winds and the waters (Isa 40:12), the rain, the lightning, and the thunder (verses 24-26). And his absolute wisdom is the rule for the inward life of man, the still more wonderful world of the spiritual life. In the creation as a whole he announces typically his eternal will to all rational creatures (verse 27).
2. The Divine declaration. (Verse 28, “The fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.”) God would not keep his wisdom altogether secret. He reveals, as well as is, wisdom. This is the original eternal command, the law that “is not of yesterday,” and which has never been unknown in any generation of mankind.
LESSONS.
1. The eternal wealth of God’s nature. He needed no model or copy from which to frame his world. “He spake, and it was done; commanded, and it stood fast ‘ (verse 27).
2. There is a wisdom which is an example and end, and a wisdom which is a shadow and means. The former is in God, the latter from God in us. So are we “partakers of the Divine nature” in reflection from him, union with him, and enjoyment of him (2Pe 1:4).
3. Wisdom is the nature of God (Pro 8:25, sqq.), uncreated, essential; with us it is an acquisition, a derivation.
4. True wisdom for us depends on the living, moral communion of the heart with God. Without this it is vain to seek to know him. An Eastern proverb says, “He who would learn the secrets of the mighty, must diligently keep watch at his doors.” Blessed they who thus wait continually at God’s doors l
5. True wisdom is not to be obtained without its price. It must be wrought for by the endeavour of a holy and pious life. The departing from evil, the mortification of sin, the weeding out of vices, lays out work enough for us in this life, and makes the toils of man for perishable good seem small in comparison. “But the end is noble, and the reward is great.”
6. The energy of man in the pursuit of earthly good should be a constant reminder to us of the need for like zeal in the pursuit of the eternal good (Mat 6:19, sqq.; 1Ti 6:1-21.; Jas 5:1-20.).J.
HOMILIES BY R. GREEN
Job 29:1-12
The path of true wisdom.
With singular fulness Job describes the early methods of mining, and the knowledge man had already gained of the hidden treasures of the earth, and the power he could wield over them. In this recognition of the power of man, and of his deep insight into the nature and constitution of the earth, and its many treasures and processes, he prepares the way for a setting forth of the limits beyond which man cannot go. With all his searching he finds not out the path of “wisdom,” and with all his getting he fails to get “understanding.” And this further prepares for a setting forth of the true sources of wisdom and the place of understanding. The path of true wisdom does not lie in those dark recesses of the earth where the vein of the silver lies hidden. It is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s keen eye hath not seen, and over which the beasts of prey have not trodden; nor hath the fierce lion passed by it. God alone miderstandeth the way thereof, and he alone knoweth its path. The plain inference, then, isMan must ask wisdom of God.
I. THE ERROR OF SUPPOSING THAT A KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROCESSES OF NATURE GIVES A TRUE AND PERFECT WISDOM. In all these man may be deeply learned, and yet there be a path hidden from him. The danger of this day is a supposing that science truly so called is a sufficient knowledge for man. An accurate acquaintance with “the laws of nature” still leaves man ignorant of many necessary truths. For the right use of material substances, a knowledge of those substances and the laws of their combination is necessary; and for the safety of the animal life, a knowledge of its structure and processesthe laws of animal lifeis equally needful. But the total idea of the human life is not reached by these. Fie who is capable of moral and spiritual acts has a moral and spiritual nature; and he has need of the knowledge of the laws of the moral government under which he is placed, and of the spiritual nature with which he is endowed.
II. THE LOWLY SEARCHING FOE THIS HIDDEN WISDOM WILL LEAD MEN TO A CONVICTION OF THEIR INABILITY TO ARRIVE AT A PERFECT ACQUAINTANCE WITH IT. It is hid from the eyes of all living. Very humbling is this to the proud heart of him who has obviously a supreme position amidst the works of Godwho is above all creatures, subduing them to his authority; and above “nature,” compelling it to be subservient to his wish. To know that he knows not, and to know that by searching he cannot find out the knowledge he desires, brings down his high looks. Here he must sit in the seat of the scholar; here, confessing his ignorance, ask.
III. THE TRUE SEARCHER, BAFFLED IN HIS MANY EFFORTS, TURNS AT LAST TO GOD, AND FINDS THE SOURCE OF WISDOM IN HIM; and learns that the fear of the Lord is the possession of the true wisdom, and the careful keeping of the path of righteousness the true understanding. That is to say, the highest wisdom is a moral state, and the truest understanding a religious obedience.
From how many is this “hidden,” and how unwilling are the ignorant to ask, and the proud to acknowledge their need! While he who consciously lacks this highest wisdom, and asks of God, proves that he giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not any for asking.R.G.
Job 29:20 -27
Wisdom hidden from man.
Skilful is the hand of man. His researches are profound. He has digged deep into the earth. He tracks the vein of the silver and the place for the gold. He taketh iron out of the earth, and brass he melteth from the stone. He searcheth amidst the stones of darkness and the very shadow of death. His eye seeth what escapes the eye of the vulture, and he knoweth the path which no fowl knoweth. His power is over the hills, for he putteth his hand upon the rock, and overturneth the mountains by the roots. Rocks and rivers and flood are under his power, and the hidden things he bringeth to light. But with all his powers of research he is baffled in the pursuit of wisdom, and he knows neither the place nor the price of understanding. The perfect knowledge of the nature of things, and the high wisdom to guide in the proper use of’ things, is not within the human grasp. Such knowledge is too high for him. It belongs unto God. It cannot be gotten for gold, nor purchased with the price of silver. This reflection may
I. PROFITABLY TURN AWAY OUR HOPES OF GAINING WISDOM FROM MAN. We cannot gain it there; for “it is hid from the eyes of all living.”
II. IT IS A BECOMING OCCASION FOR HUMILITY ON THE PART OF MAN. Vain man, who can do so much, is baffled here.
III. IT IS A MOTIVE FOR THANKFULLY RECEIVING THE TEACHINGS OF THE WISE. There are men to whom God has discovered the hidden springs of wisdom. Happy they, and happy all who learn of them.
IV. BUT ITS SUPREME LESSON IS TO DRIVE US IN OUR SEARCH FOR WISDOM TO GOD, to whom alone it appertains. “God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof”even the wisdom that is “hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.”R.G.
Verse 28
The true wisdom.
Wisdomthe “principal thing”wisdom that “cannot be gotten for gold,” or valued with “the precious onyx, or the sapphire,” which “the topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal”wisdom “belongeth unto God,” and must be taught us by him, for we are ignorant. Wisdom consists in “the fear of the Lord,” and in departing from evil. This wisdom man findeth not in the rocks nor in the depth of the sea. This is to man his truest, his highest, wisdom. This is the wisdom for the price of which “silver cannot be weighed.” The fear of the Lord is the very beginning and end of wisdom to man
I. BECAUSE IT IS FOUNDED IN A JUST RECOGNITION OF THE DIVINE SUPREMACY, AUTHORITY, AND POWER. The most foolish thing a man can do is to deny, either by word or by conduct, the authority of God. He who truly acknowledges the Divine supremacy will humble himself, and take his rightful place, free from presumption and self-asserting independence, which is the basis of all disobedience.
II. BECAUSE IT AFFORDS HIM THE TRUEST BASIS FOR FAITH AND HOPE. He who fears, and therefore reverences God, will learn how to commit himself into the Divine hands for all needful blessing. As far from presumption as from fear, he will be able calmly to trust in God and do good. He can have no real hope towards God who in irreverence and self-conceit cherishes not “the fear of the Lord” in his heart.
III. BECAUSE WITHOUT THE FEAR OF THE LORD THERE CAN BE NO TRUE LOVE FOR THE DIVINE NAME. That cannot be loved which is not respected and honoured. The true respect towards God is holy fearthe sacred reverence for the majesty, sanctity, and authority of the Divine Name.
IV. BECAUSE IT IS THE MOST EFFECTUAL BARRIER AGAINST EVIL–DOING.
V. BECAUSE OF THE SPECIAL PROMISES OF BLESSING MADE TO THEM THAT FEAR HIS NAME. From all this springs the duty of cherishing due regard for all things sacred, that the heart may be suitably and profitably impressed by them. “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”R.G.
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY
Job 29:1-11
The miner.
This passage is justly famous for its graphic description of ancient mining. It gives us a picture of the miner’s toil and peril, his industry, his skill, and his adventure. Let us see what lessons may be learnt from the miner and his craft.
I. GOD HAS LAID UP GREAT RICHES FOR MAN. People talk foolishly about exhausting the mines. Particular mines may come to an end, and certain lodes may be worked out. But the earth is not one mine or one English county. No one can calculate what vast stores of metal lie under the surface of the ground. The great treasury has scarcely been touched; ages upon ages will not suffice to ransack its stores. When we learn about Australia, Asia Minor, South America, etc; we discover that there is still boundless wealth under the soil. Thus God has made ample provision for the wants of his children.
II. THESE RICHES ARE HIDDEN BENEATH THE EARTH. Men must sink shafts and blast racks. God gives us great possessions, but we must put forth energy in acquiring them. Thus Israel had to fight for Canaan. Wisdom is got through toil and effort. Spiritual wealth is won at the cost of spiritual conflict. Though the chief conflict was Christ’s, and though the best treasures are freely given, we must seek if we would find (Mat 7:7).
III. THE MINER‘S WORK IS TOILSOME. Few men have so disagreeable or hard a task. In dark subterranean regions, often breathing a close, unwholesome atmosphere, suffer’-ing from tremendous heat, labouring with axe and shovel, the miner has no idle lot. He may be forgotten by those who tread the greensward over his head. But we all profit by his industry. It is only right that his brave and arduous work should be generously recognized. In our happy homes and beautiful churches we should do wall to think of the miner, and pray for him just as we pray for “those in peril on the sea.”
IV. INGENUITY AND ENTERPRISE CHARACTERIZE THE WORK OF THE MINER. What thought and effort and daring are put into mining! Surely this is nobler work than the killing which all the world honours in the soldier? We can understand why God has hidden the precious metals in the bowels of the earth, when we see what manly traits are evolved in the work of obtaining them. But if so, should not the same high qualities be brought forth in the search for the hidden treasure of the kingdom of heaven? Its gold, and silver, and iron, and copper are worth so much trouble, are not wisdom and goriness and eternal life deserving of the most strenuous efforts?
V. THERE IS PERIL IN THE MINER‘S LIFE. Mining disasters are more fatal than shipwrecks. The miner needs to know a refuge more secure than any that art or science can contrive. He, indeed, should have his trust in God. But for others his peril is an occasion to rouse interest and deepen sympathy. We all profit by his labours; at least, then, let us all do what we can to protect him from the dangers which carelessness and selfishness create.W.F.A.
Job 29:7, Job 29:8
The miner’s path.
The vulture’s eye is keen, the lion’s whelps are daring; yet a path which these wild creatures never saw is known to the miner, and climbed by him in his search for precious metals. He penetrates into fearful ravines, climbs dizzy cliffs, follows dark passages far into the mountain-side, descends deep shafts down to the hidden regions of the earth.
I. THE SUPERIORITY OF MIND TO INSTINCT. The senses of animals are keener than those of men; the sight of the bird and the scent of the wild beast greatly exceed our seeing and smell. Animals are stronger than men; we cannot emulate the vulture’s flight or the stroke of the lion’s paw. Yet, with duller senses and weaker muscles, we can rule over the animals; we can even beat them on their own ground. The superiority of man is the superiority of mind. Therefore, if he would retain and perfect this superiority, he must not sink down to the level of the beasts that perish. Sottish sensuality robs man of his supremacy. If it is by the mind that man conquers, it is disgraceful to live for the sake of the body. Only mental power gives so weak a creature as man any chance in the struggle for existence. Then it is most incongruous that bodily appetite should be permitted to enslave this power for its own low pleasures. Moreover, if the inner man is the higher man, that which is highest within is our truest and best self. The highest powers scale the highest peaks.
II. THE TRIUMPH OF ENERGY. The miner knows his secret path and climbs it, because he is determined to search out the precious metals, no matter where he may have to go in pursuit of them. Here is manly vigour. Now, it is just this vigour joined to intelligence that gives man success in the battle of life. No one deserves to be prosperous without it. It is only a, artificial state of society that allows the idle to be pampered in luxury. The healthy rule is that of St. Paul, “If any would not work, neither should he eat” (2Th 3:10). In the miner’s path we have an evidence of what effort can do. This same effort is needed in every branch of life. Industry is healthy and fruitful, and the old-fashioned duty can never be lessened by any change of circumstances. If men shrink from work they proclaim that their better nature is conquered in them. It will be a bad day for England when her old spirit of enterprise is given up. In the Christian life there is a call for the miner’s daring and energy. Here, too, heroic enterprises are undertaken by the nobler spirits. There are paths in spiritual experience that no one with a merely animal nature can ever see; but the brave sons of God walk thereon and find rare treasures by the way. Browning tells us
“Life isto wake, not sleep;
Rise, and not rest; but press
From earth’s level, where blindly creep
Things perfected, more or less,
To heaven’s height, far and steep.”
W.F.A.
Job 29:12-15
The search for wisdom.
I. WISDOM IS SUPREMELY DESIRABLE. Men sink shafts and traverse hazardous paths in search of the precious metals simply because of their value. The costly and difficult processes of mining would not be carried on unless an adequate reward were expected. Unless men appreciate wisdom they will not take much trouble in attempting to acquire it. The first thing is to see that “the price of wisdom is above rubies” (Job 29:18). Knowledge is good, as the food of the intellect. The knowledge of God is most precious as the food of the soul. Practical knowledge is essential for guidance in life. Wisdom is more than the satisfaction of curiosity; it is the light of life.
II. WISDOM DOES NOT LIE ON THE SURFACE OF THE WORLD. It is like the treasures of deep rallies, and therefore it is not seen by the superficial. God does not cast his pearls before swine. There are blessings that all meneven the most heedlesshave a share in. But the greatest blessings are not stumbled on unawares. These are for all who will seek them; but they must be sought. Hidden treasures are sometimes dug up from beneath ancient ruinsvessels of gold and silver that have lain for ages buried under heaps of rubbish. So Divine treasures have been hidden beneath piles of earthly and comparatively worthless things. Sin and worldliness have buried them. They need to be rediscovered. Thus man has both to recover lost spiritual riches and to mine in virgin soil for new wisdom.
III. WISDOM IS NOT EASILY FOUND. It is not enough to sink a mine, for perhaps we may not strike a lode; we must discover where the precious metal lies. The mining engineer must bring his science and experience to bear on the great problem as to where the shaft is to be made, and if he makes a mistake all the costly work of preparing the mine will be thrown away. Now, we want some divining-rod to show us where to seek for the Divine wisdom. Philosophers have dug their mines in various regions of life and thought. No doubt they have brought much precious ore to the surface. But the great treasure of Divine knowledge has not been struck by any human inquiry without the guiding of a special heavenly revelation. Seas may be dredged and strange wonders of the deep brought to light, but these additions to natural history do not help us much in coming to know spiritual truth.
IV. WISDOM CANNOT BE BOUGHT. Precious stones may be purchased for money. Knowledge may be obtained in classes for which fees are charged; and yet the fees cannot purchase real education, and unless the scholar uses his mind he cannot profit by his lessons. No subscriptions to churches and missions and charities can buy Divine wisdom.
V. WISDOM IS A DIVINE GIFT SEEKING SOULS. It is like the precious metals in the earth which God has given to man freely. The treasures of God are for all, without money and without price. Moreover, God shows us where to find these treasures. Christ “is made unto us wisdom” (1Co 1:30). When we receive Christ, we have the Treasure for which philosophers and saints toiled and mined. He brings the Divine wisdom to the surface, to cur very doors. If we would acquire wisdom, we have but to open our hearts to welcome Christ.W.F.A.
Job 29:18
The high price of wisdom.
In the main, prices are determined by two causesby the value set on things on account of their utility and attractiveness, and by the difficulty of acquiring them. Both these elements enter into the high price of wisdom.
I. WISDOM IS VALUABLE ON ACCOUNT OF ITS UTILITY AND ATTRACTIVENESS. People will not give a high price for what is not valued highly. Appreciation implies the perception of some equivalence in value. If wisdom is sought at a great price, wisdom is highly prized. Otherwise it would be left alone as not worth purchasing. Let us, then, observe the elements of value in wisdom.
1. Guidance. We need knowledge to save us from blundering. Bight principles are charts by which to steer. Moral folly plunges men headlong down to ruin; moral wisdom is the safe guide to life. We must know the heavenly way, we must see how to climb the steep hill, we must have skill to navigate the vessel of life.
2. Sustenance. Divine wisdom feeds the soul like heavenly manna, and refreshes it like water from the rock. It is reviving and nourishing as wine and milk (Isa 55:1). The soul is starved without the truth of God. That truth is its meat and drink.
3. Satisfaction. Much that men feed on spiritually is like chaff and sawdust; it does not really satisfy, though it seems to fill. But the knowledge of God is restful; it meets the deep needs and answers to the true desires of the inner life.
4. Culture. The effect of this heavenly possession is to elevate and transform the soul itself. It is more than a guide, a food, a satisfaction; it is a moulding influence. By a subtle alchemy it brings the soul round to its own character. He who has wisdom is wise. The possession of Divine grace makes us sons of God.
II. WISDOM IS COSTLY BECAUSE OF THE DIFFICULTY OF ACQUIRING IT. People will not give a high price unnecessarily even for what they value highly. What is both plentiful and easily accessible is necessarily cheap, however useful and attractive it may be. When the supply is fully equal to the demand, the price is low. But wisdom is not only inherently valuable; it is also only got at a great cost. Note the reasons for its dearness.
1. A difficult search. There may be an abundance of precious metals far under the soil, but if mines have to be constructed some expenditure must be incurred before the treasures can be acquired. Hence their costliness. Now, men have been seeking wisdom with great toil and weariness through all the ages.
2. Rarity. Prices mount high in times of scarcity. Famine may make corn more precious than rubies. When the world had fallen far from God down into the night of sin and ignorance, true wisdom became scarce.
3. The sacrifice of Christ. Christ has become wisdom to us, but at what a cost? First there was the condescension of his incarnation, when be emptied himself and became of no reputation, and took on him the form of a servant. Then his arduous life was spent in bringing the knowledge and grace of God to men. His midnight watches, and his days full of work and conflict, were spent for this object. Lastly, his cross marks the supreme gift of himself in death to purchase for us the Divine wisdom. That wisdom is more costly than rubies; it is acquired by us at the cost of the blood of our Lord.W.F.A.
Job 29:23
God’s access to wisdom.
Wisdom is rare, precious, and costly. Men are skilful and enterprising in mining for the precious metals; but the search for wisdom, though carried on with the utmost assiduity, seems to be more difficult. Nevertheless, what is inaccessible to man is quite within the reach of God. We may fail in attempting to find wisdom, but God possesses it. He knows where it lies hidden from us; he can tread the labyrinth of the mine that leads to it.
I. THIS IS A GROUND OF FAITH. If God has true wisdom, we can be Content to leave with him those issues of life which we cannot understand ourselves.
1. In nature. To us many of the processes of nature are unintelligible. Not only cannot we understand the “how,” but we are also perplexed about the “why.” Apparently aimless and seemingly hurtful processes fill nature with dark mysteries. But these mysteries are all open to God. Of his works we can say, “In wisdom hast thou made them all.” The world was not created by a blundering Demiurge, but by an all-wise God.
2. In providence. Our own lives are enigmas to us. We cannot understand why our plans are broken, our hopes scattered, our joys turned to bitterness It all looks wild, chaotic, aimless, sometimes even cruel We can but rest in the thought that God is higher and wiser than we are.
“Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up his bright desirous,
And works his sovereign will”
Therefore
“Judge not the Lord by feeble sense.”
3. In redemption. It may not be possible for us to understand the atonement. Theories are all inadequate. There is a mystery at the root of Christianity. But when God devised his great idea of salvation he had access to all wisdom. It must be wise. Our part is to follow it as far as we can see it, and to trust God for the rest.
II. THIS IS A KEY TO WISDOM. God knows where the treasure is hidden; he is familiar with the path that leads to it. Then he must be the Guide to wisdom. If we would attain to it we must seek it from God.
1. By prayer. St,. James has said, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (Jas 1:5). It is not only that wisdom is a boon bestowed in answer to prayer; prayer itself is the road to wisdom. St. Paul could see things in a new light when it could be said of him, “Behold, he prayeth.” The spirit of prayer opens the windows of heaven and reveals the wisdom of God.
2. By godliness. We must be like God if we would share in God’s wisdom. Sympathy with God will give us eyes to see as God sees. Nearness to him will introduce us to the path that he treads. When we walk with God we shall be led to those deep mines of wisdom to which he penetrates. Thus true wisdom is closely allied to true religion. “The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom” (verse 28).W.F.A.
Verse 28
The revelation of wisdom.
Man has searched for wisdom, but in vain. Then God, who has access to it, has revealed it to him, and has shown that it consists in the fear of the Lord and in departure from evil. The existence of a Divine revelation is here distinctly affirmed. God speaks through nature, Scripture, and conscience, and especially in Christ. Now, the Divine revelation of wisdom is here presented to us in two aspectsa positive and a negative. The first of these consists in religion; the second is of a moral character.
I. THE POSITIVELY RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF REVEALED WISDOM. When God reveals wisdom to man it first appears as “the fear of the Lord.” Job says, like Solomon, that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Pro 1:7); it is wisdom; the two are identified. Now, the expression, “fear of the Lord,” is the Old Testament name for religion- Therefore wisdom is religion. When we have found true religion we have discovered true wisdom.
1. The highest knowledge is obtained through spiritual experience. Science comes through the study of nature, and history is learnt by reading of past deeds; certainly religion will not dispense with the laboratory and the library. Still, even in these matters the truth-loving spirit-which is the spirit of scienceis nourished and strengthened by communion with the eternal Truth. The highest knowledge, however, is of a different order; it is the knowledge that reaches to the meaning and purpose of life, and is not satisfied with the phenomena and processes that are the materials of science. This can only be had by the experience of the truth of God in religion.
2. The best course of life is that which is pursued in obedience to the will of God. It is the function of practical wisdom not so much to reveal mysteries as to show us the path in which we should walk. God has made known that path; he has shown us that the perfect way is one of Christ-like obedience. We live wisely when we acknowledge our Creator, obey our Father, loyally serve our King. Any other way must be foolish, because it will involve ingratitude and rebellion, and must therefore end in ruin. No wise man would choose to ruin himself.
II. THE NEGATIVELY MORAL ASPECT OF REVEALED WISDOM. “To depart from evil is understanding.”
1. Sin must be abandoned before truth can be received. Sin blinds the spiritual vision. It is a moral lie, and the enemy to all truth. Bad passions and corrupt desires cloud the judgment and distort the understanding. They are the pure in heart who see God, and all the truth of God is open to the eye of goodness, but shut up and hidden from the prying curiosity of wickedness. A bad man cannot be a true philosopher. He may know many things; he cannot know real truth. The details and the worldly ideas may be acquired by him; but the deeper meaning of everything is lost to such a person.
2. A right understanding of life prompts to repentance. When the light of God begins to fall on the soul, sin is seen for the first time in its hideous natural character. Then we wonder how we could have fondled so loathsome an object. Its disgusting features drive us from it with horror.
3. The life of sin is ruinously foolish. It offers great delights, but its promises are lies. Even its pleasures do not satisfy, and they soon give place to bitter regrets. The wise way of living is the path of purity and integritythe path which can only be followed in godly fear and Christian faith.W.F.A.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
CHAP. XXVIII.
Job observes, that man, though he can find out the hidden veins of silver, gold, iron, and brass, yet cannot find out wisdom: God hath taught him that wisdom consists in the fear of the Lord.
Before Christ 1645.
Job 28:1. Surely there is a vein for the silver See the Reflections on the 28th verse, p. 806. This chapter, as it is one of the most beautiful and instructive, so perhaps, we may adds it is the most obscure of the whole book. The subject of it is an inquiry after wisdom: not the wisdom of God, meaning the unsearchable depths of his counsels; but wisdom in general, or rather the wisdom proper to man; and, therefore, in the last verse, as the result of the inquiry, we are told what that wisdom is. The chapter begins with a fine description of the indefatigable industry and ardour of mankind, in searching after things which contribute either to the use or ornament of life; how they dig into the bowels of the earth for metals, gold, silver, iron, and brass; and though the great Creator hath set a boundary betwixt light and darkness, dividing the two hemispheres from each other, as by a line or circle, yet the industry of avarice of man is without bounds. He searcheth into the land of darkness itself for hidden treasures. See Job 28:3. The word rendered vein, motza, signifies properly a going-forth: there is a going-forth for the silver; that is, “man hath found where silver may be dug out of the earth.” See Peters and Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
III. Job alone: His closing address to the vanquished friends. Chap. 2728
a. Renewed asseveration of his innocence, accompanied by a reference to his joy inGod, which had not forsaken him even in the midst of his deepest misery Job 27:1-10
1Moreover Job continued his parable, and said:
2As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment;
and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;
3all the while my breath is in me,
and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
4 my lips shall not speak wickedness
nor my tongue utter deceit.
5 God forbid that I should justify you:
till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
6 My righteousness I hold fast, I will not let it go:
my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
7 Let mine enemy be as the wicked,
and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.
8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained,
when God taketh away his soul?
9Will God hear his cry
when trouble cometh upon him?
10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty?
will he always call upon God?
b. Statement of his belief that the prosperity of the ungodly cannot endure, but that they must infallibly come to a terrible end. Job 27:11-23
11 I will teach you by the hand of God;
that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.
12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it;
why then are ye thus altogether vain?
13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
14 If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword;
and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death;
and his widows shall not weep.
16 Though he heap up silver as the dust,
and prepare raiment as the clay;
17 he may prepare it, but the just shall put it on,
and the innocent shall divide the silver.
18 He buildeth his house as a moth,
and as a booth that the keeper maketh.
19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered;
he openeth his eyes, and he is not!
20 Terrors take hold on him as waters,
a tempest stealeth him away in the night.
21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth:
and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.
22 For God shall cast upon him, and not spare:
He would fain flee out of his hand.
23 Men shall clap their hands at him,
and hiss him out of his place.
c. Declaration that true Wisdom, which alone can secure real well-being, and a correct solution of the dark enigmas of mans destiny, is to be found nowhere on earth, but only with God, and by means of a pious submission to God. Chap. 28
1 Surely there is a vein for the silver,
and a place for gold where they fine it.
2 Iron is taken out of the earth.
and brass is molten out of the stone.
3 He setteth an end to darkness,
and searcheth out all perfection:
the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.
4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitants;
even the waters forgotten of the foot:
they are dried up, they are gone away from men.
5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread:
and under it is turned up as it were fire.
6 The stones of it are the place of sapphires:
and it hath dust of gold.
7 There is a path which no fowl knoweth,
and which the vultures eye hath not seen.
8 The lions whelps have not trodden it
nor the fierce lion passed by it.
9He putteth forth his hand upon the rock;
10 He cutteth out rivers among the rocks;
and his eye seeth every precious thing.
he overturneth the mountains by the roots.
11 He bindeth the floods from overflowing;
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 depth 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 The gold and the crystal cannot equal it:
and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls;
for 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 if the place of understanding?
21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living,
and kept close from the fowls of the air.
22Destruction and death say,
we have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
23 God understandeth the way thereof,
and He knoweth the place thereof.
24For He looketh to the ends of the earth,
and seeth under the whole heaven;
25to make the weight for the winds;
and He weigheth the waters by measure.
26When He made a decree for the rain,
and a way for the lightning of the thunder;
27Then did He see it, and declare it;
He prepared it, yea, and searched it out.
28And unto man He said:
Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
and to depart from evil is understanding.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Inasmuch as the opposition of the friends is silenced, before the last of the number attempts a third reply, the victor, after a short pause, takes up his discourse, in order that, by collecting himself after the passion of the strife, he might express with greater calmness and clearness the convictions which have been formed within him as results of the colloquy thus far, and so to give to the colloquy the internal solution which was wanting (Dillm.). It is not so much a triumphant self-contemplation, or a pathetic monologue, that he delivers, but a genuine didactic discourse, addressed to the vanquished friends, which, like the discourses of the previous discussion, is cast in the form, characteristic of the Chokmah, of a series of proverbs. It is hence expressly termed in the introductory verse (Job 27:1) a continuation of the Mashal, i. e. of the proverbial discourse (in regard to , to utter, lit. to raise a proverb; comp. Num 23:7, where the same expression is applied to a prophetic vaticinium of Balaams). [ is speech of a more elevated tone and more figurative character; here, as frequently, the unaffected outgrowth of an elevated solemn mood. The introduction of the ultimatum as reminds one of the proverb (el–methel) seals it in the mouth of the Arab, since in common life it is customary to use a pithy saying as the final proof at the conclusion of a speech. Delitzsch.]The following are the contents of this proverbial discourse, which is somewhat extended, and which, especially in its last principal division, is exceedingly lofty and poetic: (1) An emphatic asseveration of his own innocence, which he has made repeatedly during the previous colloquy, and which he now puts forth as attested by his continued experience of Gods friendship, and his joy in God (Job 27:2-10); (2) A descriptionimitating and surpassing the similar descriptions of the friends in chs. 15; 18; 20, etc.of the fearful divine judgment, which must of necessity overtake the ungodly, and in view of which he indeed has every reason to adhere earnestly and zealously to Gods ways (Job 27:11-23); (3) An exhibition of the nature of true wisdom, which alone can furnish correct solutions of the dark enigmas of this earthly life, and which is here set forth as a blessing absolutely supra-sensual, to be obtained only through God, and the closest union with Him (Job 28.).These three sections are differently divided, the two former consisting of three short strophes (of three to five verses), the third of three long strophes (two of eleven, and one of six verses).
2. First Section: The asseveration of his innocence: Job 27:2-10.
First Strophe: Job 27:2-4.As God liveth (lit. living is God! a well-known Hebrew, and also Arabic formula of adjuration) [the only place where Job resorts to the oath], who hath taken away from me my right, and the Almighty who hath vexed my soul; lit. who hath made bitter my soul (LXX.: , comp. Col 3:19 : ).
Job 27:3. For still all my breath is in me, and Gods breath is in my nostrils, i. e. I am still possessed of enough freshness and vigor of spirit to know what I say, to be a responsible witness in behalf of my innocence. The older expositors, and among the moderns Schlottmann [Good, Noyes, Conant, Bernard, Carey, Rodwell, Elzas, Renan, Merx, and so E. V.] take the verse not as a parenthetic reason for the adjuration in Job 27:2, but as the antecedent of Job 27:4 : so long as my breath is yet in me, etc. But in that case the contents of the oath would have a double introduction, first by , then by . Moreover the words , as the parallel passages, 2Sa 1:9; Hos 14:3, show, have not in the least the appearance of an adverbial antecedent determination of time.[The older rendering is certainly to be preferred. (1) It expresses a thought much more suitable for incorporation into an oath. As God liveswhile I liveI will speak only the truthis natural. As God livesand I take this oath because I am fully competent to stand up to what I am swearingmy lips shall not, etc.is decidedly unnatural. (2) The language at once suggests the simple idea of livingbreath () yet in methe breath of Eloah in my nostril. This is scarcely the language one would use in describing a particular inward condition. (3) is simply transitional, introducing after the oath a thought preparatory to the principal thought introduced by , a construction which Delitzsch admits to be possible, though what there is perplexing in it, it is difficult to see. (4) is used adverbially as in Psa 39:6; Psa 45:14; Ecc 5:15; herewholly as long as (see Gesenius and Frst). It thus strengthens the expression in a way that is altogether appropriate to the strong feeling which prompts the oath.E.]
Job 27:4 gives the contents of the oath, which the following verses unfold still more specifically and comprehensively. In regard to , lit. perverseness, hence falsehood, untruthfulness, and its synonym , comp. Job 13:7.
Second Strophe: Job 27:5-7.Far be it from me (lit. for a profanation be it to me, comp. Ew. 329, a) to grant that you are in the right:wherein is seen in the second memberuntil I die I will not let my innocence be taken away from me (lit. I will not let it depart from me), i. e. I will not cease from asserting it continually.
Job 27:6. In regard to in a, meaning to let something go, to let it fall, comp. Job 7:19.My heart reproacheth not one of my days., lit. to pluck, to pick off, carpere, vellicare. here is unquestionably synonymous substantially with conscience. So Luther translated it both here and in Jos 14:7; comp. also 1Sa 24:6 [5]; 2Sa 24:10, where it may also be translated conscience (see in general Vilmar, Theolog. Moral. I., p. 66). Most modern commentators rightly take in , as partitiveone of my days; the temporal rendering of the expression adopted by the ancients, as also by Ewald (= while I live, in omni vita mea, Vulg.) [E. V.], necessitates the harsh and scarcely admissible rendering of as intransitive, or as reflexive (does not blame itself, Ewald) [E. V. supplies me]. It remains to be said, that this asseveration of innocence (like that in Job 23:10 seq.) is, in some measure, exaggerated, when compared with the mention which Job makes earlier of the sins of his youth, Job 13:26.
Job 27:7. Mine enemy must appear as the wicked, and mine adversary as the unrighteous:viz. as the penalty of their falsely suspecting and disputing my innocence. Only this optative rendering of the Jussive is suited to the context, not the concessive: though mine enemy be an evil-doer, I am none (Hirz.). As to , comp. Job 20:27; Psa 59:2. [The idea conveyed in is hostility of feeling; in , hostility of action, and that initiative. It is, to some extent, expressive of unprovoked assault. Carey.]
Third Strophe: Job 27:8-10.For what is the hope of an ungodly man when He cutteth off, when Eloah draweth out his soul?This question is to be understood from the two former discourses of Job, in which, when confronting death he placed his hope with animated emphasis on God, as his final deliverer and avenger (chs. 17. and 19.). In contrast with such a joyful hope reaching out beyond death, the evil-doer has nothing more to hope for, when once God has cut off his thread of life, and drawn out his soul out of the mortal body enclosing it ( Imperf. apoc. Kal. from , extrahere, cognate with and ). The figurative expression: cutting off the soul, has always for its basis the same conception of the body as a tent, and of the internal thread of life as the tent-cord, which we came across in Job 4:21. Possibly the expression: drawing out has the same explanation, although this seems to have rather for its basis the comparison of the body to a sheath for the soul (Dan 7:15), so that accordingly we have a transition from one figure to another. [E. V. (after the Vulgate, Syr., Targ.), Gesenius in Thes., Frst, Con., Ber., Merx, Rod., Elz., translate though he hath gained soil, riches, or though he despoil. The meaning to plunder or gain is certainly more in harmony with the usage of the verb in Kal, and avoids the mixture of metaphor according to the other construction.E.]
Job 27:9-10. Will God hear his cry? Can he delight himself in the Almighty?etc. The meaning of these questions is that to him there shall be neither the hearing of his prayers, nor a joyful, trustful and loving fellowship with God ( as in Job 22:26). Job accordingly claims for himself both these things (comp. Job 13:16), and thereby leaves out of the account transient obscurations of his spirit, like that in consequence of which he mourns (Job 19:7) that his prayer is not heard.
3. Second Section: Description of the inevitable overthrow of the wicked: Job 27:11-23. The striking correspondence which this description by Job seems at first sight to exhibit with the well-known descriptions of the friends, especially in the second series of the colloquy, and this notwithstanding the fact that Job himself only just before, in chs. 21 and 24, has maintained the happiness of the wicked to the end of their life, have led some to assume a transposition, or confusion of the text (Kennicott, Stuhlmann, Bernstein, [Bernard, Wemyss, Elzas]; comp. Introd. 9, 1); others, to suppose that Job is here simply repeating the opinion of his opponents, without purposing to make it his own (Eichhorn, Das Buch Hiob bers., etc., 1824; Bckel, 2d Ed. 1830). But the contradiction to Jobs former utterances is only apparent, for: (1) The opinion that the prosperity of the wicked cannot endure has been repeatedly put forth even by himself, at least in principle (comp. Job 21:16; Job 23:15; Job 24:12; comp. also below Job 31:3 seq.). (2) The erroneous and objectionably one-sided utterances regarding God as a hard-hearted persecutor of innocence, and author of the prosperity of many evil-doers, which he has heretofore frequently put forth, needed to be counteracted by the truths which supplement and rectify these one-sided errors. (3) It was of importance to Job, not so much to instruct the friends in regard to the fact that the impending destruction of the ungodly was certainfor that they had long known this fact is expressly set forth in Job 27:12as rather to place this phenomenon in the right light, in opposition to the perverted application which they had made of it, and to exhibit its profound connection with the order of the universe as established by the only wise God. This end he accomplishes by subsequently introducing a description of true wisdom and understanding, a treasure deeply hidden, and to be possessed only through the fear of God, and humble submission to Him.This is the end which Job has in view in the present discourse. It is not necessary (with Brentius and others of the older expositors, also Schlottmann) to find in it a warning purpose, i. e., the purpose to set before the friends the end of those who judge unjustly, and who render unfriendly decisions, with a view of terrifying thema purpose of which there is nowhere any indication, and for which there would seem to be no particular motive, seeing that the discussion has come to an end, and that any attempt to move the vanquished opponents by warnings would be cruelly and most injuriously at variance with the conciliatory mildness which this last discourse of Jobs elsewhere breathes.
[a. The attempts to relieve the difficulty connected with the passage before us by changing and transposing the text are arbitrary and unsatisfactory, producing abrupt connections, or rather breaks, and a confusion of thought and impression more serious than that which it is sought to remove.
b. Especially does it betray a total want of appreciation of the authors skill in managing the plot and development of the drama to force in Zophar for a third speech. The logical and rhetorical exhaustion of the friends could not well be more effectively indicated than by the way in which the colloquy on their part tapers and dwindlesfirst in the short, and so far as ideas are concerned, poverty-stricken speech of Bildad, and finally in the complete dumbness of Zophar, perhaps of all three the most consummate master of words.
c. The theory that Job is here going over the ground of the friends, and repeating their position, is disproved negatively by the absence of anything to indicate such a course, and positively by the straightforward earnestness and deep feeling which pervade the passage, as well as by what he says in the introductory verses 11, 12.
d. Regarded as Jobs own earnest affirmations the following considerations should be borne in mind.
(1) As shown above by Zckler, isolated statements have already proceeded in harmony with the representation given here. At the same time it cannot be denied that this is much the most extended and emphatic expression by Job of the view here set forth, and that it is in form much more nearly allied to the representations of the friends. But:
(2) It is no part of the poets plan to preserve Jobs unalterable consistency. Jobs experiences are most various, and his utterances change with them. They strike each various chord of sorrow, joy, doubt, confidence, despair, hope, fear, yearning, victory. Through all it is true there is an underlying unity and identity of character; but the variations exist, and are full of dramatic interest and importance, and yet more of sacred practical suggestiveness.
(3) These inconsistencies still further prepare the way for a termination and solution of the controversy. As Umbreit has shown, without the apparent contradiction in Jobs speeches, the interchange of words would have been endless; or as Delitzsch has stated it: Had Jobs stand-point been absolutely immovable, the controversy could not possibly have come to a well-adjusted decision, which the poet must have planned, and which he also really brings about, by causing his hero still to retain an imperturbable consciousness of his innocence, but also allowing his irritation to subside, and his extreme harshness to become moderated.
(4) In the particular passage before us, Jobs utterance is to be explained largely in the light of the victory which he has just achieved. In the hour of triumph a great soul is moderate, calm, just. So here Job shows the greatness of his strength by conceding to the friends the truth in their position, and by stating that truth with a power equal to their own. It is a masterly touch of the poets art that shows itself here in this picture of a great soul in the hour of victory.
(5) There is, however, as suggested above by Zckler, a still more conscious and controlling purpose in the following description. Job describes the certain destruction of the wicked, not mainly in the way of concession to the friends, but rather for his own vindication. The friends had portrayed such descriptions to show how much there are in the evil-doers fate to remind of Jobs calamities. Job takes up the theme to show how unlike his fate, with all its tragic lineaments, and the abandoned sinners. He still holds fast to his righteousness, is heard by God, delights in God, is on terms of intimacy with God, is competent to instruct in behalf of God;the wicked man has a very different portion with God! As ever therefore Job is not merely eloquent, but cogent; and when he accepts their conclusions, it is to overwhelm them yet more completely with their own arguments.E.]
First Strophes: Job 27:11-13. Introduction to the following description.
Job 27:11. I will teach you concerning Gods hand:i. e. concerning His doings, His mode of working. In regard to with verbs of teaching or instructing, comp. Psa 25:8; Psa 25:12; Psa 32:8; Pro 4:11 (Ew. 217, f).The mind of the Almighty will I not conceal from you: lit. what is with the Almighty, that which forms the contents of His thoughts and counsels; comp. Job 10:13; Job 23:10, etc.
Job 27:12. See now, all ye yourselves [ emphatic] have seen it, have become familiar with it by observation (, as in Job 15:17), so that ye do not need to learn the thing itself, but only to acquire a more correct, unprejudiced understanding of it. The second member points to the latter: and why are ye then vain with vanity? i. e. so altogether vain, so completely entangled in perverse delusion? (Ew. 281, a).
Job 27:13 announces the theme treated of in the passage following, in words which purposely convey a reminder of the language used by one of the opponents, Zophar, at the close of his discourse (Job 20:29).
Second Strophe: Job 27:14-18. The judgment, upon the family, possessions, and homestead of the evil-doer.
Job 27:14. If his children multiply (it is) for the sword. sc. . In respect to , found only in Job, comp. Job 29:21; Job 38:40; Job 40:4 (Ew. 221, b).
Job 27:15. The remnant of those who are his shall be buried by the pestilence. his escaped ones (comp. Job 20:21; Job 20:26), are the descendants still remaining to him, after that the sword and famine have already thinned their ranks. This remainder the Pestilence will carry off, that third destroying angel, in addition to the sword and famine, mentioned also in Jer 14:12; Jer 15:2; Jer 18:21; 2Sa 24:13; Lev 26:25 seq. Here, as also in Jer 15:2, this is simply designated death (); and by the phrase, in death (or by death) they are buried, allusion is made to the quick succession of death and burial, which is customary in such epidemics (comp. Amo 6:9 seq.). This bold and truly poetic thought is destroyed if, with Bttcher, we take to mean in momento mortis, or if, with Olshausen [Merx], we arbitrarily insert a before . [Carey explains: They shall be sepulchred by Death. This is literal, and a bold figure, by which is signified that they should have no other burial than such as Death should give them on the open field, where they had fallen, either by sword or by famine. This, however, is somewhat too artificial and modern]. And his widows weep notto wit, in following the coffin, because by reason of the frightful raging of the disease, funeral solemnities are not observed. His widows may mean both the principal wives and concubines of the head of the family, and those of his deceased sons and grandsons; these latter even, in a certain sense, belonging to him, the patriarch. Comp. the literal repetition of this member in Psa 78:64, where the twofold possibility mentioned here is not recognized, because the there refers to the people, .
Job 27:16. If he heapeth up for himself silver as the dust, etc.The same figures used to designate material regarded as worthless on account of its great quantity in Zec 9:3.
Job 27:17. Apodosis to the preceding verse, expressing the same thought as, e. g., Psa 37:29; Psa 37:34; Ecc 2:16.
Job 27:18. He hath built, like a moth, his house, and like a booth, which a watchman puts up (in a vineyard, or an orchard, Isa 1:8). The point of comparison for both members is the laxity, frailty, destructibility of such structures, which are intended to be broken up soon.
Third Strophe: Job 27:19-23. He lieth down rich, and doeth it not again.So according to the reading (=), which already the LXX. ( ), Itala, and Pesh. followed, which is favored by parallel passages, such as Job 20:9; Job 40:5, and is accordingly preferred by the leading modern commentators, such as Ewald, Hirzel, Delitzsch, Dillmann [Renan, Rodwell, Merx]. The renderings based on the reading are not so good; as, e. g., and yet nothing is taken away (Schnurr., Umbreit, Stick. [Elzas, Wemyss: but he shall take nothing away];and he is not buried (Ralbag, Rosenmller, Schlottmann) [Noyes, E. V.: he shall not be gathered, and so Con., Lee, Scott, etc. Carey explains the familiar phrase, to be gathered (to ones fathers, etc.), not of being buried in the grave, but of being removed to the place of spirits. The objections to referring the clause to the rich mans burial, as stated by Delitzsch, are, that the preceding strophe has already referred to his not being buried, and that the relation of the two parts of the verse in this interpretation is unsatisfactory]. The same may be said of the reading , and takes not with him (Jerome, and some MSS.). Openeth his eyesand is gone! (comp. Job 24:24).This further description of the sudden end of the wicked relates to the morning, the time of awakening, as the preceding clause refers to the evening hour of going to bed.
Job 27:20. The multitude of terrors (i. e., the sudden terrors of death; comp. Job 18:14; Job 20:25) like the waters (like the torrents of a sudden overflowcomp. Job 20:28; Jer 47:2; Psa 18:5 [4]) overtakes him (, 3d Perf. sing. fem, referring to the plur. ; comp. Job 14:19). On b comp. Job 21:18.
Job 27:21. Further descriptive expansion of the figure of a tempest: The east wind lifteth him up.This wind being elsewhere frequently described as particularly violent and descriptive; comp. Job 1:19; Job 15:2; Job 38:24; Isa 27:8; Eze 27:26. Concerning , ut pereat, comp. Job 14:20; Job 19:10.
Job 27:22. The subj. of can be only God, the secret Author of the whole judgment of wrath here described. Of Him it is said: He hurleth upon him without sparingto wit, arrows; comp. Job 16:13; and in regard to the objectless =to shoot, see Num 35:20. Before His hand must he fleelit. must he fleeing flee.The Inf. Absol. expresses the strenuousness and yet the futility of his various attempts to flee (Del.: before His hand he fleeth hither and thither).
Job 27:23. They clap their hands at himrejoicing at his calamity and mocking him; comp. Job 34:37; Lam 2:15; Nah 3:19. The plural suffixes in and are used poetically for the sing., as in Job 20:23; Job 22:2. The accumulation of the terminations mo and mo gives a tone of thunder and a gloomy impress to this conclusion of the description of judgment, as these terminations frequently occur in the book of Psalms, where moral depravity is mourned and divine judgment threatened (e. g., in Psalms 73). DelThey hiss him out of his placeso that he must leave his dwelling-place (comp. Job 8:18) in the midst of scorn and hissing (comp. Zep 2:15; Jer 49:17). Or out of his home (Hirz.), which rendering gives essentially the same meaning.
4. Third Section: first Strophe. Job 28:1-11. The difficulty, indeed the absolute impossibility, of attaining true wisdom by human skill and endeavor, described by means of an illustration taken from mining, which gives man access to all valuable treasures of a material sort, but which can by no means put him in possession of that spiritual good which comes from God. The questionwhence the author had acquired so accurate a knowledge of mining as he here displays, seeing that the land of the Israelites was comparatively poor in mineral treasures (comp. Keil, Bibl. Archol., p. 35 seq., 38)? may be answered, on the basis of Biblical and extra-Biblical sources of information, as follows: (1) The Jews in Palestine could not have been absolutely, strangers to the business of mining, seeing that in Deu 8:9 there is expressly promised to them a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. (2) Both Lebanon in the north, and the Idumean mountains in the south-east of Palestine proper, had copper mines, the particular location of these being at Phunon, or Phaino, Num 33:42 seq., in the working of which it is certain that the Jews were occasionally interested; comp. Volneys Travels; Ritter, Erdkunde XVII. 1063; Gesenius, Thes. p. 1095; v. Rougemont, Bronzezeit, p. 87. (3) The Israelites possessed iron pits, possibly in South Lebanon, where in modern times such may still be found, together with smelting furnaces (Russegger, Reise I. 779, 778 seq.), but certainly in the country east of the Jordan, where, according to the testimony of Josephus, de B. Jud. IV. 8, 2, there was an iron mountain ( ) north of Moabitis, the Cross Mountain, El Mird of to-day, between the gorges of the Wadi Zerka and Wadi Arabun, west of Gerash; a mountain district in which in our own century iron mines have been worked here and there (v. Rougemont, l. c.; Wetzstein in Delitzsch, II. 9091). (4) Jerome testifies to the existence of ancient gold mines in Idumea (Opp. ed. Vail. III. 183). (5) The Israelites might also come occasionally into connection with the copper and iron mines of the Sinai-peninsula, in the development of which the Egyptian Pharaohs were conspicuously energetic (comp. Aristeas v. Haverkamp, p. 114; Lepsius, Briefe, p. 335 seq.; Ritter, Erdkunde XIV. 784 seq; v. Rougemont, l. c.1 (6) What has been said above by no means excludes the possibility that in this description the poet in many particulars took for his basis traditional reports concerning the mines of distant lands, e. g. concerning the gold mines of Upper Egypt and Nubia (Diodorus Job 3:11 seq.), concerning the gold and silver mines of the Phenicians in Spain (1Ma 8:3; Plin. Job 3:4; Diod. 5:35 seq.), concerning the emerald quarries of the Egyptians at Berenice, and other deposits of precious stones, more or less remote. Comp. above Introd. 7, b; and see a fuller discussion of the subject in Delitzsch 2:8689; to some extent also the mining experts who have commented on the following verses, such as v. Weltheim (in J. D. Mich., Orient. Bibl. 23,. 7 seq.), and Rud. Nasse (Stud. u. Krit., 1863, p. 105 seq.)
Job 28:1. For there is for the silver a vein [Germ. Fundort, place where it is found], and a place for the gold, which they refine.The connection between this section and the preceding, which is indicated by the causal for, is this: The phenomenon described in Job 27:11-23, that the wickedwith whom, according to Job 28:2-10 Job is not to be classedmeet with a terrible end without deliverance, is to be explained by the fact that they do not possess true wisdom, which can be acquired only through the fear of God, which cannot, like the treasures of this earth (the only object for which the wicked plan and toil), be dug out, exchanged or bought. The proposition introduced by accordingly assigns a reason first of all for that which forms the contents of Job 27:11-23 (the prosperity of the ungodly cannot endure), but secondarily and indirectly also that which is announced in Job 27:2-10 (Job is an upright man, and one who fears God, whose joy in God does not forsake him even in the midst of the deepest misery). [The miserable end of the ungodly is confirmed by this, that the wisdom of man, which he has despised, consists in the fear of God; and Job thereby attains at the same time the special aim of his teaching, which is announced at Job 27:11 by ; viz. he has at the same time proved that he who retains the fear of God in the midst of his sufferings, though those sufferings are an insoluble mystery, cannot be a . And if we ponder the fact that Job has depicted the ungodly as a covetous rich man who is snatched away by sudden death from his immense possession of silver and other costly treasures, we see that Job 28. confirms the preceding picture of punitive judgment in the following manner: silver and other precious metals come out of the earth, but wisdom, whose value exceeds all these earthly treasures, is to be found nowhere within the province of the creature; God alone possesses it, and from God alone it comes; and so far as man can and is to attain to it, it consists in the fear of the Lord and the forsaking of evil. Delitzsch.] The first verses of the chapter indeed down to the 11th, present nothing whatever as yet of that which serves directly to establish those antecedent propositions, they simply prepare the way for the demonstration proper, by describing the achievements of art and labor in the accumulation by men of their treasures, by means of which nevertheless wisdom can not be found. Hence may appropriately be rendered for truly (the but in Job 28:12 corresponding to the truly). This connection between Job 28, 27 is erroneously exhibited, when any subordinate proposition of Job 27 is regarded as that which is to be established (as e. g., according to Hirzel, the question in Job 28:12 : why are ye so altogether vain? why do ye adhere to so perverse a delusion? or according to Schlottmann the purpose to warn against the sin of making unfriendly charges, which he thinks is to be read between the lines in the description Job 28:11-23). These false conceptions of the connection, alike with the total abandonment of all connection, which has led many critics to resort to arbitrary attempts to assign to Job 28. another position (e. g. according to Pareau after Job 26.; according to Stuhlmann after Job 25) or to question altogether its genuineness (Knobel, Bernsteincomp. Introd. 9, 1)all these one-sided conceptions rest, for the most part, on the assumption that it is the divine wisdom, which rules the universe, whose unsearchableness is described in our chapter, and not rather wisdom regarded as a human possession, as a moral and intellectual blessing bestowed by God on men, connected with genuine fear of God. Comp. Doctrinal and Ethical Remarks, No. 1. [E. V.s rendering of by surely overlooks the connection, and was probably prompted by the difficulty attending it]., lit. outlet (comp. 1Ki 10:28), the place where anything may be found, synonymous with the following .The word is a relative clause: gold, which they refine, or wash out. In regard to , lit. to filter, to strain, as a technical term for purifying the precious metals from the stone-alloy which is mixed with them, comp. Mal 3:3; Psa 12:7 [6]; 1Ch 28:18. Comp. the passage relative to the gold mines of Upper Egypt, describing this process of crushing fine the gold-quartz, and of washing it out, this process accordingly of gold-washing, as practised by the ancients, in Diodor. Job 3:11 seq., as well as the explanations in Klemms Allgem. Kulturgesch. V. 503 seq., and in M. Uhlemann, Egypt.Alterthumskunde, II. 148 seq.
Job 28:2. Iron is brought up out of the ground. here of the interior or deep ground, not of the surface as in Job 39:14; Job 41:25 [33], and stone is smelted into copper. here not as in Job 41:15 Partic. Pual of , but as in Job 29:6 Imperf. of = (the 3d pers. sing. masc. expressing the indefinite subj.). [Gesenius not so well makes the verb transitive: and stone pours out brass.]
Job 28:3. He has put an end [ still the indefinite subj., but as the description becomes more individual and concrete, it is better with E. V. to use from this point on the personal pron. he] to the darkness, viz. by the miners lamp; and in every direction (lit. to each remotest point, to every extremity, in all directions) [not as E. V. all perfection, which is too general, missing the idiomatic use of the phrase; nor adverbially: to the utmost, or most closely: might be used thus adverbially, but is to be explained according to , Eze 5:10, to all the winds. Delitzsch]he searcheth the stones of darkness and of death-shade,i. e. the stones under the earth, hidden in deep darkness. before refers back to the indefinite subj. of , who is continued through Job 28:4, and again in Job 28:9-11.
Job 28:4. He breaketh [openeth, cutteth through] a shaft away from those who sojourn (above). , elsewhere river, valley [river-bed] (Wadi), is hereas is already made probable by the verb , pointing to a violent breaking through (comp. Job 16:14), and as is made still more apparent by the third member of the versea mining passage in the earth, and that moreover a perpendicular shaft rather than a sloping gallery. , lit. away from one tarrying, a dweller, i. e. removed from the human habitations found above, removing from them ever further and deeper into the bowels of the earth. [Schlottmann understands by the miner himself dwelling as a stranger in his loneliness; i. e. his shaft sinks ever further from the hut in which he dwells above. The use of is doubtless a little singular, and Schlottmanns explanation may be accepted so far as it may serve to account for it by the suggestion that those who do live in the vicinity of mines are naturally , sojourners, living there to ply their trade and shifting about as new mines or veins are discovered.E.]Who are forgotten of every step, lit. of a foot (), i. e. of the foot or step of one travelling above on the surface of the earth [=totally vanished from the remembrance of those who pass by above], not the foot of the man himself that is spoken of, as though his descent by a rope in the depths of the shaft were here described (V. Leonhardt in Umbr. and Hirzel). [On this use of after , comp. Deu 31:21; Psa 31:13; forgotten out of the mind, out of the heart]. Moreover are identical, according to the accents, with the indef. subj. of (the interchange between sing, and plur. acc. to Ew. 319, a); hence the meaning is: those who work deep down in the shafts of the mines. They are again referred to in the finite verbs in c, which continue the participial construction: they hang far away from men, and swing. from (related to ) deorsum pendere, according to the accents, accompanies (meaning the same with ), not , as Hahn and Schlottm. think. The adventurous swinging of those engaged in digging the ore out of the steep sides of the shafts, hanging down by a rope, is in these few, simple words beautifully and clearly portrayed. It is the situation described by Pliny (H. N. Job 33:4, Job 21 : is qui cdit, funibus pendet, ut procul intuenti species ne ferarum quidem, sed alitum fiat. Pendentes majori ex parte librant et lineas itineri prducunt, etc. [The above rendering, adopted by all modern exegetes, gives a meaning so appropriate to the language and connection, and withal so beautiful, vivid and graphic that it seems Strange that all the ancient and most of the modern versions of Scripture, including E. V., should have so completely darkened the meaning. The source of the difficulty lay doubtless in which being taken in its customary meaning of river, flood, threw everything into confusion. Add to this a probable want of familiarity with mining operations on the part of the early translators, and the result will not seem so surprising.E.]
Job 28:5 states what the miners are doing in the depths.The earthout of it cometh forth the bread-corn ( as in Psa 104:14), but under it it is overturned like fire:i. e. as fire incessantly destroys, and turns what is uppermost lowermost. [Mans restless search, which rummages everything through, is compared to the unrestrainable ravaging fire. Del.] Instead of Jerome reads : is overturned with fire, which some moderns prefer (Hirz., Schlott.), who find a reference here to the blasting of the miners. But this is too remote. [The principal thought is the process of breaking through; the means are not so much regarded; and fire was not the only means. Dillmann. Some commentators have fancied in this verse a trace of what modern criticism calls sentimentalism, as though Job were protesting against ruthlessly ravaging as with fire the interior of that generous earth which on its surface yields bread for the support of man. Job is, however, fixing his attention solely on the agentman, who not satisfied with what grows out of the earth, digs for treasure into its deepest recesses.E.]
Job 28:6. The place of the sapphire ( as in Job 28:1 a, the place where it may be found) are its stones, viz. the earths, Job 28:5; in the midst of its stones is found the sapphire, which is mentioned here as a specimen of precious stones of the highest value.And nuggets of gold (or gold ore, hardly gold-dust as Hirzel thinks) become his, viz. the miners (so Schult., Rosenm., Ewald, Dillmann). Or: nuggets of gold belong to it, the place () where the sapphire is found (Hahn, Schlottm., Delitzsch). The reader may take his choice between these two relations of ; the brevity of the expression makes it impossible to decide with certainty.
Job 28:7. The path (thither) no bird of prey hath known [and the vultures eye hath not gazed upon it]. is a prefixed nom. absol. like in Job 28:5. It may indeed also be taken as in opposition to in Job 28:6 (hardly to , as Ewald thinks), in which case the rendering would be: the path, which no bird of prey hath known, etc. (Del.). But that the place of the sapphire should be immediately afterwards spoken of as a path, looks somewhat doubtful. Concerning comp. on Job 20:9.[The rendering of E. V.: There is a path which no fowl knoweth, etc., is vague and incorrect in so far as it leads the mind away from the deposits of treasure, which are the principal theme of the passage.E.]
Job 28:8 carries out yet further the description begun in Job 28:7 of the inaccessibleness of the subterranean passage-ways. The proud beasts of prey (lit. sons of pride; so also in Job 41:26 [34]) have not trodden it.That this finely illustrative phrase [sons of pride] refers to the haughty, majestically stepping beasts of prey [seeking the most secret retreat, and shunning no danger, Del.], appears clearly enough from the parallel use of in b (comp. Job 4:10).
Job 28:9. On the flint (the hardest of all stones) he lays his hand (the subject being man, as the overturner of mountains; see b, and respecting the use there of , radicitus, from the root, comp. above Job 13:27; Job 19:28. [ something like our to take in hand, of an undertaking requiring strong determination and courage, which here consists in blasting, etc. Del.] How the hand is laid on flint and similar hard stones is described by Pliny l. c.: Occursant silices; hos igne et aceto rumpunt, spius vero, quoniam id cuniculos fumo et vapore strangulat, cdunt fractariis CL. libras habentibus, etc.
Job 28:10. Through the rocks he cutteth passages., an Egyptian word, which signifies literally water-canals, must here, like in Job 28:4, signify subterranean passages or pits for mining. And further, according to b, what is intended are galleries, horizontal excavations, in which the ore is dug out, and precious stones discovered. The word can scarcely be used of wet conduits, or canals to carry off the water accumulating in the pits, of which Job does not begin to speak until the following verse (against v. Weltheim, etc.). [The rendering rivers (E. V., Con., Car., Rod., etc.) would be still more misleading, because more vague, than canals, which is not without plausible arguments in its favor. Add however to Zcklers arguments in favor of the rendering passages, galleries, the sequence in the second member: And his eye sees every precious thing; which, as Delitzsch says, is consistently connected with what precedes, since by cutting these cuniculi the courses of the ore (veins), and any precious stones that may also be embedded there, are laid bare.E.]
Job 28:11. That they may not drip he stops up passage-ways., lit. away from dripping [weeping], or: against the dripping, i. e. against the oozing through of the water in the excavations, to which the shafts and galleries, especially when old, were so easily liable. , as elsewhere , to stop or dam up, to bind up surgically (comp. , the surgeon, or wound-healer in Isa 3:7; Isa 1:6). seems in general to mean the same as above, and Job 28:10, to wit, excavations, shafts, pits, galleries. Nevertheless it may also denote the seams of water breaking through the walls of these excavations, thus directly denoting that which must be stopped up (Del.).And so (through all these efforts and skilful contrivances) he brings to the light that which was hiddena remark in the way of recapitulation, connecting back with the beginning of the description in Job 28:1, and at, the same time forming the transition to what follows. Respecting , comp. Job 11:6; , Acc. loci for .
5. Continuation: Second Strophe: Job 28:12-22. Application of the preceding description to wisdom as a higher good, unattainable by the outward seeking and searching of men. [Most expositors since Schultens, as e. g. Hirz., Schlott., etc., assume out of hand that the Wisdom treated of here is the divine wisdom, as the principle which maintains the moral and natural order of the universe. But that the divine wisdom is to be found only with God, not with a creature, is something so very self-evident, and the exaltation of the divine wisdom above all human comprehension as a proposition so universally recognized, being also long since maintained and conceded by both the contending parties of our book (chs. 11 and 12), that it is not apparent why Job should here lay such stress upon it. Dillm.]
Job 28:12. But wisdomwhere is it found? And where (lit. from where? as in Job 1:7, and accompanying as in Hos 14:9 [8]) is the place of understanding?, with the article, because wisdom is to be set forth as the well-known highest good of man. With the principal term is connected as an alternate notion, as is often the case in Proverbs, especially chs. 1.9. The first term denotes wisdom rather on its practical side, as the principle and art of right thinking and doing, or as the religious and moral rectitude taught by God; the second (with which , Pro 8:1, and , Pro 1:2, alternate) pre-eminently on the theoretic side as the correct perception and way of thinking which lies at the basis of that right doing. Comp. the Introd. to the Solomonic Literature of Wisdom, 2, Note 3 (Vol. X., p. 7 of this series).
Job 28:13. No mortal knows its price. (from Job 28:17; Job 28:19) means lit. equivalent, price, value for purchase or exchange, the same with elsewhere. The LXX. probably read , which reading is preferred by some moderns, e. g., by Dillmann, as agreeing better with Job 28:12.
Job 28:14. With the land of the living [Job 28:13] i. e., the earth inhabited by men (comp. Psa 27:13; Isa 38:11, etc.) are connected the two other regions beneath heaven, in which wisdom might possibly be sought: (1) The Deep () i. e., the subterranean abyss with its waters, out of which the visible waters on the surface of the earth are supplied (Gen 7:11; Gen 49:25):(2) The Sea ( = ) as the chief reservoir of these visible waters.
Job 28:15. Pure gold is not given for it. is the same with , 1Ki 6:20; 1Ki 10:21, not shut up [= carefully preserved], but according to the Targ. purified gold (aurum colatum, purgatum), hence gold acquired by heating, or smelting; comp. Diodor. l. c.
Job 28:16. In regard to the gold of Ophir (here , fine gold of Ophir) comp. Job 22:24; respecting the onyx stone (, lit. pale, lean) comp. the commentators on Gen 2:12.
Job 28:17-19. Further description of the incomparable and unattainable value of wisdom, standing in a similar connection with Job 28:15-16, as Pro 3:15 with Pro 3:14.Gold and glass are not equal to it. intrans. with Accus.quare aliquid, as in Job 28:19; Psa 89:7. In respect to the high valuation of glass by the ancients (, or as some MSS., Eds., and D. Kimchi read) comp. Winer, Realw., Vol. I., 432 [and Eng. Bib. Dictionaries, Art Glass]. In respect to in b, exchange, equivalent, comp. Job 15:31; Job 20:18.
Job 28:18. Corals and crystal are not to be named, not to be mentioned, i. e., in comparison with it, with wisdom (in regard to the construction of the passive with the accus., comp. Gesen., 143 [ 140] 1, a). , (lit. ice, like the Arab, gibs) denotes the quartz-crystal, which was regarded by the ancients as a precious stone, and supposed to be a product of the cold; Pliny, H. N. XXXVII. 2, 9.The , the mention of which precedes, seem to be corals, an explanation favored by what is conjectured to be the radical signification of this word, horns of bulls, or of wild oxen (from comp. Pliny XIII. 51), as well as by its being placed along with the less costly crystal; comp. also Eze 27:16, where indeed corals from the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean are mentioned as Tyrian articles of commerce. On the contrary in b must be, according to Pro 3:15; Pro 8:11; Pro 20:15; Pro 31:10, an exchangeable commodity of extraordinary value, which decides in favor of the signification pearls assigned (although not unanimously) to this word by tradition, however true it may be that in Lam 4:7 corals seem rather to be intended (or perhaps red pearls artificially prepared, like the Turkish rose-pearls of to-day). Comp. Carey [who agrees in rendering by corals, and doubtfully suggests mother-of-pearl for ]. Delitzsch renders the former of the two words by pearls, the second by corals [so J. D. Michaelis, Rdiger, Gesenius, Frst; the two latter regarding and as equivalent. See also in Smiths Bib. Dic.,Arts., Rubies, Pearls, Coral]. The word , acquisition, possession, (from , to draw to oneself) only here in the O. T.; related are , Gen 15:2, and , Zep 2:9.
Job 28:19. The topaz from Ethiopia (Cush) is not equal to it.The rendering topaz () for is established by the testimony of most of the ancient versions in this passage, as well as in Exo 28:17; Eze 28:13. It is also favored by the statement of Pliny (Job 37:8) that the topaz comes principally from the islands of the Red Sea, as also by the probable identity of the name with the Sanscrit pita, yellow (comp. Gesen.) [and see the Lexicons, Delitzsch, Carey, etc., on the probable transposition of letters in the Hebrew and Greek forms]. In regard to b, comp. the very similar passage in ver 10a).
Job 28:20 again takes up the principal question propounded in Job 28:12. The in is consecutive, and may be rendered by then (Ew., 348, a).
Job 28:21. It is hidden (, lit., and moreover, and further it is hidden) from the eyes of all living, i. e., especially of all living beings on the earth: as in Job 12:10; 30:33. Of these living b then particularly specifies the sharp-sighted, winged inhabitants of the upper regions of the air; comp. above Job 28:7.
Job 28:22 follows up the mention of that which is highest with that of the lowest: Hell and the abyss [lit. destruction and death] say, in connection with (see on Job 26:6) means the realm of death, the abyss; comp. Job 38:17; Psa 9:14 [13]; Rev 1:18. For the rest comp. above, Job 28:14; for to say that they [destruction and death] have learned of wisdom only by hearsay is substantially the same with saying, as is said there of the sea and the deep, that they do not possess it. [The , Job 28:21, evidently points back to the Job 28:10. In Job 28:11 it is said that man brings the most secret thing to light. In Job 28:22 that Divine wisdom is hidden even from the underworld. Schlott.].
6. Conclusion: Third Strophe: Job 28:22-28. The final answer to the question, where and how wisdom is to be found: to wit, only with God, I and through the fear of God. [The last of these three divisions (of the chap.) into which the highest truths are compressed is for emphasis the shortest, in its calmness and abrupt ending the moat solemn, because the thought finds no expression that is altogether adequate, floating in a height that is immeasurable, but opening a boundless field for further reflection. Ewald.]
Job 28:23. God knows the way to it, and He knows its place. and , in emphatic contrast with the creatures mentioned in Job 28:13 seq., and Job 28:21 seq. The suffix in is objective (comp. Gen 3:24) the way to it.
Job 28:24-25 constitute one proposition which illustrates and explains the Divine possession of wisdom by a reference to Gods agency in creating and governing the world (so correctly Ewald, Arnh., Dillm.) [E. V., Conant, Rodman]. Against connecting Job 28:25 with what follows, more immediately with Job 28:26, and then regarding Job 28:25-26 together as constituting the protasis of Job 28:27 lies the objection that cannot properly be translated either when He made, or in that He made, as well as the fact that the gerundive Infinitive with cannot be put before its principal verb, together with the absence of a suffix after referring to the subject God [should be if the verse were antecedent]. Furthermore the Divine looking to the ends of the earth, etc., Job 28:24, would need a telic qualification, referring the divine omniscience [Gods looking every where and seeing every thing] to the creation and preservation of the order of nature, in order that it might not be understood as declaring the omniscience of God in abstracto. That He may appoint to the wind its weight, and weigh the water by measure.The careful measurement of wind and water, i. e., their relative apportionment, government, and management (comp. Isa 60:12), is a peculiarly characteristic example of Gods wise administrative economy in creation: Who sends the wind upon its course, etc. Instead of the Infinitive the finite verb appears in b, and that in the Perf. form, , because the expression of purpose passes over into the expression of sequence, precisely as in Job 5:21 (see on the 5).
Job 28:26 seq. As the wisdom of God furnishes the means and basis of His government of the world, so in the exercise of His creative power was it the absolute norm, and is in consequence thereof the highest law for mans moral action, positively and negatively considered. When He appointed for the rain a law (when and how often it should fall, where it should cease; comp. Gen 2:5) and for the thunder flash a path (i. e., through the clouds; comp. Job 38:25), then saw He it and declared iti. e., in thus exercising at the beginning His creative power, He beheld it, contemplated it (we are to read with Mappiq in ), as His eternal pattern, according to which He made, ordered, and ruled His creatures, and declared it (, lit. and enumerated it), i. e., unfolded its contents before men and His other rational creatures throughout the whole creation, which in truth is nothing else than such a development and historical realization of the contents of eternal wisdom. The attempt of Schult., Ew., Dillm. to explain as meaning to number through, to review all over (after Job 38:37; Psa 139:18) is less natural.He established it, and also searched it out, i. e., He laid its foundations in the creation (comp. Pro 8:22-23, where both verbs, and , convey the came idea of founding, establishing wisdom as here), brought it to its complete actualization in creation, and then reviewed all its individual parts to see whether they all bore the test of His examination. Comp. what is said in Gen 1:31 : And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.Or again: He set it up before Himself, for more attentive contemplation ( according as in Job 29:7), and searched it out thoroughly, exploring its thoughts (so Wolff and Dillmann) [the latter of whom says: He set it up for contemplation, as an artist or an architect puts up before himself the ]. It is not necessary, with some MSS. and Eds. to read , instead of , as Dderl. and Ew. do.
Job 28:28. And said to man: Behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom, etc.He would accordingly not reserve to Himself the wisdom which had served Him as a pattern of creation, but would communicate it to the human race which He had made and put into His world, which He could do only by setting it before them in the form of an original command to fear God and to depart from evil ( , comp. Job 1:2; Pro 3:7; Pro 16:6. Instead of , very many MSS. and old editions read , which reading seems to have in its favor: (1) That , occurring only twice elsewhere in our book, might easily be set aside as being too singular; (2) that in Jehovahs own mouth does not occur elsewhere in the Old Testament, not even in Amo 6:8; (3) that the parallels of the primitive saying before us in the Proverbs and in the Psalms constantly exhibit (comp. Pro 1:7; Pro 3:7; Pro 9:10; Pro 16:6; Psa 111:10).On the other side it is true the Masoretic tradition expressly reckons this passage among the one hundred and thirty-four passages of the Old Testament, where is not only to be read, but is actually written instead of (Buxtorf, Tiberias, p. 245). As regards the thought, it makes no difference whether we read fear of the Lord (the Lord of all, Del.), or fear of Jehovah (Jahveh). [It may, however, be said, that there is an especial appropriateness in the use of here, in view of the fact that God is spoken of in connection with the creation, as the product of wisdom; and not only so, but God in His Lordship, His supremacy, His claim to be feared, i. e. revered and obeyed, whence is used rather than or . God is by virtue of the divine which He has established in nature. It is mans to recognize the divine, and to fear .E.]
DOCTRINAL, ETHICAL AND HOMILETICAL
1. According to the connection of the Third Section of this discourse with the two preceding, as explained in the remarks on Job 28:1, it can admit of no doubt that the wisdom described in it is conceived of as essentially a human acquisition, as a blessing bestowed on man by God, consisting in the fear of God and in righteousness of life. This connection lies indeed in thisthat in order to prove that which is said in Job 27:12 seq. of the perishable prosperity of worldly-minded sinners, the uselessness of all accumulation of earthly treasures is shown, it being entirely out of their power to secure the possession of true wisdom, and of that enduring prosperity which is connected with it. In addition to this connection with Job 27, the human character of this wisdom, rather than its hypostatic character, or that which belongs to it as a divine attribute, is shown secondly by the way in which the same is represented in Job 27:15-19 as a possession, being compared with other possessions, treasures and costly jewels, and the question submitted how its possession (, Job 27:18) is to be attained. To which may be added, thirdly, the consideration that it could scarcely be the speakers purpose to demonstrate the unsearchableness and unfathomableness, from a sensuous and earthly point of view, of an attribute, or a hypostasis of God, because this fact is self-evident, and because the whole tendency of his discourse was not theoretic and speculative, but practical, aiming at the establishment of right principles to influence human struggle and action.The view accordingly held by quite a number of modern exegetes since the time of Schultens (especially Hirzel, Schlottmann, Hahn, also W. Wolffs articleDie Anfnge der Logoslehre im A. T. in the Zeitschrift fr Luth. Theol. u. Kirche, 1870, p. 217 seq.), that the object of the description in Job 28 is the wisdom of God as exercised in the universe, as the divine principle sustaining the moral and natural order of the universe, is erroneous, to say nothing of the fact that in that case one might find here, with A. Merx (Das Gedicht von Hiob, etc., p. 42) a concealed polemic against the doctrine of Wisdom as set forth in the Solomonic Proverbs.
2. We cannot say indeed of this theory, to wit, that Job 28 discourses of the Sapientia sciagraphica, Gods wisdom in creation and the government of the worldthat it is altogether incorrect. In the concluding verses Job evidently lifts himself from his contemplation of wisdom as a human possession to the description of its archetype, the absolute divine wisdom, by means of which God has established alike the physical and the moral order of the universe. The passage in Job 28:23-28 comes into the closest contact with the two well-known descriptions of the Book of Proverbs which are occupied with this eternal world-regulating wisdomPro 3:19-26, and Pro 8:22 seq. It resembles them particularly in the fact that a preliminary meditation on the human reflection and emanation of this primordial wisdom, on the practical Chokmah of the God-fearing, righteous man, prepares the way for it, precisely as in those two passages. The knowledge of the place of the Creative Wisdom, which Job 28:23 ascribes to God, reminds the reader of Pro 8:30, in like manner as that which is said of its mediating agency in determining the laws of wind, water, rain and thunder (Job 28:24-26) reminds him of Pro 3:19 seq.; Pro 8:27 seq. And what is said of seeing and declaring, establishing, or setting up and searching out the heavenly architectress in Job 28:27, precisely as in Pro 8:22 seq., presents Wisdom as the infinitely many-sided pattern of the , as the ideal world, or the divine imagination of all things that were to be created, as the complex unity of all the creative ideas or archetypes present to God from eternity. This divine creative primordial wisdom, as described here, and in the two parallel passages in the Solomonic writings (and not less in those passages of the Apocrypha which in some respects are still more full, viz. Sirach, Job 24, and Wisdom, Job 7-9), is without question closely related to the idea of the Logos given in the New Testament. It is very true that the idea of Wisdom, especially in the passage before us, the oldest of all pertaining to the subject, has not yet shaped itself into a form of existence so concretely personal, and a filial relation to God so intimate and so indicative of similarity of nature, as characterize the Johannean Logos. It appears rather simply as an impersonal model for God in His creative activity, while the New Testament Logos is the personal architect working in accordance with that model, the demiurg by which God has called the world into existence according to that ideal which was in the divine mind (Del.). But notwithstanding this its undeveloped character, the Chokmah of our passage is the unmistakable substratum and the immediate precursor of the revealed perception of a personal Word, and of an only-begotten Son of God. And as the older exegesis and theology was already in general correct in referring our passage to the Divine in Christ (the , Mat 11:19; Luk 11:49) the attempts of more recent writers to deny any genetic connection of ideas between it and the New Testament doctrine of the Logos, and in general to regard human wisdom as the only object described, even in Job 28:23-28 (e. g. Bruch, Weisheitslehre, etc., p. 202; V. Hofmann, Schriftbew. I: 95 seq.; Luthardt, Apologetische Vortrge ber die Heilswahrheiten des Christenth., 2d Ed. p. 227), have rightly evoked much opposition. Comp. Philippi,. Kirchl. Glaubenslehre II. 192 seq.; Kahnis, Luth. Dogm. I, 316 seq.; III, 209 seq.; Bucher, Des Johannes Lehre vom Logos, 1856; also B. Couve, Les Origines de la Doctrine du Verbe, Toulouse, 1869, p. 36 seq. The latter indeed denies in respect to the present passage (in which, like Hofmann, he is inclined to find merely a poetic personification of human wisdom) that it is related in the way of preparation to the New Testament doctrine of the Logos, but admits this in respect to the parallel passages in Proverbs, and the later passages. Against Merxs view, which in part is similar, see above No. 1, near the end.
3. Taken in connection with the preparatory train of thought in Job 27 this description of wisdom, or more strictly, of the way to true wisdom, forms one of the most important, artistically elaborated portions of the whole poem. It is a suitable conclusion to the first principal division of the poem, or the entanglement which results from the controversial passage between Job and his friends, taking the form of a Confession of Faith, in which Job, after victoriously repelling all the assaults of his enemies, states his position on all the chief points, about which the controversy had revolved, in a manner full at once of a calm dignity and the consciousness of victory. The one favorite proposition of his opponents,that his suffering could not be undeservedhe solemnly and unqualifiedly repels by again asseverating his complete innocence (Job 27:2-10). In asserting here that his conscience does not hold up before him one of his former days as worthy of blame or punishment (Job 27:6) he transgresses in a one-sided manner the bounds of that which could be maintained with strict truth concerning himself (comp. Job 26:13), and so causes that foul spot to appear clearly enough on his moral conduct and consciousness, for which he must needs implore forgiveness. On the other hand, the confession which follows of his belief in that other favorite proposition of his opponentsthat the wicked are punished in this life (Job 27:11-23)seems to go too far in an opposite direction; for after what he has said repeatedly heretofore in favor of the teachings of experience touching the temporal prosperity of the ungodly, he could not properly concede the point which he now maintains, and that so completely without qualification. The first half of his discourse accordingly seems liable to the charge of being egregiously one-sided and of departing from strict actual truth in two respectsin declaring that Jobs suffering was wholly, and in every respect unmerited, and in admitting that even in this life there is a divine judgment awaiting the wicked, from which they cannot escape. The second principal division of the discourse prepares the way at least for supplementing and correcting both of these one-sided representations through its elevated eulogy on true wisdom, founded on constant undivided surrender to God, however much there may be still that needs purifying and improving. He dwells with special emphasis on the fact that the eager striving and longing of the wicked reaches not only after earthly treasures and jewels, such as are to be procured out of the depths of the earth only with much toil and effort. He thus intimates that their whole prosperity, being founded on such earthly treasures (comp. Job 27:16), is in itself perishable, unreal, a mere phantom, and emphasizes all the more strongly in contrast with it the incomparable worth of a prosperity consisting in the fear of God and in strict rectitude, in surrendering oneself wholly to that which is divine, in the pursuit of heavenly treasures, in a word in true wisdom, the image and emanation of the eternal divine wisdom of the Creator, a prosperity of so high an order that he would possess it as the foundation, and at the same time as the fruit of his innocence, and that it would not forsake him even now, in the midst of his fearful sufferings and conflicts. There is much in this train of thought that is not brought out with such clearness as might be desirable. Some of it must even be read between the lines as being tacitly taken for granted, particularly that which refers to Job as having formerly possessed and as still possessing this heavenly practical wisdom, and also to its relation to his temporary misery. But although the discourse may lack that close consecutiveness and thorough completeness of plan which modern philosophic poets or thinkers might have impressed upon it, it nevertheless forms a truly suitable conclusion to the preceding controversies, and at the same time a striking transition to the gradual solution of the whole conflict which now follows. As regards its significance in the structure of the poem it may be termed Jobs Eulogy on Wisdom, in which he announces his supreme axiom of life, and characteristically gives to his vindication against the friends its harmonious peroration, and its seal. It appears in the structure of the book as the clasp which unites the half of the with the half of the , and on which the poet has characteristically inscribed the well-known axiom of the Old Testament ChokmahThe fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Delitzsch).
4. For the homiletic treatment of this section it is more important to call attention to the close family relationship existing between this eulogy of Jobs on wisdom and such New Testament passages as Pauls eulogy on Love (1 Corinthians 13), our Lords admonition in the Sermon on the Mount to seek treasures in heaven (Mat 6:19 seq.), the similar exhortations of Paul and James (1 Timothy 6; James 5), than to take pains to exhibit the plan of the section, lacking as it is in complete thoroughness, and to show its subtle, oftentimes completely hidden connections with the previous course of the colloquy. A large number of hearers would scarcely be prepared to follow with profit such elaborate disquisitions concerning the niceties of plan in the discourse, and by reason of the not inconsiderable expenditure of time requisite for such an object, they would be quite, or almost quite untouched by so much beauty and impressive power as the details of the discourse present. A division of the whole into smaller sections, at least into the three, which constitute the natural partition of the discourse, seems here also to be required for homiletic purposes, in order that every part of it may be suitably appreciated and unfolded.
Particular Passages
Job 27:2 sq. V. Gerlach: If by Gods grace a holy man then (under the Old Dispensation) kept his life pure, and observed Gods commandments, albeit in weakness, to which the speeches of Job himself bear witness (this very confession especially), it was of the highest importance that this his life should not be judged falsely, that he should be recognized as Gods visible representative, as a revealer of His law, as a support of Gods servants such as were weaker, not free from blame. Such a prince among Gods saints on earth as Job lived preeminently for Gods people, and he could not, without throwing all into confusion, deny his position, could not through false humility surrender his righteousness, which for very many was the righteousness of God himself; he must on occasion declare boldly that his enemies were also enemies of God. Hence his showing himself on the spot in this confession as a victor after the struggle was not only a comfort to the sorely tried man, but also of importance for the complete establishment of that which he affirmed.
Job 27:10. Brentius: When he says that the hypocrite does not always call upon God, he has reference to the duty of praying without ceasing (1Th 5:17). For where there is faith, prayer is never suspended, although one should be asleep, or should be doing something else. Unbelief indeed never prays, except with the mouth only; but such praying cannot reach through the clouds.
Job 27:13 seq. Osiander: God does not forget the wickedness of the ungodly, but punishes it in His own time most severely, and generally even in this life (Exo 32:34). The destruction of the ungodly is therefore to be waited for in patience. Although these think that when misfortune befalls them, it comes by chance, it does nevertheless come from God because of their sin (Amo 3:6).
Job 28:1 seq. Zeyss: If men are so ingenious, and so indefatigably industrious in discovering and obtaining earthly treasures, how much more should they toil to secure heavenly treasures, which alone can give true rest to our souls, make us rich and happy (Mat 16:26)!Brentius: All else in the nature of things, however deeply hidden, can be searched out and valued by human labor and industry; the wisdom of God alone can neither be sought out, nor judged by human endeavor. Although the veins of silver and gold lie hidden in the most secret recesses of the mountains, they are nevertheless discovered by great labor, and riches, which incite to so many evils, are dug out. In like manner iron, however it may be hidden in the most secret depths of the earth, can nevertheless be discovered; but no one anywhere has found the wisdom of God by human endeavor.
Job 28:12 seq. Oecolampadius: Corporeal substances, of whatsoever kind, can be found somewhere. Wisdom is of another order of being: you can ascertain neither its place nor its price. In vain will you journey to the Brahmins, to Athens, to Jerusalem; although you cross the sea, or descend into the abyss, you but change your skies, not your soul. Neither schools, nor courts, nor temples, nor monasteries, nor stars, will make one wiser.
Job 28:23-28. Oecolampadius (on Job 28:27): Not that we should think of God so childishly, as though in His works He had need of deliberation or of an external pattern, but in His nature He has such productiveness that He both wills and produces at one and the same time (Psa 33:9).Cocceius: Distinguish between the wisdom which is the pattern and the end, and that which is the shadow [image], and the means. The former is with God, is God, and is known only to God; the latter is from God in us, a ray of that Wisdom. In like manner, we are said to be (2Pe 1:4), i. e. through having Gods image, being one with Him, and enjoying Him.Jac. Boehme (according to Hamberger, Lehre J. Bhmes, p. 55): Wisdom is a divine imagination, in which the ideas of the angels and souls and all things were seen from eternity, not as already actual creatures, but as a man beholds himself in a mirror.W. Wolff (Die Anfnge der Logoslehre, etc. Zeitschrift f. Luth. Theol. 1870, p. 220): What is wisdom? It is not measuring space with the help of mathematics, it is not contemplating cells through the microscope, it is not even resolving things into their original substance, and determining their relations one to another, but it is having an insight into their nature, having full knowledge of their original condition. Yea, more; absolute wisdom is essentially creative. We can search out indeed Gods thoughts (in His creation), but we cannot gather up any truth into a vital point, out of which anything can proceed or originate; we cannot (to use the language of J. Bhme) compress it into a centre. God alone has that creative wisdom. He must know it, for He has it first and foremost in Himself. It is not discovered and searched out by Him, but it is in His being (Pro 8:25 seq.) It was, and is, in the same eternal form in which God is: uncreated, divinely internal.V. Gerlach (on Job 28:28): He who would learn the secrets of the mighty must keep watch diligently at their gates, says with truth an eastern proverb. Without the living moral followship of the heart with God it is vain to desire to know wisdom, which comes only from Him, and belongs only to Him.
Footnotes:
[1]The name Mafkat, Land of Copper, which the Egyptians gave to the Sinaitic peninsula on account of those mines, is of late explained by Brugsch to mean Land of Turquois, it being assumed by him that turquois was the principal product of the ancient Egyptian mines in that region. Comp. H. Brugsch, Wanderung nach den Trkisminen der Sinai = Halbinsel, 1868, 2d Ed., p. 66 seq.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
Job’s discourse is still prosecuted through this Chapter. The man of Uz makes many striking observations in the display of the divine glory.
Job 28:1
(1) Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.
If I do not greatly mistake, here is much of JESUS in this chapter, and under this idea I would bespeak the Reader’s attention with me to be searching for JESUS, as for more than veins of silver or the place of fine gold. And conscious that after all our search, unless that HOLY SPIRIT which guided the eastern sages to JESUS at his birth, go before us, and point, as the star did, to the very spot where JESUS was, we shall make no discovery of him; I would look up at the opening of each chapter, and pray the HOLY SPIRIT, whose gracious office it is to lead to JESUS, that he would direct both the hand that writes, and the eye that reads, and the ear that hears, that we may have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, who is the sum and substance of all the Bible, the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, one with the FATHER, over all GOD, blessed forever. Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Job 28:1
Speaking in Sesame and Lilies of gold, the physical type of wisdom, Ruskin observes: ‘There seems, to you and me, no reason why the electric forces of the earth should not carry whatever there is of gold within it at once to the mountain tops, so that kings and people might know that all the gold they could get was there; and without any trouble of digging, or anxiety, or chance, or waste of time, cut it away, and coin as much as they needed. But Nature does not manage it so. She puts it into little fissures in the earth, nobody knows where; you may dig long and find none; you must dig painfully to find any. And it’s just the same with men’s best wisdom. When you come to a good book, you must ask yourself, ‘Am I inclined to work as an Australian miner would?’
Reference. XXVIII. 1, 2, 5. E. A. Askew, Sermons Preached in Greystoke Church, p. 233.
The Known and the Unknown
Job 28:7
The Divine Speaker knows what He is talking about. We read in the fiftieth Psalm, ‘I know all the fowls of the mountains’ I made their wings, I kindled the fire of their eyes, I know their power of sight and of flight: there is a way which no fowl knoweth, and there is a path which the vulture’s eye hath not seen. Let us insert a word that will give emphasis to the expression: There is a path which even the vulture’s eye hath not seen: the greatest eye, the eye that looks from horizon to horizon as if it were but a handbreadth in space; the eye that drinks in the morning and dares the noonday: even that eye has not seen all the paths which radiate from the throne of God.
I. It is something in our highest education to know the limitations within which we live.
Until we know all we should not pass judgment upon all. That would seem to be a sensible proposition; it would apply to physics and to commerce and to daily experience and to religion. If we would cany up some of our maxims from the market-place into the Church, we should often be surprised at the clear, sound rationalism, or best reason, of the Christian faith. A man must be God to deny God. It is not within our limited lips to throw a contradiction wide enough for the subject upon the infinite proposition that God is. There is a way which the fowl doth not know, there is a path which even the vulture’s eye hath not seen; along that road and along that path when you are permitted to enter you may discover the sanctuary of God, the shekinah that lights the mornings of the universe. It is always distressing, if it were worth being distressed about, that ignorance should pronounce universal and final judgments.
II. One of the first conditions of true knowledge is to know that knowledge is limited. You begin your education most fruitfully and satisfactorily when you lay it down as a certainty that for the present some things are inaccessible and unknowable. Religion is the best economist of time. True piety is the least wasteful of all mental exercises: it knows what it can do, what it may do, what it ought to do, what it cannot do, what it is not expected to do.
III. The very keenest sight known to men requires assistance. That may be a very humbling confession, but it is in strict harmony with fact. Even the vulture’s eye hath not seen every path, and even the human eye has not seen everything which it is supposed to have seen. Sometimes that wondrous organism, the human eye, has to buy itself a little piece of glass in order to see how to write a letter to a child.
IV. To know is the blessing. Not the quantity we know, but the fact that we can know that is the distinguishing attribute of man. To know is better than knowledge; the power of knowledge is greater than the acquisition that is secured. The soul is greater than any education it can receive. The text is the answer to intellectual ambition. There is a point to stop at; there is a place to sit down because to attempt to advance would be to attempt an impossibility. The text is, secondly, an encouragement to beginners in spiritual inquiry. They may say to themselves, We are not expected to know everything; we are privileged to know a little, we can make certain advance and progress in the Divine kingdom, but we are severely limited, and beyond our limitation we have no responsibility. And, thirdly, the text imposes no limit of moral excellence. Where is there a text that says you are good enough, stand still? There is no such text. There is a text which says, ‘Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ’. When we have obeyed that text fully, we may ask for another.
Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. 1. p. 10.
Reference. XXVIII. 7, 8. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlix. No. 2862.
Job 28:9
‘The whole book of Job,’ says Ruskin in his Lectures on Architecture and Painting (p. 79), ‘appears to have been chiefly written and placed in the inspired volume in order to show the value of natural history, and its power on the human heart. I cannot pass by it without pointing out the evidences of the beauty of the country that Job inhabited.’ Then, after pointing out it was an arable country (1:14), a mountain country (6:15-17), and a rocky country (8:16-17, 5:23), ‘visited, like the valleys of Switzerland by convulsions and falls of mountains’ (14:18, v. 9; 28:9), he concludes: ‘You see, Job’s country was one like your own, full of pleasant brooks and rivers, rushing among the rocks, and of all other sweet and noble elements of landscape. The magnificent allusions to natural scenery throughout the book are therefore calculated to touch the heart to the end of time.’
Job 28:10
But there are a great many things in this world at least, that are not ‘precious’ at all: indifference and ease, which are burdens upon the life of the world; vanity, selfishness, and malice, which are its poison and pestilence. These things also are not unseen by Him: lurk they under ever so fair a disguise, the cloak of wisdom, the decencies of wealth, or the gloss of an untarnished name, He looks at them with
Divine sorrow and displeasure, and leaves them till they turn and look at Him. It is the shadow of His glance that falls on them; for evil ever hides itself and skulks before His holy face; and a man whose life and thought are only for himself feels hurt and flurried at the name of God, and helpless as in a strange land without an interpreter. But it is with a soft light and a tender meaning that ‘His eye seeth every precious thing’; drawn thither by likeness and the affinity of love, and resting there with pure content. His perception singles out the jewels of the universe…. God, in the midst of a mixed universe, Lord of the eternal contest between good and ill, has an eye for ‘every precious thing,’ mingles with every noble strife; burns in the blush of holy shame, aspires in our heavenward aspirations, and weeps in our repentant tears.
Martineau.
Reference. XXVIII. 10. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii. No. 985.
Job 28:12-28
Before quoting this passage in his Notes Upon Life (pp. 104f.), Sir Henry Taylor writes: ‘Wisdom will have no hold on the heart in which joy is not tempered by fear. The fear of the Lord, we know, is the beginning of it; and some hallowing and chastening influences of fear will always go along with it. Fear, indeed, is the mother of foresight; spiritual fear, of a foresight that reaches beyond the grave; temporal fear, of a foresight that falls short; but without fear there is neither the one foresight nor the other; and as pain has been truly said to be the deepest thing in our nature, so it is fear that will bring the depths of our nature within our knowledge.’
The Moral Groundwork of Clerical Training
Job 28:12
The idea of Wisdom fills a great place in the mind of the Old Testament. How to acquire wisdom; how wisdom will be rewarded; how the history of Israel and Israel’s saints and heroes, is a long illustration of the power of wisdom: these are the topics of the book which bears its name. There are no allusions to the Law of Sinai, to the promises, to the history, to the worship of Israel, in the whole compass of the book. In this somewhat negative but very important manner, the writings of the Kochmah in the Old Testament are a direct anticipation of the Gospel. They name and centre in a word to which Christ alone has done justice; it is His Name from Everlasting the Wisdom of the Father.
I. Where shall wisdom be found? Wisdom is here the Ideal according to which God created the world. When God thus gave outward form to Wisdom in creating the world, He also gave man the law by obeying which man corresponds to what he was meant to be in the archetypal world and participates, after his measure, in wisdom. A comprehensive intellectual apprehension of the real nature of things is beyond man’s mental grasp. He cannot without a revelation really contemplate things as they are as they are seen by God: but he can correspond to the realities as God sees them by obedience to elementary moral truth by fear of the perfect moral Being by practical renunciation of evil. Dogmatic wisdom has its root and beginning in the culture of those moral and spiritual sensibilities which Scripture calls the ‘fear of the Lord’.
II. If a theological college is to recognize the principle, that spiritual and theological wisdom must have a basis in conduct, in life, in conscience, it will be necessary for such an institution to develop at least two things: first, a system, secondly, a spirit or atmosphere. Not merely study, but prayer, meditation, if need be, confession, exercise, sleep, recreation, should, as far as possible, be ordered by rule. A house which has a religious purpose should be a house of rule; it should be governed by system. But system alone will not suffice. A theological college must develop a spirit a moral and religious atmosphere which will justify and interpret its system to those who live in it. A spirit which is earnest and practical tends insensibly to clothe itself with system.
H. P. Liddon, Clerical Life and Work, p. 73.
Man’s Highest Wisdom
Job 28:12
Here we have a human question, and a Divine answer. Let us consider
I. The Human Question.
( a ) By whom was the question put? It was originally put by Job, a prince in the land of Uz.
( b ) Under what circumstances was the question put? Here you have a man without a book, without a Bible, without even the fragment of a Bible, striving to solve the mysteries of being and of the universe.
( c ) What is the purport of the question? The key to the long discussion in the book of Job may be found in the question which Satan, the great accuser, puts to God. ‘Doth Job fear God for nought?’ Satan suggests that Job’s religion was selfish, that he was good simply because his goodness was marked by temporal blessings. He boldly asserts that if God would only withdraw these external blessings Job would cast off his allegiance, and curse God to His face. The question is thus distinctly raised, Can goodness exist irrespective of reward?
II. The Divine Answer is Manifold.
( a ) Negative. The wisdom which surrounds the mystery of the Divine dealings man cannot obtain. Neither the living nor the dead, neither the visible nor the invisible, neither the occupants of the air, nor the earth, nor destruction can supply us with the wisdom which solves the mysteries of the works and ways of God with man upon the earth.
( b ) Job now tells us that God alone possesses this wisdom. The darkness in which God enshrouds Himself may be bewildering to us, but it hides nothing from Him.
( c ) We have God’s solemn announcement that man’s highest wisdom consists in reverent obedience to that great God who works these mysteries. The spiritual supernatural truth of Christianity cannot be apprehended by the intellect. If you cannot know the things by the medium of the bodily senses how then are they to be known? You must put yourself into harmony with God, love what He loves, hate what He hates.
R. Roberts, My Closing Ministry.
Reference. XXVIII. 12. J. Vaughan, Semons (10th Series), p. 133.
What Money Cannot Buy
Job 28:15
I have been much impressed of late with the way in which the Bible depreciates money. In this, as in most things, it is remote from the spirit of the world. The Word of God has often an almost contempt for money. Men make it an idol. The Bible esteems it as vanity. Something of this healthy disesteem of money would be a benediction to multitudes today when money is frequently held in supreme adoration.
Money and gems are held cheaply in the colloquy of which the text forms part. It appears that there are seven Hebrew words for gold, and no less than four of them appear in five verses of this dramatic chapter. The gold alluded to in the sentence before us is refined gold gold, laid up in treasures. And heavenly wisdom, true religion, ‘cannot be gotten’ even for such ‘gold’.
Delitzsch’s rendering is, ‘Pure gold cannot be given for it’.
I. Life’s Most Excellent Things ‘Cannot be Gotten for Gold’. ‘Money answereth all things’ the cynic affirms. And yet, though most men believe this, we frequently are disillusioned. When we come to reflect and observe, our estimate of what money can obtain is greatly modified. Not only is it true that some things cannot be bought with money, but it is also true that the best things of life defy purchase. They have no equivalent in finance. Gold has no relation to them. It is a fact easily observed that of many a noble thing it is true that ‘it cannot be gotten for gold’.
II. The Greatest of all Things ‘Cannot be Gotten for Gold’. ‘Wisdom’ is the immediate theme of the eloquent paragraph before us. This is but a title one of a crowd of noble titles of true religion. And we never can too fully familiarize ourselves with the truism that spiritual things have no material equivalent whatever.
III. It is Man’s Blessedness that the Best ‘Cannot be Gotten for Gold’. Many purposes of good this serves. Let it be again and yet again insisted that it reveals the limitations of money. Men worship ‘gods of gold’. They always have done, and till the end of the age they always will. Even the Christian Church is apt to exaggerate the functions of gold. The rich man is often a hero in the Church the poorest of all poor men founded. He gets his way. He may be coarse and vulgar, but he is obeyed. The complex and costly organization of many churches makes rich men a necessity. And innumerable evils follow. So that saints and sinners alike need to realize what money cannot buy.
God gives an opportunity to all in ordaining that the best ‘cannot be gotten for gold’. Here is an equality of opportunity. Every man has a chance or the prize of life. The poor may achieve noble things. When Christ was here He had no money. The Apostles were forbidden to provide gold for themselves. Peter declared, ‘Silver and gold have I none’. It is not along golden roads God’s children pass to bliss. Thank God for beatitude for all men. All may of God partake. Heaven’s conditions all may fulfil.
This should make the Gospel very attractive. Its demands are such as the poor can comply with. Its invitation is to all.
Dinsdale T. Young, The Gospel of the Left Hand, p. 207.
Where Is Wisdom?
Job 28:20
The answer to this question is given as the conclusion of one of the most eloquent and poetic descriptions discoverable.
I. Not in Intelligent Development. The passage enables us to answer the question whether man can attain the highest wisdom, or, in other words, ‘the highest state of excellence,’ without a revelation from God. That there is such a revelation we Christians believe, and that the Bible contains such a revelation the answer to a question like this goes to prove. The attentive reader will observe that the sacred writer (Job xxviii.) employs terms of expression which show that he had an intimate knowledge of mining operations. The statement is made for the purpose of showing that man’s faculties, his industry and enterprise, have been marvellously developed in regard to all physical phenomena. Knowledge and skill have been manifested by man for a far longer period than is consistent with some modern theories of his development. In very remote ages, at least 1000 years before Job, there were gold mines in Egypt. He reminds us that man, through the triumphs of his reasoning faculty, can scale the heavens, and penetrate into the hidden laws which govern the universe. But when man is thus set before us as possessing powers and capacities which may be said to conquer nature, how comes it to pass that intelligent development is not equalled by moral elevation? He is described as not having found wisdom. The want of wisdom in Scriptural language is to be in a state of folly, that state of the man who says in his heart ‘There is no God,’ or practically lives without any recognition of the claims of God to obedience. We may well ask, ‘Have they no knowledge that work iniquity, not calling upon God?’ Knowledge they may have, but not true wisdom.
II. Not in Wealth. The question waits for an answer, ‘Where shall wisdom be found, and where is the place of understanding?’ Fallen, though intellectual, man has not found it. But has he power to procure, can he purchase it? An answer is given. He may acquire wealth, but he cannot put a price upon wisdom. He may have gold of Ophir, and jewels, and precious stones. The habitable earth may have been traversed, the depths of the ocean explored for his benefit. He may possess all that the diver or miner has collected, and that the merchant has transported over the seas, but he has acquired nothing which can give peace, nothing which he can keep, nothing which he can exchange for true wisdom. ‘The price of it is above rubies.’
III. Where, then, is Wisdom? But there is no room for despair. The Bible tells of man’s restoration and renewal as well as of his origin and fall. Where is wisdom? ‘God understandeth the way thereof.’ And the point of importance is that ‘the way thereof God has made known’. His own light has shone on the way thereof. Holy Scripture given by inspiration contains the statement that the wisdom which maketh wise unto salvation is connected with faith in Christ Jesus; that what is sometime shadow is elsewhere clearly manifested in the face of Him; that personified Wisdom is seen in the person of Christ; that in Him, Christ Jesus, are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; and, moreover, that the first discovery of these treasures that truly enrich, and sanctify, and save were made through the revelation of God; that the first light that shone out of darkness was seen in the promise that the ‘seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent’; that after obtaining the knowledge of good and evil, man only learnt where true wisdom was to be found when God said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding’.
Job 28:28
The book of Job is admittedly a difficult book. It relates to times contemporary with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is believed to have been written between the entry into and the exodus from Egypt. It has been conjectured that Moses was the writer of the book, owing, no doubt, to the similarity of some parts of the book to some parts of Genesis. But that is not the case. It is essentially an historical book, and Job is an historical personage. His name is wonderfully significant Job, which means ‘the assaulted one’.
I. Job’s Character and Trial. Now what do we know of Job’s character? He is described by God Himself in the eighth verse of the first chapter. He was a ‘perfect and an upright man; one that feareth God and escheweth evil’. Yet it was such an one that Satan was allowed to tempt and to afflict; yet in all this Job sinned not. Again, the tempter was allowed to afflict him, this time by assaulting his body. Yet ‘in all this did not Job sin with his lips’. It is at this stage that Job’s ‘three friends’ came on the scene, and the chapters from the third to the thirty-seventh are a record of the conversations that ensued between Job and his friends. They had not much cheer or encouragement to offer him, and their pessimism is remembered to this day in the homely phrase we apply to those who take dark views of life that they are ‘Job’s comforters’. It is in the thirty-eighth and subsequent chapters that we see Job’s vindication, when the Lord answered Job, turned his captivity, and blessed his latter days more than his beginning. The ‘patience of Job’ has been an object-lesson to the Christian Church in every age. What was its secret? Surely it is to be found in the words of the text.
II. The Fear of the Lord. The text occurs in the answer made by Job himself to one of the three friends Bildad the Shuhite and it seems to have been an answer to Bildad’s question (25:4), ‘How then can man be justified with God?’ Now ‘the fear of the Lord’ was essentially an Old Testament thought. We find it conspicuous, too, in the New Testament, but with a more glorious meaning, for the Gospel has shed its bright beams upon it. It was the theme of the song of the Blessed Virgin, ‘His mercy is on them that fear Him’. We find St. Peter, too, laying it down as a command, ‘ Fear God; honour the King’. But, some one will ask, does not St. John say, ‘Perfect love casteth out fear’; and that ‘he that feareth is not made perfect in love’? Quite true; but the contradiction is only apparent, not real. There are two kinds of fear: ( a ) The filial fear, which fears to do a wrong against one who loves and is loved; and ( b ) servile fear, which trembles at the consequence of wrongdoing. It is the servile fear which love casts out.
III. What it Produces Beyond all question we need at the present day a deeper realization of the fear of the Lord.
( a ) A perfect faith. We need the filial fear, which is not irreverent, but is based on the knowledge of the truth, and which leads to perfect faith. Job was a man who feared the Lord, and this led him to a life of perfect faith, so that he could say: ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him’.
( b ) A godly wisdom. This is ‘the fear of the Lord’ which Job declares to be ‘wisdom’. The world is in search of wisdom today, but a large number of people want to find it apart from God.
( c ) A relationship of Father and Son. The fear of the Lord, again, brings us into right relationship with God. He is our Father; we are His children. Are we not reminded of this when we read, ‘They that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon His Name. And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels.’
( d ) A departure from evil. Once more the fear of the Lord promotes a departure from evil, for in this case ‘wisdom’ and ‘understanding’ are almost identical terms. ‘To fear God and to keep His commandments’ is described as the whole duty of man. If we fear the Lord as Job did, we shall, like him, examine ourselves, our thoughts, our words, our deeds. Nor must the Christian precept be forgotten ‘Let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity’.
Man’s Best Wisdom
Job 28:28
Job in his calmer mood feels that he has attempted to deal with questions too high for him.
I. He forgets for a while his own pangs and sorrows; the pressure of God’s heavy hand is withdrawn, and there rises before him a vision of that wisdom, which, as in the opening portion of the book of Proverbs, so here, and in later generations, as for instance in the age at which the ‘Book of Wisdom’ was written, embodied to the pious Jew the combination of the highest knowledge with the truest goodness.
II. And this, in his baffled and wearied, yet more tranquil frame, he feels to be beyond his reach. There is a touch at once of hopelessness and of cheering faith in his words. He dwells on the unapproachable, the inscrutable nature of true wisdom, in terms which the most enlightened Christian may in one sense fully echo.
III. ‘We know that what we see forms but the outskirts of creation; that the power and the wisdom which rule this vast universe must lie beyond the reach, not only of our understanding, but also of our furthest speculation.’ Yet we know also how much of God’s nature, which was hidden from Job, has been revealed to us in Christ: that if we ‘know in part’ only yet in part we do know; and we may thankfully welcome and accept the vast revelations of that book of nature which we have received from the progress of human science.
IV. But when all this has been fully acknowledged, we still feel the force of Job’s words, that there is something higher yet than any knowledge regarded as knowledge, whether it be scientific, or whether it be theological knowledge. The truest wisdom is ‘to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God’.
G. G. Bradley, Lectures on the Book of Job, p. 238.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
Job 28:1
‘In the centre of the world-whirlwind,’ says Carlyle in the first part of Past and Present (chap. 11.), ‘verily now as in the oldest days, dwells and speaks a God. The great soul of the world is just. O brother, can it be needful now, at this late epoch of experience, after eighteen centuries of Christian preaching for one thing, to remind thee of such a fact.’
Sans-culottism will burn much; but what is incombustible it will not burn. Fear not Sans-culottism; recognize it for what it is, the portentous, inevitable end of much, the miraculous beginning of much. One other thing thou mayest recognize of it: that it too came from God; for has it not been? From of old, as it is written, are His goings forth; in the great Deep of things; fearful and wonderful now as in the beginning: in the whirlwind also He speaks; and the wrath of man is made to praise Him.
Carlyle.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
What Is Wisdom?
Job 28
When Job says “Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it” ( Job 28:1 ), many persons cannot see the connection between this part of the speech and the verses with which the twenty-seventh chapter concludes. The speaker seems to break away entirely from the main current of his discourse and to begin a totally different subject. He does so, however in appearance only and not in reality.
The patriarch has been talking about the rich man “This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.” He pictures the rich man as heaping up silver like the dust, and preparing raiment as the clay. Now he says, All that the rich man has is known as to its origin and weight and value; there is nothing mysterious about him; that is to say, there is nothing spiritual or ghostly: whatever he has we can take back to the very place it came from, and can say to it, You originated here; you were cut out from this vein or seam, or were found in this quarry, or were brought from this forest or garden, or were lifted out of this river or sea: we know all about you; you are quite a measurable quantity; you are lacking in the subtle value and suggestiveness of mystery: you are all surface; you can be weighed, measured, appraised; your place is in the market where things are bought and sold; so much gold will buy you every one, however great and brilliant soever you may be: there is no mystery about the rich man’s possessions. This is a fact full of significance. Job takes it in that light wholly. He acknowledges that man can do many wonderful things. We are not reading about God but about man when we read “He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light” ( Job 28:9-11 ).
Man is a digger. Man is a miner by nature. Man cannot live upon surfaces. Even when he is not religious he is explorative: even when he will not pray he will dig. You cannot keep him to the surface. He has a prying spirit; he has a knocking hand; if he cannot analyse he will tear to pieces: but bind him upon the surface you cannot. It is one of two things with man: either he will mount up with wings as eagles, seeking home and rest away where the morning is born; or he will go the other road, and dig into the earth to find what may be locked up there. Is there not a beginning at least of religious life even in this desire to find out what is under the surface of things? We find our way from the known to the unknown. We find bread in the earth. It is wonderful that man will insist upon breaking open the iron safes of nature and enriching himself with boundless wealth. Is he a thief, or is he a student? Is he to be branded as a felon, or to be congratulated as being under the inspiration of a discontentment which will not rest until it has made further acquisition? Let us understand our own nature. We may be religious when we do not think we are so. There is a worldliness that is not without its religious aspect. He who wants to go further and further may be really obeying a religious impulse. A man stands on the shore and says I know there is something beyond that water: nothing can persuade me to the contrary: beyond that lake there are shores and wildernesses and boundless spaces. When a man talks thus he is talking religiously, though he may not be talking theologically. Let us bring as many people as we can under this great dome of the sanctuary; it should never be ours to make the number less, but always to make it more, to tell men that really whatever they are doing with an honest heart and a determined mind, if it tend to the enlargement of knowledge, the extension of liberty, the advancement of progress, it is in the soul of it religious. So there are two aspects to this picture drawn by the hand of Job. In one aspect the rich man is seen but to be a possessor of things measurable, numerable, and estimable; he has nothing but what is self-contained: on the other hand, the picture may present the aspect of men who are discontented with things they, find to their hands; men who ask for something more than they have yet gotten; digging men, mining men; and the religious teacher should be the first to say, If there is not enough on the surface of things for you, then by your very digging you are beginning to pray: search on: we do not arrest you in boring the earth; we rather congratulate you, and would facilitate your progress; as a matter of fact, there is not enough upon the surface of the earth for you: break open the rock, overturn the roots of the mountain, and see if there be under all these weights and pressures the thing which will really satisfy you. Why, then, be impatient with men who cannot read our religious books? They will read other books. So far, so good. Let them do so. The time will come when they will want the upper book, the larger writing, the fuller scroll. But it is just possible, such being their temperament and quality of mind, that they will not come to the upper and better things until they have outwearied themselves in lower researches or in initial enterprises. Whoever is seeking honest bread is a religious man. He may never have been to church, or bent his knee in prayer, or looked up searchingly to the heavens if mayhap he may have overlooked something shining there: but the very search for honest bread, bread that shall be an equivalent for honest labour, is itself a moral action; and there never was a moral action that had not in it the beginning or suggestion of a religious life.
Now Job points in another direction; he says
“There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen: the lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it” ( Job 28:7-8 ).
What is the meaning of this? There is an unknown road which has not yet been discovered; there is something beyond, or something more: we know it without knowing it; that is to say, we know it without being able to explain it or set it forth in words; we feel it, we are sure of it. Why should there be any difficulty in accepting: this doctrine? This is a doctrine which holds good in philosophy, in science, in commercial progress, in the whole range of education. Men have not gone forth to find out something in whose existence they had no belief. When the miner first struck his iron into the surface of the earth, he seemed to say by that very act I know I shall find precious things below. If he had had the assurance that the further he went his findings would be less valuable, he would certainly lay down his instrument, for he would have no time or taste for vain inquiries and prosecutions; but when the strong man took his iron in hand and struck the face of the earth with it and went further down, wounding the earth as he went, he was saying to himself after every blow I shall come to the gold presently, or the silver, or the precious stone: all this energy means result of a precious kind. So when the astronomer has turned his telescope in this direction, or that, he has said by the very action, I know there is something there, in this very line, which we have not yet found out, and night by night, and year by year, I will watch until I find what it is that causes these perturbations, or flutterings, or vibrations, or shadows: that mystery I will have. Why, then, all this hesitation when the mystery lies in a religious direction, when men say, There is something yet unknown: a bright eye has the vulture, but something has escaped it; a fierce glare, even in the darkness, has the lion, but there is something which has not yet come within the lion’s ken, a path we could not travel; invisible, impalpable, intangible, but there it is, a road away upward and onward into things infinite and eternal. We have just said that there is a Christian agnosticism; we have determined that the word agnosticism shall not go forth alone without limit or definition; the Christian claims it as certainly as any other man; the Christian is the first to say, Certainly there is a great unknown force in the universe: unquestionably God himself cannot be known intellectually to perfection: undoubtedly there are many points at which Christians must stand and say, Let us wait here, not with impatience, but with religious quietude and with the certainty of a glorious hope: the gate will open presently or ultimately, but until it does open we must not use violence; we must, as it were, overcome God by growing up to him and by the importunity of patience. Throughout the Bible this acknowledgment of the unknown quantity is found, page after page. All things are not known in the Church. It is when the Church assumes to have finality of knowledge that it becomes the representative of the most vicious and destructive of despotisms. When the Church is humble, modest, self-controlled, it will say, We know in part, and we prophesy in part, and until that which is perfect is come we cannot know in fulness of detail. So long as the Church will say, There are a thousand mysteries of which we have no explanation the Church will acquire greater credit for the maintenance of those points upon which she is happily and graciously certain; but when the certain and the uncertain are talked of together with equal glibness, what wonder if scepticism should at least be encouraged or suggested? In the highest religious thinking we have rock enough on which to build a grand house; we have cloud enough to hide a universe: let us build where we can, and pray when we can no longer build.
Now Job turns in a third direction; he says
“But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?” ( Job 28:12 ).
We have found the gold, and the silver, and the jewel, and the crystal, “but” How modern is this very ancient book! Cannot man be satisfied with gold and silver and jewel, with ruby and sapphire? He cannot. He thinks he can; he says if he had another handful of diamonds he would be quite satisfied; he no sooner gets the handful of precious property than he says, It was not this that I wanted, but something other and different. There is no contentment along the line material; no resting-places have been provided in the line of material substance and enjoyment: it is all fatigue, vexation, disappointment, vanity; it is always the next thing that is going to bring the sabbath of the week, the benediction that should rest upon labour, but that thing never comes along that weary line. We know it. Not the moralists or pietists have told us this; we have found it out ourselves. When the preacher says, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,” we say Amen, for the very truth has been spoken.
Look at this “but” in the twelfth verse “but where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?” Men have begun on the surface of the earth in one hemisphere, and on the surface of the earth in the other hemisphere, and they have, so to say, met in the centre, and, lo, the dwelling-place of wisdom has not been discovered, nor has the temple of understanding been made manifest. What is wisdom? Has it shape? Shape it has none. Is it a coloured thing? Of colour it is destitute. Has it wealth? Not one shilling. What is it? That is the question. It must always remain a question, because after it has been partially answered it seems to grow up into larger dimensions; every answer is the beginning of a new difficulty, every taste of wisdom is the creation of a new appetite. Still man feels that he must have it. There is a spiritual, ghostly, mysterious thing that we are sure exists, but cannot tell where. Take spade and mattock, and go out on summer’s longest day, and at eventide meet us somewhere, and tell us the result of your quest. What is it? Where is it? It calculates, foretells, predicts; it corrects mistakes, it heightens and controls instinct; it whispers to the soul; into the very ear of the heart it says, That is right: That is wrong. Who has ever seen this angel? Is it the first angel? Was it present when the foundations of the earth were laid, and the morning stars sang together for joy, so pleased were they with their light? Is it a woman-angel? Is it a child-angel? On what terms will the angel come to us? These questions may be put into a variety of terms, but they are questions still, and they haunt the life, and challenge the imagination, and suggest our best ambitions. Here is a book which grapples with the inquiry.
How impossible it is to estimate the value of wisdom:
“It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies” ( Job 28:15-18 ).
It has no material equivalent. Gold can be balanced by gold, so that the one scale shall be as valuable as the other; estates may be brought into equipoise by gold, so that men shall be as willing to accept the one as the other, for the one is equal to the other in value: but put wisdom in the scale, and try to find a counter-weight. How haughty is Wisdom! To gold and silver, and jewel and crystal, and onyx and sapphire, she says, Go back: ye may not touch this holy ground! They have gone far, but she will not allow them in her presence; they have been in palaces, but they shall not go in the sanctuaries: all these precious, fair-faced, sweet-voiced things have gone almost wherever they pleased to go, and they have been welcomed by standing men; but when they have gone up to the angel Wisdom, that angel has said Back, rude vulgarity! She has no price in the marketplace. No man can set a value upon an idea, an inspiration, a great mental awakening, a spiritual flash, a divine instinct which marks off right from wrong by an eternal definition. How difficult it is to impress ourselves with this conviction! We still hug the material; we are still the victims of bulk and nearness and weight. The spiritual is always undervalued. The man who has something in his hand is welcomed: the man who has something in his mind must wait downstairs until my lord is ready to give him short conference. It cannot always be so. Every schoolhouse helps the spiritual; every child that learns to read learns to vote for the intellectual as against the merely material. The hope of the world is in the schoolhouse. Every good book that is sold is a step on the upward road. Every healthy lesson that is learned by the mind is a blow dealt in the face of despotism, tyranny, oppression, bondage, drunkenness, wrong. Circulate the elements of wisdom. Open a fair, broad way to the gates of understanding. Have no fear of any child or man who reads, thinks, and is true to deeper and broader thought. How haughty is Wisdom! She says to all these applicants, and they are many gold, silver, gold of Ophir, precious onyx, sapphire, gold and crystal I do not know you, and as for the topaz of Ethiopia, throw it away; it is of no value in the house kept by Wisdom and lightened by Understanding. On the other hand, how condescending is Wisdom! How willing to come to the humble, the teachable, the obedient, the broken heart! “Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; ” “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” Wisdom will come to the teachable. Wisdom loves little children. Not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the lowly, the feeble, and the poor, that out of them he might build himself a worthy temple. We should know more if we knew less. We should be nearer heaven if we committed ourselves to the great heaven-thought and heaven-instinct. “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” They who are meek and lowly in heart shall find rest at the centre of things; they shall be no longer driven about by wind, tossed by angry waves, but shall rest and find peace in the heart of God. How, then, shall we become more wise? By becoming more humble. How shall we grow in knowledge? By growing in grace. How shall we become mighty men, giants, and princes? By becoming little children, trustful because helpless, confiding because self-deficient, upward-looking because made in the likeness of God. Christ will have no proud men about him. The proud he sends empty away, because they are rich in their own esteem and their hands are buried in plentifulness; but those who come humbly, broken-heartedly, contritely, without self-help or self-hope, saying, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” he will send away with all heaven at their command for all possible exigencies.
Where, then, is wisdom to be found? and where is the place of understanding? The great revelation we find at the close of the chapter
“God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; to make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder: then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out. And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding” ( Job 28:23-28 ).
The text is true to reason. It must be wise to be right with the Creator. Whatever that Creator is, we must fit in with him harmoniously, if we would be wise. What name shall we give the Creator? Choose your own name, but in order to be at rest you must be in harmony with the Thing which that name signifies. Call it Force, you must not oppose it, or you will be ground to powder. You must never meet the stars; you must always go along with them; if you meet on the same road they never give way, you then must surrender. Call it “the fitness of things.” So be it. Let that be God “the fitness of things,” everything in its own place, everything doing its own work, everything in its own order; even if that be so, you must comply with it; you must take your own place and not another man’s, if you would be at peace in a creation of order. Choose you own name. Do not let us quarrel about “God,” “Law,” “Force,” “Necessity,” “Secret,” “Harmony,” and “Fitness of things”: fix your own point where you may, and still the text is true to reason, that you cannot be right with yourself until you are right with the central Thought Force Being that made and controls all things. So even the atheist cannot escape; the agnostic must submit We have been chaffering about words, and neglecting the reality of things. Whatever we will not now say whoever made the universe must control it. That Spirit Force Necessity is a tremendous Thing, whatever its name; if dead, more awful than we thought it was, for we regarded it as living and merciful, as well as just.
Not only is the text true to reason, it is true to experience. “To depart from evil is understanding.” Evil blinds the mind; evil dethrones the judgment The bad man cannot have a fully impartial and independent intellect. He has sinister ends in view; he is seeking issues that do not lie within the scope of right and justice; he hears with one ear; he sees but one aspect of things. Evil denudes the soul of majesty and justice. We know this to be the case. Find a judge in a court of law who takes a bribe, and instantly society rises against him and says he cannot judge the case justly. Why not? May not a man fill his right hand and his left with the gold of the parties and still be just? No. Who says so? Enlightened conscience says so, civilisation says so; that inscrutable thing within a man which you may call instinct, if you like, says so. He is distrusted who palters with the parties. So it is through and through life. Wherever there is a bad man there is a bad judge, a bad genius, a bad philosopher, a bad friend. Where, then, is wisdom to be found? Can you find wisdom by digging for it with spade and mattock? Did mere genius ever find true wisdom? Did simple intellectuality ever come back saying I have found all that is meant by understanding? Never. How, then, is wisdom found? By the heart. How, then, does faith come? By the heart. How, then, do men learn to know themselves? By studying the heart. The heart has its own genius, the heart has its own implements of digging. Digging there must be and searching, yea, a searching such as no miner ever employed in searching for gold and silver; but the whole inquest is made by the heart. “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness.” “Son, give me thine heart.” A man cannot work with his hands. A hireling may do some duty with his hands, and receive adequate pay for it, but unless the hands are ruled and directed by the heart, they do nothing really well. Blessed is he who has his understanding, and his physical faculties, and his social position, and all his personal resources under the sovereignty of a soft, tender, pure, loving heart!
Note
There is one book in the Old Testament collection that is commonly acknowledged as being of unrivalled sublimity; this is the Book of Job, which treats of the very highest moral problems that can exercise the mind of man…. It is virtually the one problem of life which meets us at every turn; which out of the pale of revelation is enveloped in impenetrable obscurity; and which, even with the light shed upon it by the promises of the Gospel, is by no means devoid of profound mystery, namely, the unequal distribution of suffering in the world, and the blindness with which the righteous rather than the wicked appear to be selected as its victims. This verily was a theme well worthy of the noblest composition of the noblest literature in the world to deal with. No literature could lay claim to being really sacred or divine, to have truly come from God, that did not deal with it.
The poetry of the Book of Job, however, has suffered more than any poetry of the Old Testament from the deficiencies of the translation,… and yet, notwithstanding the rendering which is oftentimes so inadequate, how many there are who have been enabled to discover in the book of Job the very noblest of poems; and, as it is, it is not possible to disguise the sublime beauty of such a passage as the twenty-eighth chapter and others. And, after all, it is the argument rather than the poetry that has suffered in the authorised translation. The grandeur of the plot is sufficiently manifest. The spectacle of a man of consistent and exceptional righteousness being subjected to altogether exceptional suffering, to the despair of his wife, and the dismay of his nearest friends of his nevertheless holding fast his integrity through the strength of his faith in the righteousness of the unseen, till at last he is vindicated by the voice of God uttered through nature out of the whirlwind and the storm, showing him that if the principles of the moral government of the world are dark, those of its physical government are by no means clear, and till the tide of his prosperity returns in yet greater fulness than before, and he dies in extreme old age, full of riches and honour, is one of the greatest interest, and fraught with lessons of the profoundest wisdom. The Structure of the Old Testament. By Professor Stanley Leathes, M.A.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
(See the Job Book Comments for Introductory content and general conclusions and observations).
VIII
JOB’S RESTATEMENT OF HIS CASE
Job 27-31.
INTRODUCTION: A PBELIMINARY INTERVIEW WITH THE HIGHER CRITICS
1. That all that part of this statement from Job 27:8 to the end of Job 28 is not the words of Job, i.e., when you read to Job 27:7 you should skip to Job 29:1 where Job resumes.
2. That Job 27:8-23 is the missing third speech of Zophar, here misplaced.
3. That Job 28 is a choral interlude by the author of the book.
The reasons for these contentions, they say, are that Job 27:8-23 is wholly at war with Job’s previous and subsequent statements concerning the wicked and that a third speech from Zophar is needed to complete the symmetry of the debate. They further say that Job 28 does not fit into Job’s line of thought nor into the arguments of the three friends, and that interludes by the author recited by the choir are customary in dramas.
The mediating critics say that there is a real difficulty here in applying Job 27:8-23 to Job, but that it may be explained by assuming that in a calm restatement of the case Job is led to see that he had, in the heat of the discussion, gone somewhat too far in his statement concerning the wicked and takes this opportunity of modifying former expressions. Dr. Sampey’s explanation in his syllabus is this: Job 27 and Job 28 are difficult to understand, because Job seems to take issue with his own position concerning the fate of the wicked. Possibly he began to see that, in the heat of argument, he had placed too much stress on the prosperity of the wicked.
Dr. Tanner’s statement is much better. He says:
There seems no ground to question the integrity of the book. The portions refused by some part of Job’s restatement and the whole of Elihu’s discourse are thoroughly homogeneous and essential to the unity of the book.
The author’s reply to these contentions is as follows:
1. That Zophar made no third speech because he had nothing more to say. Even Bildad in his third speech petered out with a repetition of a platitude. In a word) the whole prosecution broke down when Eliphaz in his last speech left the safety of generalities and came down to specifications and proofs of Job’s guilt.
2. There is not a particle of historical proof or probability that a copyist left out the usual heading introducing a speaker and mixed up Zophar’s speech with Job’s.
3. Fairly interpreted, the section (Job 27:8-23 ) harmonizes completely with Job’s previous contentions, neither retracts nor modifies them, and is essential to the completeness of his restatement of the case. He has denied that in this life even and exact justice is meted out to the wicked; he has not denied the ultimate justice of God in dealing with the wicked. The great emphasis in this section, which really extends from Job 27:7 to the end of the chapter, is placed on the outcome of the wicked, “When God taketh away his soul,” as in our Lord’s parable of the rich fool. Then though he prospered in life (Job 27:9 ), “He openeth his eyes and he is not,” like our Lord’s other parable, the rich man who in hell lifted up his eyes, being in torment (Luk 16 ). Then, “he would fain flee out of God’s hand” (Job 27:22 ) and then the lost spirits of men who preceded him “shall clap their hands and hiss” (Job 27:23 ) as the lost souls greeted the King of Babylon on his entrance into Sheol (Isa 14:9-10 ; Isa 14:15-16 ).
Job 28 also is an essential part of Job’s restatement harmonizing perfectly with all his other contentions, namely, that God’s government of the universe is beyond the comprehension of man. It is this very hiding of wisdom that constituted his problem. He is willing enough to fear God and depart from evil, but wants to understand why the undeserved afflictions of the righteous, and the undeserved prosperity of the wicked in time.
The idea of Job 28 being a choral interlude by the author of the book (see Watson in “Expositor’s Bible”) is sheer fancy without a particle of proof and wholly against all probability. While the book is a drama it is not a drama for the stage. The author of the book nowhere allows even his shadow to fall on a single page. In succeeding acts and scenes God, the devil, and man, each speaks for himself, without the artificial mechanism and connections of stage accessories.
Job takes an oath in restating his case which relates to his integrity (Job 27:1-6 ). The items of this oath are (1) the oath itself in due and ancient form, (2) that his lips should speak righteousness, (3) that he would not justify them (the three friends), (4) that he would hold his integrity till death, (5) that he would hold to his righteousness and would maintain a clear conscience as long as he lived. Then follows Job’s imprecation, thus:
Let mine enemy be as the wicked, And let him that riseth up against me be as the unrighteous. For what is the hope of the godless, though he get him gain, When God taketh away his soul? Job 27:7-8 .
Then comes his description of the portion of the wicked after death (Job 27:9-23 ) : God will not hear his cry when trouble comes and I tell you the whole truth just as you ought to know it already. Now this is the portion of the wicked: His children are for the sword, his silver and raiment are for the just and innocent, his house shall not endure, his death shall be as other people and his destiny will be eternally fixed.
In Job 28:1-11 he shows that man’s reason is superior to the instincts of the lower animals, since by skill and labor in mining and refining he can discover, possess, and utilize the hidden ores and precious stones, the way to which no fowl and no beast ever knew.
But there is a limitation placed on man for he can never discover nor purchase the higher wisdom of comprehending God’s plan and order of the universe, and of his complex providence, because this wisdom resides not in any place to which he has access, neither in the earth, sea, sky, nor Sheol, and he neither knows how to price it nor has the means to purchase it (Job 28:12-22 ). God alone has this wisdom (Job 28:23-27 ).
The highest wisdom attainable by man comes by God’s revelation: And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding. Job 28:28 .
All this leaves Job’s case without explanation, but in Job 29-31 we have it, thus:
Job 30 shows what his case was then, as he was derided was watched over by God, when his children were about him, when his prosperity abounded, when he was recognized and honored by all classes of men, when he was helping the needy and when he was sought after for counsel by all men.
Job 30 shows what his case was then, as he was derided by the young whose fathers were beneath the dogs, as he was a byword for the rabble who spat in his face and added insult to injury, as his sufferings became so intense that he could find no rest nor relief for his weary soul and body, as he was a brother to jackals and a companion to ostriches, as his skin was black and his bones burned with heat, as mourning and weeping were the only fitting expressions of his forlorn condition.
Job 31 gives a fine view of his character and conduct. Job’s protests in this chapter are a complete knockout. “He protests that he is innocent of impure thoughts (Job 31:1-4 ) ; of false seeming (Job 31:5-8 ); of adultery (Job 31:9-12 ); of injustice toward dependents (Job 31:13-15 ); of hardness toward the poor and needy (Job 31:16-23 ); of covetousness (Job 31:24-25 ); of idolatry (Job 31:26-28 ); of malevolence (Job 31:29-30 ); of want of hospitality (Job 31:31-32 ); of hiding his transgressions (Job 31:33-34 ); and of injustice as a land-lord (Job 31:38-40 ).” Rawlinson in “Pulpit Commentary.” It will be observed:
1. That this chapter answers in detail every specification of Eliphaz in his last speech (Job 22:5-20 ).
2. That Job correctly recognized both the intelligence and malice and irresistible power of the successive blows dealt against him and was not deceived by the human and natural agencies employed. But failing to see that since man fell this world is accursed and that the devil is its prince, he was shut up to the conviction that the Almighty was his adversary. If Adam in Paradise and before the fall had fallen upon Job’s experience, the argument of Job, applied to such a case, would be conclusive in fixing all the responsibility on God. No human philosophy, leaving out the fall of man and the kingdom of Satan, can explain the ills of life in harmony with divine justice, goodness, and mercy.
Job’s extraordinary experience leads him, step by step, to suggest all the needs of future revelations and thus to reveal the real object of the book. His affliction led him to feel:
1. The need of a revelation of a book which would clearly set forth God’s law and man’s duties.
2. The need of a revelation of man’s state after death.
3. The need of a revelation of man’s resurrection.
4. The need of a revelation of a future and final judgment.
5. The need of a revelation of the Father in an incarnation, visible, palpable, audible, approachable, and human.
6. The need of one to act as a daysman, mediator, umpire, between God and man.
7. The need of one to act as redeemer for man from the power of sin and Satan and as an advocate with God in heaven.
8. The need of a revelation of an interpreter abiding on earth as man’s advocate.
This is the great object of this first book of the Bible) to show the need of all its other books, until the Coming One should become “The Burning Desire of All the Nations.”
That object being granted, the chronological place of this book in the Bible is that it is the first book of the Bible written.
QUESTIONS
1. What Bays the radical wing of the higher critics about this section?
2. What say the mediating critics of this section, and what the explanations by Sampey and Tanner, respectively?
3. What the author’s reply to these contentions?
4. What was Job’s oath in restating his case?
5. What was Job’s imprecation?
6. What his description of the portion of the wicked after death?
7. How does he show that man’s reason is superior to the instincts of the lower animals?
8. What limitation placed on man, and what Job’s philosophy of it?
9. With whom resides wisdom and how is this fact set forth?
10. What the highest wisdom attainable by man?
11. What is implied in all this?
12. What was his case in the past?
13. What was his case then?
14. What his character?
15. What does Jobs extraordinary experience lead him to feel the need of?
16. That object being granted, where is the chronological place of this book in the Bible.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Job 28:1 Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold [where] they fine [it].
Ver. 1. Surely there is a vein for the silver ] For there is a vein, &c., so Tremellius readeth it. But here is no reason rendered of God’s heavy judgments on the wicked, last discoursed of; but the unsearchableness of God’s wisdom, and the righteousness of his proceedings asserted, while some bad men prosper, and some good men suffer. The reason whereof lieth hid (as a river that runneth underground) from the natural man (and in part, from the spiritual also), be he never so perspicacious or industrious in prying into Nature’s secrets. The silver vein lieth very low, and far out of sight; yet is found out and known; as also is the art of fining it. This art was soon learned in the world; and mortals were quickly become metallaries. Effodiuntur opes, &c. (Ovid). A great part of their skill they might have from Adam, according to that of the Divine chronologer, Ex Adami sapientissimi Doctoris ore promanavit, tanquam ex fonte, quicquid in mundo est utilium doctrinarum, disciplinarum, scientiae et sapientiae. He that knew so much before his fall (far more than ever Solomon did) of Nature’s most hidden mysteries, who can doubt that afterwards also he retained and imparted to his nephews a great deal of abstruse and rich skill? such as was this here instanced, and afterwards by Cicero, among others, celebrated in his second book, De Nat. Deor., where, discoursing about men’s witty inventions, he saith among other things, Nos aeris, argenti, auri venas penitus abditas invenimus, &c., We have found out the veins of brass, silver, gold, and other metals, though deeply hidden in the bowels of the earth. Some of the ancients have wished that we had never found out these metals, because of the great abuse of them. Josephus saith that Cain heaped up great store of them. Strabo saith, that Phaletius feared lest, in digging for gold and silver, men would dig themselves a new way to hell, Et Plutonem brevi ad superos adducturos, and bring up the devil among them (Geog. l. 5). Some say that he haunteth the richest mines, and will not suffer them to be searched. Sure it is, that, by the inordinate love of these metals, he drowneth many a soul in perdition and destruction, 1Ti 6:9-10 Auri sacra fames, &c. So subject they are to sin, as that God made a law to have them purified before he would have them used by his people, Num 31:22-23 , &c., who should herein have the mind of those Persians, Isa 13:12 ; Isa 13:17 , which regarded not silver, nor were desirous of gold. If Satan offered them these outward things in a temptation, they should answer him, as Abraham did the king of Sodom, with a “God forbid that I should,” &c., Gen 14:23 , and send them away from whence they came; as Pellican sent back the silver bowl sent him by the bishop for a token with this answer, Astricti sunt quotquot Tiguri cives, &c., All the inhabitants of our city are sworn not to take any gift from a foreign prince (Melch. Adam). Or as that noble marquis Caracciolus answered the Jesuit, who tempted him with money to revolt from the reformed religion, and to return to Italy, Let their money perish with them, who esteem all the gold in the world worth one day’s society with Jesus Christ, &c. Let it be remembered, that gold is that which the basest element yields, the most savage Indians get, servile apprentices work, Midianitish camels carry, miserable muckworms admire, covetous Jews swallow, unthrifty ruffians spend. Gold makes many men run quick to the devil on an errand; yea, sell their souls to him, as Pope Sixtus V did, for seven years’ enjoyment of the popedom. “But thou, O man of God, flee these things,” &c., 1Ti 6:11 , and while others lay fast hold on these base and bootless businesses, lay thou hold on eternal life, Job 28:12 . But this by way of passing only.
And a place for the gold where they fine it
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Job Chapter 28
And now in the next chapter (Job 28 ), which will close tonight, we have a very remarkable addition – one of the most striking in the Book of Job. It seems very abrupt. He now turns away from man altogether in his bad ways, or from vindicating those who really looked to God; and he locks at the general state of mankind. Not any particularly evil class or righteous class.
“Surely there is a vein for the silver and a place for gold where they find it.” Gold is not found in veins like silver, it is in quite a different way – very often in the form of dust, and sometimes of nuggets. But silver is found in large and rich veins. “Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.” That is just exactly where copper is found. Where we read “brass” it is very often “copper” – chiefly so in the Bible. “He setteth an end to darkness.” He now gives us a remarkable sketch of mining in very early times. “He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection” – in quest of these precious metals, gold, silver or the like – “the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death,” i.e., he goes down to the depths of the earth after them. “The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant” – water there is very dangerous, and so the great point is to get rid of it safely – to drain it or turn it aside so that they may work their mine. “Even the waters forgotten of the foot.” That is, waters that people do not walk beside; not the rivers and rivulets and the like, but water deep in the earth. “They are dried up; they are gone away from men.” There is the drainage in order to carry it on.
“As for the earth, out of it cometh bread; and under it” – that is deep down in it – “is turned up as it were fire. The stones of it are the place of sapphires” – precious stones as well as these metals – “and it hath dust of gold.” They do not enter into these depths; they go up into the heights and they traverse all the surface of the earth, but the fowls do not venture into the mines where man goes down. Not even the vulture. The vulture has a keen sight, as we all know, especially for a dead body, and there they are – God’s natural scavengers for this poor world of death. “The lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it” “He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. He cutteth out the rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing,” They get a great sensitive understanding of what is worth – not by any means that they are always right. Sometimes the miners in our country have thrown away as rubbish what was quite as valuable as all that their mind was set upon; but as a general rule they learn what is valuable. “He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light. But where shall wisdom be found?” No, there is no wisdom in all that. There is self in all that. There is what will make a man rich; there is what will bring money and perhaps distinction; but where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? Well, it is not on the earth, and it is not down in these mines of darkness where man is so prompt to follow for that which he values. Where is it to be found? “Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.”
What a very solemn thing that is! True wisdom and true understanding not found in the earth at all! It comes down from heaven. It is found only in Christ; and Christ had not yet come; and further, this is what came out still more by Christ’s rejection and Christ’s death. “Therefore the depth saith, It is not in me.” There are silver and gold in the depth, and other like commodities, and precious stones. “The sea saith, It is not with me…. It is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.” It is not in the skies as far as they are open to the eye. “Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.” Yes, it was just that very thing. There was a report of that One who is Himself wisdom, and who is the Giver of wisdom to the meek. It was by death that it came to us, but they did not know it.
“God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; to make the weight for the winds.” It was many hundreds, yea, some thousands of years after that when man discovered that the atmosphere had weight. But it did not enter into the philosophy of the philosophers then; they knew nothing about it. Here is mentioned the weight of the wind. “He weigheth the waters by measure,” so that no matter what comes, the sea is never too full. There is always going on, the circle of waters – waters rising up in the form of vapour, and in vast quantities; for the power of the son acts upon the waters, and there are many tons going up every day. There was a measure for it all, in God’s mind. “When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder, then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out. And unto man he said” – there is a wisdom above man – “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” And that is just exactly what is felt when a soul is converted. He may know nothing more than that; he sees how he has been in almost all evil, and he departs from it. A real sight of Christ is enough to do that by the spirit of God, and the fear of the Lord. That is what is abiding even when souls are not occupied with their evil, and speaking of it – the fear of the Lord and departing from evil.
But that is not the same thing as the gospel; it is not the same thing as knowing that all our evil is judged already in Christ’s person on the cross, that our sins are completely gone, and that we are brought in as children whiter than snow through the blood of Christ before the eye of God. That is the gospel; and it is after his reception of the word of truth that man receives the Holy Ghost, to delight in it, and to be the witness of it; but enjoying it first. Not to speak unto other people at first; oh, no; that is not the first thing. That is what the vanity of youngsters very often thinks – but to enjoy it with thankfulness and praise of God, and in worship of Him; that is what we come to. That is the true effect of the Spirit of God working. But then there is often a great deal of energy, and people are often more occupied with the wants of other people than with the infallible grace and truth of God. If the Lord will, I hope to continue on next Wednesday evening.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
Surely. This is the continuation of Zophar’s last address. Not Job’s words. Compare Job 35:16; Job 38:2. They are opposed to his own words, and confirm those of his friends. Compare his second address, Job 20:1-29.
is = doth exist.
vein = outlet: i.e. mine, or shaft.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 28
Now, Job said, turning now to a different vein of thought, he said, “Now, there are places where gold is discovered and silver is discovered, and iron and brass, men dig the shafts, they follow the vein of gold and so forth. And they mine these things out of the earth. He digs, overturns the rocks, digs his caves. It’s places that the birds don’t know. The vultures haven’t seen it. But he follows down through the vein, finding the gold, the silver and all.”
But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? ( Job 28:12 )
Man values gold. Man values silver. He’ll sacrifice to dig gold out of the ground. He’ll go down in these dark shafts. He’ll get all grubby and dirty in order that he might find the treasure of gold, the treasure of silver. But, where is wisdom found? Where is the place of understanding?
Man knows not the price; neither is it found in the land of the living. The depth say, It is not in me: the sea says, It’s not with me. It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof ( Job 28:13-15 ).
Wisdom, understanding, more valuable than this gold. You can’t buy it for gold. It can’t be purchased for silver.
It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, or with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral, or pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold. Whence then cometh wisdom? [Where does it come from?] and where is the place of understanding? Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. But God understands the way thereof, and he knows the place thereof. For he looks to the ends of the earth, and he sees under the whole heaven; To make the weight for the winds; and he weighs the waters by measure. And when he has made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder: Then did he see it, and declare it; and he prepared it, yea, he searched it out. And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding ( Job 28:16-28 ).
Wisdom, more valuable than jewels, than gold. You can’t buy it. Wisdom and understanding. Men know how to find gold; they know how to mine it out of the ground. But wisdom and understanding, where can it be found? With God is wisdom; with God is understanding. And God has declared it and this is God’s declaration, “The fear of the Lord, to reverence God, that is wisdom. And to depart from evil, that is understanding.” Tremendous. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Job 28:1-11
Introduction
Job 28
WISDOM – THE GREATEST TREASURE AND HARDEST TO FIND
After a review of the reasons and speculations why some scholars would refer this chapter to Zophar, Hesser wrote that, “There is therefore no good reason for assigning this chapter to Zophar.” This chapter is a remarkably well-planned and eloquent discussion of the wisdom that comes from God alone. The very beauty of the chapter has led some to label it, “A Choral Interlude,” that somehow got incorporated into the Book of Job. Hesser also exploded that inaccuracy as follows. “The theory that this is a choral ode not closely related to Job is unacceptable, because what has disturbed Job throughout the book is the incomprehensible nature of God’s wisdom. Job trusts God and believes that He is powerful and wise. Job’s problem is that God’s wisdom is hidden from him.” Thus it is seen that this chapter is most relevant and pertinent to all that Job has been saying throughout the dialogues.
What is the lesson of this chapter? Barnes answered the question thus, “The design is to show that we must acquiesce in the inscrutable dispensations of Divine Providence, without being able fully to understand them.” “The chapter also teaches that wisdom is completely beyond the reach of men, unless the quest for it is carried on in the setting of the fear of the Lord.
The chapter divisions regard: (1) “Man’s phenomenal technological triumphs in the discovery and mining of precious stones and metals (Job 28:1-11),” and (2), “That in spite of amazing achievements in scientific enterprise, men are unable either by the techniques or treasures of science to attain wisdom (Job 28:12-28).”
Job 28:1-11
MAN’S REMARKABLE SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS
“Surely there is a mine for silver,
And a place for gold which they refine.
Iron is taken out of the earth,
And copper is molten out of the stone.
Man setteth an end to darkness,
And searchest out to the farthest bound,
The stones of obscurity and thick darkness.
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.
As for the earth, out of it cometh bread;
And underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
The stones thereof are the place of sapphires,
And it hath dust of gold.
That path no bird of prey knoweth,
Neither hath the falcon’s eye seen it.
The proud beasts have not trodden it,
Nor hath the fierce lion passed thereby.
He putteth forth his hand upon the flinty rock;
He overturneth the mountains by the roots.
He cutteth out channels among the rocks;
And his eye seeth every precious thing.
He bindeth the streams that they trickle not;
And the thing that is hid he bringeth forth to light.”
The marvelous achievements of the mining industry dominate this paragraph.
“Silver …. gold … iron … and copper” (Job 28:1-2). These four metals constituted the great bulk of ancient riches; and the point here regards the source of these things. “They all come from God. They were created by Him and deposited in the earth.” Such hidden things as these man is able to seek out and procure.
“Man setteth an end to darkness” (Job 28:3). “This seems to be a reference to the use of lamps in the underground darkness of mines.”
“He breaketh open a shaft … they swing to and fro.” (Job 28:4). This is a reference to the shaft by which men enter mines, and their swinging to and fro resulted from the primitive method of letting men down into such mines in baskets.
“The stones thereof are the place of sapphires” (Job 28:6). “It is doubtful if the gem called by the Hebrews `sapphire’ was the gem that bears that name today. It may have been lapiz lazuli.”
“No bird of prey knoweth … neither hath the falcon’s eye seen it … the proud beasts have not trodden it” (Job 28:7-8). Birds and beasts alike are unable to travel the ways of the miner who searches out the treasures of the earth.
“He overturneth the mountains … cutteth out channels among the rocks … bindeth the streams that they trickle not” (Job 28:9-11). These are references to necessary mining operations, “Given as illustrations of man’s persistence through difficulties, however great, to his end – the acquisition of treasure.” The mention of this here appears to have the purpose of showing that if true wisdom could be found by exploring the earth, or any other part of man’s physical environment, then he might be expected at last to find it. This thought serves to establish the principle developed in the final section of the chapter, namely, that man cannot find wisdom.
E.M. Zerr:
Job 28:1-2. A vein means a mine and to fine it means to refine it. Iron and other metals are taken from the earth and separated by fire. Likewise are the fires of affliction used to try the faith of men.
Job 28:3. These valuable materials have been deposited in the earth by some power other than man. This is proved by the fact that he has to search out through the darkness of the earth’s depths in order to find them.
Job 28:4. Just when the ground under foot had become dry, causing man to forget about the water, floods came rolling over him. It all shows the helplessness of man and the workings of God independent of man.
Job 28:5. Bread is produced by the earth, but the efforts of man are necessary to bring out that which is concealed below the surface.
Job 28:6. Gems and precious metals are stored within the coarser parts of the earth. These were not put there by man, for since he has to labor hard to get them he would not have placed them so nearly out of his own reach.
Job 28:7. In studying the several verses along in this part of the chapter we should not lose sight of Job’s main purpose. He wished to extol the wisdom of God above all other considerations. One of his methods of thought to that end was to refer to the countless items of value hidden in the earth. They are not visible to the eye, not even to that of man. The explanation of his ability to dig and find them is in the reasoning faculties by which he was led to search for them, and this ability was given to him by the Lord. This should help us understand the present verse. The path leading to these great items of value is the path of wisdom Just described, not that which can be seen with a mere physical eye such as that of a bird or beast. No, this path is unknown to the fowl or vulture because their eye cannot see it. Only the eye of widom given to man by the Lord can see that path.
Job 28:8. This verse is explained by the comments on the preceding one.
Job 28:9. He refers to man and his accomplishments in the field of mechanics. God has given man a mind by which he can reason on the laws of nature and thereby accomplish all of the deeds mentioned in the several verses of this chapter.
Job 28:10. This verse refers to the canals and ditches that man has been able to make by his knowledge of nature’s laws.
Job 28:11. This is seen in the dikes and levees that man has made.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
In a fine passage Job now discussed the question of wisdom. What was supremely lacking in his friends’ dealing with him was wisdom to understand. As an introduction to the main statement of his argument, he described man’s ability to obtain possession of the precious things of the earth. Silver, gold, and iron are mined, and -the description of how man does it is full of beauty. Man opens a shaft. In the midst of his operation he is forgotten by men who pass by. In a path that no bird knows the precious things are found. The beasts are unacquainted with it, but man, overturning the roots of the mountains, cuts out channels, and sees the precious things.
Having thus described man’s marvelous ability to do the most difficult things, he then asks: But where shall wisdom be found?
The value of wisdom is beyond the power of computation; neither can man discover it. The precious things he can find are of no value in comparison with this precious thing he cannot discover. It must be admitted that wisdom is hid from life and from death. This admission prepares the way for the great declaration, “God understandeth.” The evidences of the truth of this are to be found in the observation of the impossible things which God does. He “looketh to the ends of the earth*; He makes “a weight for the wind; He measures the water; He makes “a decree for the rain.”
Finally, Job announced that wisdom in the case of man is “the fear of the Lord” and departure from evil. It is impossible to read this without being conscious that a self-satisfied interpretation of God may be less reverent than an honest expression of inability to explain the mystery of His government.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
the Pearl of Great Price
Job 28:1-28
A search for this pearl of great price has occupied men in every age. Job compares it with the search of the miner for the hidden treasures of the earth, Job 28:1-12. This paragraph should be read in the r.v. The shaft into the earth, the miners exile from the cheerful haunts of human life, his exposure to dangers from foul air, water, and the falling-in of the mine, the binding up of the streams, are vividly portrayed. But the miner perseveres through all till he obtains his golden spoil. Would that we were as persistent in our quest for the knowledge of God! Paul was a great miner; he went down into caverns of pain and sorrow, that he might bring to light the treasures of Gods wisdom and love.
Only God knows God, Job 28:23. In the depths of His nature, dark with excess of light but hidden from the falcons eye of human genius, are both knowledge and understanding. He waits to reveal these things to babes, saying, Fear God, and you will be wise. Depart from evil, and you will understand, Job 28:28. Christ is the Word and the Wisdom of God, 1Co 1:24.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Job 28:1, Job 28:12-13, Job 28:20-28
This chapter falls naturally into three sections, the first two sections being terminated by this question, with a slight variety of statement: “Whence then cometh wisdom?” and the last by the result of the investigation.
I. The first of these sections is occupied with the abstruseness and marvellousness of human discoveries. Job speaks of the discovery of natural objects-gems for the monarch’s brow, metals for the husbandman, minerals for the physician-but we can speak of the far more curious discovery of natural powers. Have we, with all our toilings, brought to light that wisdom in the possession of which we may acquiesce throughout eternity?
Alas! no. There is no rest, no peace, no satisfaction, in wisdom of this kind.
II. The second section of this Divine poem sets forth to us the truth that, though human discoveries be exceeding abstruse and wonderful, yet there is an impassable limit which they cannot go beyond. There is a field of knowledge which baffles us at the outset, and that is the field of Providence. Nature affords us no light whatever in solving the secret of the Divine dispensations. Of this wisdom the depth saith, “It is not in me;” and the sea saith, “It is not with me.”
III. “The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.” It must be so, if you will consider the matter. Evil, moral evil or sin, is the parent and root of folly. It follows, then, that to depart from it must be the highest, the only true, wisdom. The path is so plain that the simplest may enter upon it, and that without delay. In whatever employment we be engaged, there is room for the cultivation of this simple, grand, majestic wisdom, room for us to fear the Lord, room for us to depart from evil.
E. M. Goulburn, Occasional Sermons, p. 211.
References: Job 28:7, Job 28:8.-A. P. Stanley, Addresses and Sermons at St. Andrews, p. 127. Job 28:10.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii., No. 985; J. Martineau, Hours of Thought, vol. ii., p. 176.
Job 28:12
Every man has, down in the depths of his own being, a wisdom much greater than the wisdom of the life which he is living, or of the thoughts which he is already thinking.
I. There is a conscience, there is a light, there is a view of truth, there is a spirit, in every one, however he may speak and however he may act, which had he cultivated and obeyed, he would have been a better and a happier man than he is. The great power of our Saviour’s teaching often lay in drawing out the latent good which was in every man that came in contact with Him; and he is wise who believes it in himself and recognises it in every man with whom he has to do.
II. Wisdom is in all the experience of life. It is in every mind with whom you converse. It is in every providence. It is in every language of nature. All life is a lesson-book of wisdom.
III. Wisdom is a revelation. No mind, though it be of the highest order, ever was, or ever can be, independent of revelation. The storehouse of wisdom is the word of God. But God has given us more than a book; He has given us an embodiment, a visible reality. A Person, and a living Person, is much more than all the words. The words are the framework of the Man, and that Man is the Lord Jesus Christ.
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 10th series, p. 133.
Reference: Job 28:12.-A. P. Stanley, Sermons on Special Occasions, p. 212.
Job 28:12, Job 28:28
Man’s interests and activities find their highest inspiration in culture and religion. The relations which these sides of human action may bear to each other can never be of slight importance. Some maintain that they are antagonistic. It is said, the ages of faith are not the times of intelligence; learning causes religion to dwindle. If this be so, it is indeed strange that history should furnish us with repeated illustrations of what we may almost term a law of the development of the human race, namely, that the epochs of man’s progress, when there is a larger force and a more vigorous vitality, are marked by stimulus, not only to the intelligence and learning of the human mind, but also to the faith and corresponding character of the human heart. When man has awakened from the sleep which often overtakes him in the midst of a thick night of gloom, he has not only exhibited a fresh interest in objects of mental research, but he has also raised his eyes once more to the stars that shine in heaven, and stretched his hands with a more vigorous grasp towards the Power and the Person who are only revealed to his spiritual nature.
I. Observe, first, that religion is itself a means of mental discipline. The objects of study which religion furnishes are (1) the nature of the human soul; (2) the progress of Christian doctrine and the development of the Church; (3) the nature of God and His relationship to man. Where will you find a discipline so high, so severe, so perfect, as in the objects of thought which religion can supply?
II. The other side of the relation which religion bears to mental cultivation is that protective and meditative influence which it can exert so as to guard against or remedy the evils in peril of which an exclusively mental exercise always lies. (1) Religion corrects the tendency of culture to ignore the limits of man’s power. (2) Religion teaches us the lesson of humility. Faith, and worship, and adoring love for ever keep the human heart in the ready and loyal acknowledgment of its God. (3) A learning that is nothing but intellectual tends to make us forget our brotherhood. There is nothing more selfish than culture. It withdraws us to a narrow circle. It makes us members of a set. For this fault the only corrective is religion. In- her courts we stand upon a common ground. Here we find an altar whereon the choicest mental endowments shall be too poor an offering, and here we may gain the inspiration of that example which forms the highest pinnacle of human attainment.
L. D. Bevan, Christ and the Age, p. 333.
Job 28:28
I. Wisdom is not learning. A great part of what his contemporaries admired in Solomon consisted of the accumulated mass of facts with which his memory was stored. Yet it is an observation we are constantly forced to make how much a man may know and yet what a fool he may be. That Solomon, for instance, with all his wisdom, was a wise ruler, we have not the slightest reason to suppose. The hasty reader is so impressed with all that is told of his magnificence that he often fails to take notice of what is also told of the cost at which it was kept up-the corves of forced labour, the grinding taxation of the subjects. We find that on the king’s death the people insisted on an absolute change of system, and failing to obtain it, hurled his dynasty from the throne.
II. Wisdom is not cleverness. I refer to that kind of ability which finds it easy to invent arguments in favour of any line of action it wishes to commend, which is not easily taken by surprise, is ready with plausible answers to objections, and can throw into the most attractive form the reasons for coming to the desired conclusion. All this is but the cleverness of the advocate. What we really want for our practical guidance is the wisdom of the judge.
III. “The fear of the Lord is wisdom,” is the declaration of the Old Testament. Wisdom teaches us to provide for our happiness in the most enlightened way. But in the New Testament we have what seems quite a different rule: Seek not your own happiness at all; live and work for the happiness of others; give up all thought of self, all calculation how you may make yourself greater, or more honoured, or more prosperous. That may be noble conduct, but can it be said to be wisdom?
IV. The key to the paradox is found in that golden saying of our Lord, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” And there is no difficulty in understanding that this really is the case. Those to whom God has given powers find happiness in their exercise quite independently of the fruits these powers may gain. And in the case of work done for others, it is not only that there is pleasure in the exercise of our powers, it is not only that it is more flattering to our pride to give than to receive, but the heart must be cold which does not find delight when through our gift happiness springs up for others, and their sorrow is turned into joy.
V. If, then, the New Testament has taught us to understand by “the fear of the Lord” something more than had been distinctly revealed in the Old Testament, still we can truly say that the fear of the Lord is wisdom. It is eminently true of love, “Give, and it shall be given to you.” If one were found by experience to be perfectly free from selfish aim, one by whom no unkind word was ever spoken, one who was always planning some act of kindness to others, it is impossible but that such a one would inspire such perfect trust, and would be surrounded by such love and gratitude, as would brighten his own life as he strove to brighten those of others.
G. Salmon, Non-miraculous Christianity, p. 171.
References: Job 28:28.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. xiv., p. 57; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. vi., p. 21.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 28
1. The treasures of the earth (Job 28:1-6)
2. The better treasures (Job 28:7-22)
3. God knoweth the way and the true wisdom (Job 28:23-28)
Job 28:1-6. This part of the monologue of Job does not seem to have much relation, if any, to the controversial matter of the previous chapters. He speaks first of the treasures of the earth, the riches which man seeks after, but which do not last, and are so often mans undoing. Job shows that he had a good knowledge of mining operations. He knows of veins of silver and how gold is refined. Iron is taken out of the earth and copper molten out of stone. Then he describes how the miner with his mining lamp makes an end to the darkness when he digs into the mountains and then he sinks a shaft. They are so far down that the foot which passeth above knows nothing where they are. The dangers of mining he also mentions–they hang (suspended by ropes) afar from men, they swing to and fro. All this man does, risking life and comfort, to get gold and the treasures of the earth.
Job 28:7-22. But there are better treasures, truer riches than these. Job evidently aims at a contrast with what man seeks in earthly things and the better things which are for him. There is a better way than digging into the earth for gold and precious stones.
There is a path no bird of prey has ever known,
Nor has the eagles eye discovered it.
A path which no proud beast hath ever trod;
Not een the lion ever passed that way.
But these paths are not for finding treasures of the earth; and so there is another way to get other riches, far better than silver and gold. Then he speaks again of what man does to bring hidden things to light, how he lays his hand on the flinty rock and overturns the mountains in his mining operations, stemming the subterranean waters, and all to bring the hidden treasures to light. Then he asks: But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Alas! man does not know the price of wisdom; it is not found in the deep, nor in the sea. Gold cannot buy it, nor silver. The price of wisdom is above rubies, the gold of Ophir, the precious onyx (beryl) or the sapphire. Whence then cometh wisdom?
Job 28:23-28. Here is the answer: God understandeth the way thereof. Yea, in all His creation, He knows the way and much more so in redemption He is in the person of His blessed son, the way to Himself, and in Him all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge are hid. Then comes the revelation of true wisdom: Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. God has spoken to his heart and answered the question concerning wisdom and understanding. And ere long Job himself will demonstrate in his experience the meaning of this verse. In reverence and fear he then turns to Him, bowing in the dust; from evil, yea, from himself he turns, departs and finds the true wisdom and understanding.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
vein: or, mine
the silver: Gen 2:11, Gen 2:12, Gen 23:15, Gen 24:22, 1Ki 7:48-50, 1Ki 10:21, 1Ch 29:2-5
where they fine it: Psa 12:6, Pro 17:3, Pro 27:21, Isa 48:10, Zec 13:9, Mal 3:2, Mal 3:3, 1Pe 1:7
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A BRILLIANT CHAPTER
Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it. But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? etc.
Job 28:1; Job 28:12
This chapter falls naturally into three sections, the first two sections being terminated by this question, with a slight variety of statement: Whence then cometh wisdom? and the last by the result of the investigation.
I. The first of these sections is occupied with the abstruseness and marvellousness of human discoveries.Job speaks of the discovery of natural objectsgems for the monarchs brow, metals for the husbandman, minerals for the physicianbut we can speak of the far more curious discovery of natural powers. Have we, with all our toilings, brought to light that wisdom in the possession of which we may acquiesce throughout eternity? Alas! no. There is no rest, no peace, no satisfaction in wisdom of this kind.
II. The second section of this Divine poem sets forth to us the truth that, though human discoveries be exceeding abstruse and wonderful, yet there is an impassable limit which they cannot go beyond.There is a field of knowledge which baffles us at the outset, and that is the field of Providence. Nature affords us no light whatever in solving the secret of the Divine dispensations. Of this wisdom the depth saith, It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is not with me.
III. The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.It must be so, if you will consider the matter. Evil, moral evil or sin, is the parent and root of folly. It follows, then, that to depart from it must be the highest, the only true, wisdom. The path is so plain that the simplest may enter upon it, and that without delay. In whatever employment we be engaged, there is room for the cultivation of this simple, grand, majestic wisdom, room for us to fear the Lord, room for us to depart from evil.
Dean Goulburn.
Illustration
Reasonable persons 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 lifes great end. This is the sum of what is contained in the brilliant twenty-eighth chapter of the book of Job.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Job 28:1. Surely, &c. Job, having confuted his three friends on their own principles, in the last two and some of the preceding chapters, here falls into a kind of soliloquy on the difficulty of obtaining true wisdom. His friends had laid claim to it from their great age, and from their knowledge of ancient traditions: see Job 5:27, and Job 8:8-9, and Job 15:9-10, and Job 20:4; but he had shown them of how little importance or signification their conclusions were. Where, then, it became the question, is wisdom to be found? To answer this question is the intent of Jobs discourse in this chapter, which is evidently an inquiry after wisdom; not the unsearchable depths of Gods counsels, but wisdom in general; or, rather, the wisdom proper to man: see Job 28:28. Job here determines, that even that wisdom is not attainable by the human capacity and industry without a revelation from God. The several arts of discovering and purifying silver, of refining gold, making iron and brass from the ore, the art of mining itself, the secrets of husbandry, are all within the reach of human ability and diligence: but to comprehend the ways of Divine Providence, and understand the reasons of Gods dispensations toward mankind, whether the righteous or the wicked, is above mans capacity, and can only be known so far as God is pleased to reveal them: that God, however, has furnished man with a sufficient rule to walk by, and that to attend to it is his highest wisdom, and, indeed, the only way to be truly wise; all other speculations and attempts to attain true wisdom being vain and fruitless.
There is a vein for silver, &c. Thus the chapter begins with a fine description of the indefatigable industry and ardour of mankind in searching after things which contribute either to the use or ornament of life; how they dig into the bowels of the earth for metals, gold, silver, iron, brass; and that the industry or avarice of man is without bounds: he searcheth into the land of darkness itself for hidden treasures. The word rendered vein, , mutza, signifies properly a going forth; there is a going forth for the silver: that is, man hath found where silver may be dug out of the earth. And a place for gold where they fine it Or, as it is in the margin, rather, for gold which they fine. For he speaks not here of the works of men and of art, but of those of God and nature, as is manifest from the foregoing and following words.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 28:2. Brass is molten, melted out of ores of zinc, lapis calaminaris, light perforated ores, found on Mendip hills in Somerset, Derbyshire, and other places.
Job 28:4. The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant. Rumpit alveum de cum pede montis; words equivalent to the text of Moses. The fountains of the great deep were broken up. Numerous are the proofs which the book of Job exhibits, that he and Moses, the prince of Hebrew prophets, derived knowledge from the same traditions.
Job 28:5-6. As for the earth, out of it cometh bread. E terra exit panis. From the earth proceeds bread, and subterranean fire is, as it were, scattered beneath.Sapphires: see on Exo 28:19, where gems are described.It hath dust of gold. The districts of gold ore run out in strata to vast extent, one or two feet thick, where particles of gold abound; and from those veins, the particles are washed into the beds of rivers. Sometimes the miner meets with small masses of native gold. Job says of those districts, the glebes are gold itself.
Job 28:7. There is a path, of subterranean ranges of caverns, which communicate with one another throughout the whole earth, and preserve it from explosions. Here rivers flow, and lakes are formed, unseen by the vultures eye.
Job 28:9. He putteth forth his hand, and toucheth the rock, and makes bare the flinty rocks. The diluvian tides washed and made bare our craggy hills and contour cliffs; and where the seas could enter the craters of volcanoes, the mountains burst from their base. John Whitehurst says of the Derbyshire strata, In the neighbourhood of Ecton, Wetton, Dovedale, Ilam, and Swithamly, the strata lie in the utmost confusion and disorder: they are broken, dislocated, and thrown into every possible direction.
Job 28:11. He bindeth the floods, by the laws of gravity, which regulate the tides: an unusual high tide is occasioned by a strong wind, and a violent tempest.
Job 28:16. The gold of Ophir. Job in this and the following verses, uses various terms for gold to designate the metal, and the vessels made of gold. Ophir signifies southern Africa. 1Ki 9:28.
Job 28:18. No mention shall be made of corals or of pearls. Not a word of all this in the Hebrew! Literally, Ramoth and Gabisch shall not be named. They are understood to be two hills where gems were found. So is the Chaldaic, collis eminens, high or eminent hills. The Gothic import of the word is very similar; our fathers gave the name of Ramshead, to the high hill east of Plymouth harbour.
REFLECTIONS.
This chapter surpasses all ancient records in an extensive encomium on natural history. It proves that Job, and the astronomical patriarchs, were attentive students of nature, and not ignorant of works of art. Their knowledge of minerals and of metals was exquisite. Zoology they had largely studied. The roaring of the lion, the soaring of the eagle, the solitary pelican, the careless ostrich, are cited in the correctest characters. Their knowledge, it is true, was local and circumscribed; and they were unacquainted with Grecian names and literature, which the world has adopted. Yet their proficiency, could it have found literary records, would prove that they possessed in a very high degree all the elements of useful knowledge.
In mining they had made a daring progress. They discovered the cavernous ranges which run through all the mountains, and ventilate the earth. They knew that rivers and lakes were formed there, and which open their springs in the depths of the sea. These are the recesses of nature which the vultures eye had not seen, and where the bolder lion had not dared to make his lair.
They understood the two grand principles, which reign throughout the whole kingdom of nature; the acids, which decompose, which oxidize and waste all the less pure metals, and which tarnish the purer gold and silver. They equally understood the alkalies, which crystalize the rocks, form an infinitude of gems in the cavities of granite, of limestone, &c.
They knew more, and better still. They knew how to grind those gems, and how to set those formed by nature in ouches of gold, so as to make them designate moral virtues, and instruct mankind in that wisdom which is above the value of rubies. They knew how to improve the study of nature, so as to become acquainted with the God of nature, whom to know is life and peace. Thus the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Pro 3:13.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 28. Here again we come to a critical question. It is difficult to fit this chapter into the argument, whether Job 27:7-23 is given to Job or to Zophar. It is a widely accepted conclusion of scholars that the chapter is an independent poem on Wisdom (a very fine one) which has somehow found its way into the text of the Book of Job. In its present form it opens with the word For, marking a connexion with something that has gone before; so that the beginning appears to be lost. Duhm has suggested that since the word whence cometh wisdom (or where shall wisdom be found) and where is the place of understanding? occur as a refrain in the poem, it probably also began with them. The poem has a parallel in Proverbs 8.
Job 28:1-11. The First Strophe.(Where shall wisdom be found?) For silver, gold, iron, and copper can be found by mining (Job 28:1 f.). The miners set an end to the darkness (with their lamps) and so search the dark depth of the earth (Job 28:3).
Job 28:4 is very obscure. Duhm reads, He breaketh open a shaft away under the foot. He hangs beneath swinging on a rope. Some such emendation is absolutely necessary.
Job 28:5 suggests a contrast between the peaceful growth of the corn above ground and the blasting of the rocks beneath (read by fire instead of as by fire). From Job 28:6 we should probably pass on to Job 28:9-11, completing the description of mining. Peake much improves the sense by transferring Job 28:7 f., which, as Duhm says, clearly speaks of the path to the home of wisdom, to a position after Job 28:12.
Job 28:12-19. The Second Strophe.Here, as above mentioned, we should probably insert after Job 28:12, Job 28:7 f., which here fits in admirably. Where shall wisdom be found? No birds eye has seen the path, nor beast trodden it. Man knows not the way thereof (in Job 28:13 way is read by LXX instead of price). The deep and the sea possess it not. It is absolutely priceless (Job 28:15-19). There is great difficulty in identifying the precious stones of this passage, and the ancient versions do not help us much. For onyx we should perhaps read beryl or malachite; the sapphire is the lapis lazuli; coral is only a guess; rubies should probably be red corals; and the topaz may be either serpentine or the peridot (Strahan).
Job 28:20-28. Third Strophe.Whence then cometh wisdom? Man and beast, Abaddon (see Job 26:6) and Death are all in the dark. God alone knows (Job 28:23). At the time of the creation, when God weighed out the wind and the waters, and regulated the rain and the lightning (Job 28:25 f.), then He created wisdom and understood its innermost nature. Declare (Job 28:27) perhaps means that God named the name of wisdom, expressing thereby her qualities. Duhm translates study. Established (Job 28:27) perhaps means created (Peake) or took it as a pattern (Strahan).
Job 28:28 is a gloss. The chapter regards wisdom as belonging to none but God and as His instrument, or perhaps model, in the work of creation. This verse represents wisdom as a human possession; it is the fear of God. The verse expresses the interest of some scribe in practical piety. Cf. the similar addition, Ecc 12:13.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
EARTH’S MEASURED TREASURES
(vv.1-6)
Job has spoken of the folly of wicked men. Now he shows that which stands in beautiful contrast to Chapter 27. The language here is magnificent, as Job considers what is altogether objective, not at all continuing any defence of himself in this chapter, but extolling the virtues of wisdom, showing that all creation bears witness to the greatness of the wisdom of God. In thinking of this chapter, we should do well to compare it to Pro 8:12-31, where wisdom is seen to be personified in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is confirmed in 1Co 1:23-24.
But first, in verses 1-6 Job speaks of the places where the treasures of earth may be found. “There is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore” (vv.1-2). God has seen fit to put these metals in places where men can find them without difficulty, and men certainly make much use of them, though they are largely ignorant of the spiritual truths that are symbolised by these metals. Gold speaks of the glory of God; silver, of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; iron, of the strength of the kingdom of God; and copper, of the holiness of God.
Even in the dark caverns of the earth, man introduces light to put an end to darkness (v.3), that he may search for ore. He sinks a shaft into the earth in places away from civilisation (v.4), let themselves down by ropes, and swing to and fro with the object of finding the metal they desire.
The earth itself produces bread, that is, grain, though deeper down the earth is turned up as by fire (v.5). “Its stones are the source of sapphires” (v.6). Stones by intense heat produce precious stones, and gold dust is found where heat has been. Job intimates that man knows these things and takes advantage of them.
HIDDEN TREASURES
(vv.7-11)
In this section Job speaks of things more hidden from people normally, but which God brings to light (v.11). There is a path that no bird knows, though it can fly high above earth to observe what is below. No falcon’s eye (which is amazingly keen) discerns it (v.7). The proud or fierce lion cannot by his superior strength, force his way into it (v.8).
But God’s hand accomplishes what creatures cannot, even overturning mountains at the roots, to expose what is hidden beneath (v.9). Through the hard rocks He cuts out channels, using water to wear away the rock. And in those rocks “He sees every precious thing,” which man would not discover till God saw fit to expose it (v.10). On streams on which man may expect to find treasure, He places darns that thwart men’s intentions. But in the end, even what is hidden God brings forth (v.11).
All of these things, whether manifest wonders (vv.1-6) or more hidden things in nature, God has made available for the blessing of man.
BUT WHERE IS WISDOM?
(vv.12-14)
But wisdom is only a dim vision in the distance, which men grasp after, but in all their searching they are totally disillusioned. “Where can it be found?” Job asks (v.12). Man by nature has no perception even of its value, nor is it found “in the land of the living” (v.13). Men have plunged into the depths of the sea, but wisdom is not there, though God’s wisdom manifestly controls the raging oceans (v.14). For we cannot obtain wisdom even by closely observing the fact of His hand of great power in all the marvellous phenomena of creation. We observe His wisdom, but wisdom eludes us.
WISDOM’S PRICELESS VALUE
(vv.15-19)
Job’s friends had considered they had “the secrets of wisdom” (ch.11:6), but Job easily discerned that their arguments were not wise at all. He therefore faces them with the fact that wisdom is not so easily obtained. In fact, wisdom is impossible to be bought with gold or silver (v.15).
Job continues his subject of wisdom, saying that the finest gold (from Ophir) or onyx or sapphire stones, or crystal, or jewellery of fine gold have no value whatever compared to the value of wisdom (vv.16-17). Coral and quartz are not worth mentioning, nor rubies either, in estimating the value of wisdom, nor the topaz of Ethiopia, nor any pure gold (vv.18-19). In other words, absolutely nothing in nature can approach the value of true wisdom, for this is spiritual, not natural. Well indeed does God say in regard to what man considers wisdom, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent” (1Co 1:19). On the other hand, 1Co 2:7 tells us, “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory.” This wisdom is received only through faith in the Lord Jesus, by the revelation of the Spirit of God (v.10). How wonderful is this, far above all natural comprehension!
REPORTED BUT UNKNOWN
(vv.20-22)
Job knew there is such a thing as wisdom, and men generally, realise that wisdom does exist. But where? All man’s searching does not find it: “it is hidden from the eyes of all living” and even “concealed from the birds of the air” (vv.20-21). Though highly elevated above man, the birds have no understanding of it. Let us remember too that the birds of the air are typical of spirits, the unclean birds symbolising unclean spirits. God’s wisdom is above the conception of these. “Destruction and death say, We have heard a report about it with our ears” (v.’ 22), but only a report, for wisdom itself is known only by a direct revelation from God.
THE ONLY SOURCE OF WISDOM
(vv.23-27)
“God understands its way and He knows its place” (v.23). Thus Job rises high above the speculations of men, who by nature have no idea of wisdom. God alone is the Source of wisdom. He understands it in absolute perfection, He who has established “the ends of the earth” and contemplates all that is “under the whole heaven,” as no creature can possibly do (v.24).
It is wisdom far higher than man’s conception that “established a weight for the wind” (v.25). For though air weighs nothing, yet the wind has such tremendous weight to it that it can break rocks in pieces (1Ki 19:11). Also God “apportions the water by measure.” Who could even think of measuring the water of the oceans? Yet these things are perfectly under the control of our great Creator, and wisdom, no less than power, is manifest in such mighty works.
“He made a law for the rain” (v.26) as to how and when it is to be released, and in precisely what areas; and man has no ability whatever to change that law. Nor does man understand why God withholds the rain at certain times and places, and sends excessive rain at the times and places that He chooses. But all of this is subject to the laws of nature which God has established. “A path for the thunderbolt” indicates that thunder is not haphazard, but is always under wise supervision. In all this God’s wisdom is declared (v.27). He prepared wisdom, He searched it out, leaving not one iota of its operation without fullest consideration. Does this not impress our souls with wondering admiration?
THE ESSENCE OF WISDOM FOR MAN
(v.28)
This one verse gives a wonderful conclusion to the subject of wisdom. Job discerned this, though men generally have no regard for this simple yet profound pronouncement, “To man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding” (v.28). The only reason that wisdom eludes people is that “there is no fear of God before their eyes,” so that they have no heart to depart from evil. The fear of the Lord is not terror, but a wholesome reverence that gives Him the place of supreme honour. Job recognised this, even though he had not been blessed with the revelation of the person of Christ, who is Wisdom personified, but his words surely show that the accusations of his friends were untrue.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
28:1 Surely there is a vein for the silver, {a} and a place for gold [where] they fine [it].
(a) His purpose is to declare that man may attain in this world to various secrets of nature, but man is never able to comprehend the wisdom of God.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
E. Job’s Concluding Soliloquies chs. 28-31
Job’s three friends had nothing more to say, but Job did. He continued to talk about God’s wisdom (ch. 28) and to defend his own innocence (chs. 29-31).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
1. Job’s discourse on God’s wisdom ch. 28
Because the speech in this chapter is more soliloquy than dialogue, some scholars have concluded that someone other than Job spoke it: Zophar, Bildad, or God. One writer argued for it’s being a speech by none of the characters, but a composition by the storyteller in which he expressed his own point of view. [Note: Andersen, pp. 222-29.] The subject matter, however, is in harmony with what Job had said previously (cf. Job 9:10-11; Job 12:13; Job 17:10; Job 23:8-10; Job 26:14). For this reason, it seems that Job probably spoke these words.
"Chapter 28, a wisdom hymn, may be a kind of interlude which marks the transition between the two major parts of the poetic body-the previous dialogue between Job and his friends, and the forth-coming long discourses by Job (chaps. 29-31), Elihu (chaps. 32-37), and God (chaps. 38-41) which are almost monologues." [Note: Parsons, p. 141.]
In this chapter, Job summarized his stance before God. Rather than being in rebellion against God, as his friends accused, Job claimed that he feared God and sought to depart from evil (Job 28:28). He continued to follow the instruction he had received while growing up, namely, that people should trust and obey God because He governs the world in infinite wisdom. [Note: Robert Laurin, "The Theological Structure of Job," Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 84 (1972):86-89.] The fact that Job believed God was unjust-in his case-did not mean that he had abandoned faith in God completely.
"The internal structure of chapter 28 is as follows:
Introduction (Job 28:1-2): All treasure has a source
I. First stanza (Job 28:3-11): The discovery of treasure
Refrain and response (Job 28:12-14): Wisdom is elusive
II. Second stanza (Job 28:15-19): Wisdom as treasure
Refrain and response (Job 28:20-22): Wisdom is elusive
III. Third stanza (Job 28:23-27): God and wisdom
Conclusion (Job 28:28): The source of wisdom" [Note: Smick, "Architectonics, Structured . . .," p. 91.]
The point of Job’s soliloquy is this: People have been extremely clever and industrious in exploring, discovering, and extracting earth’s richest physical resources. Nonetheless, they have not been able to do so with what is even more essential to their welfare, namely, wisdom. The reason for this is that wisdom does not lie hidden in the earth but in the person of God. The key to obtaining that wisdom is orienting oneself properly toward God.
Job 28:5 b probably means that mining produces a mixture of rubble just as a fire does. [Note: Rowley, p. 228.] The essence of wisdom is to fear (treat with reverential trust) the Lord (Master) and to depart from evil (Job 28:28). We know this only by supernatural revelation ("to man He said"). We can never plumb the depths of God’s wisdom. However, we can experience wisdom partially as we adore and obey God-making Him, rather than self, the center of our lives, and allowing Him to regulate our lives.
In this speech, Job demonstrated that his understanding of wisdom was greater than that of his three friends. It was a rebuke of their shortsighted wisdom. [Note: Gleason L. Archer Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, p. 463.] In chapter 28, Job gave evidence that he did fear God. In chapter 29, he proceeded to give evidence that he also turned away from evil. Consequently, Job 28:28 is a hinge and connecting link. It is also "one of the great climactic moments in the Book." [Note: Reichert, p. 145.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
XXIII.
CHORAL INTERLUDE
Job 28:1-28
THE controversy at length closed, the poet breaks into a chant of the quest of Wisdom. It can hardly be supposed to have been uttered or sung by Job. But if we may go so far as to imagine a chorus after the manner of the Greek dramas, this ode would fitly come as a choral descant reflecting on the vain attempts made alike by Job and by his friends to penetrate the secrets of Divine providence. How poor and unsatisfying is all that has been said. To fathom the purposes of the Most High, to trace through the dark shadows and entanglements of human life that unerring righteousness with which all events are ordered and overruled-how far was this above the sagacity of the speakers. Now and again true things have been said, now and again glimpses of that vindication of the good which should compensate for all their sufferings have brightened the controversy. But the reconciliation has not been found. The purposes of the Most High remain untraced. The poet is fully aware of this, aware even that on the ground of argument he is unable to work out the problem which he has opened. With an undertone of wistful sadness, remembering passages of his countrys poetry that ran in too joyous a strain, as if wisdom lay within the range of human ken, he suspends the action of the drama for a little to interpose this cry of limitation and unrest. There is no complaint that God keeps in his own hand sublime secrets of design. What is man that he should be discontented with his place and power? It is enough for him that the Great God rules in righteous sovereignty, gives him laws of conduct to be obeyed in reverence, shows him the evil he is to avoid, the good he is to follow. “The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” Those who have a world to explore and use, the Almighty to adore! and trust, if they must seek after the secret of existence and ever feet themselves baffled in the endeavour, may still live nobly, bear patiently, find blessed life within the limit God has set.
First the industry of man is depicted, that: search for the hidden things of the earth which is significant alike of the craving and ingenuity of the human mind.
Surely there is a mine for silver
And a place for gold which they refine.
Iron is taken out of the earth,
And copper is molten out of the stone.
Man setteth an end to darkness,
And searcheth, to the furthest bound,
The stones of darkness and gloom.
He breaks a shaft away from where men dwell;
They are forgotten of the foot;
Afar from men they hang and swing to and fro.
The poet has seen, perhaps in Idumaea or in Midian where mines of copper and gold were wrought by the Egyptians, the various operations here described. Digging or quarrying, driving tunnels horizontally into the hills or sinking shafts in the valleys, letting themselves down by ropes from the edge of a cliff to reach the vein, then, suspended in mid air, hewing at the ore, the miners variously ply their craft. Away in remote gorges of the hills the pits they have dug remain abandoned, forgotten. The long winding passages they make seem to track to the utmost limit the stones of darkness, stones that are black with the richness of the ore.
On the earths surface men till their fields, but the hidden treasures that lie below are more valuable than the harvest of maize or wheat.
“As for the earth, out of it cometh bread;
And from beneath it is turned up as by fire.
The stones thereof are the place of sapphires,
And it hath dust of gold.”
The reference to fire as an agent in turning up the earth appears to mark a volcanic district, but sapphires and gold are found either in alluvial soil or associated with gneiss and quartz. Perhaps the fire was that used by the miners to split refractory rock. And the cunning of man is seen in this, that he carries into the very heart of the mountains a path which no vulture or falcon ever saw, which the proud beasts and fierce lions have not trodden.
“He puts forth his hand upon the flinty rock,
He overturneth mountains by the roots.”
Slowly indeed as compared with modern work of the kind, yet surely, where those earnest toilers desired a way, excavations went on and tunnels were formed with wedge and hammer and pickaxe. The skill of man in providing tools and devising methods, and his patience and assiduity made him master of the very mountains. And when he had found the ore he could extract its precious metal and gems.
“He cutteth out channels among the rocks;
And his eye seeth every precious thing.
He bindeth the streams that they trickle not
And the hidden thing brings he forth to light.”
For washing his ore when it has been crushed he needs supplies of water, and to this end makes long aqueducts. In Idumaea a whole range of reservoirs may still be seen, by means of which even in the dry season the work of gold washing might be carried on without interruption. No particle of the precious metal escaped the quick eye of the practised miner. And again, if water began to percolate into his shaft or tunnel, he had skill to bind the streams that his search might not be hindered.
Such then is mans skill, such are his perseverance and success in the quest of things he counts valuable-iron for his tools, copper to fashion into vessels, gold and silver to adorn the crowns of kings, sapphires to gleam upon their raiment. And if in the depths of earth or anywhere the secrets of life could be reached, men of eager adventurous spirit would sooner or later find them out.
It is to be noticed that, in the account given here of the search after hidden things, attention is confined to mining operations. And this may appear strange, the general subject being the quest of wisdom, that is understanding of the principles and methods by which the Divine government of the world is carried on. There was in those days a method of research, widely practised, to which some allusion might have been expected-the so-called art of astrology. The Chaldaeans had for centuries observed the stars, chronicled their apparent movements, measured the distances of the planets from each other in their unexplained progress through the constellations. On this survey of the heavens was built up a whole code of rules for predicting events. The stars which culminated at the time of any ones birth, the planets visible when an undertaking was begun, were supposed to indicate prosperity or disaster. The author of the Book of Job could not be ignorant of this art. Why does he not mention it? Why does he not point out that by watching the stars man seeks in vain to penetrate Divine secrets? And the reply would seem to be that keeping absolute silence in regard to astrology he meant to refuse it as a method of inquiry. Patient, eager labour among the rocks and stones is the type of fruitful endeavour. Astrology is not in any way useful; nothing is reached by that method of questioning nature.
The poet proceeds:-
“Where shall wisdom be found,
And where is the place of understanding?
Man knoweth not the way thereof,
Neither is it to be found in the land of the living.
The deep saith, It is not in me;
And the sea saith, It is not with me.”
The whole range of the physical cosmos, whether open to the examination of man or beyond his reach, is here declared incapable of supplying the clue to that underlying idea by which the course of things is ordered. The land of the living is the surface of the earth which men inhabit. The deep is the underworld. Neither there nor in the sea is the great secret to be found. As for its price, however earnestly men may desire to possess themselves of it, no treasures are of any use; it is not to be bought in any market.
Never is wisdom got for gold,
Nor for its price can silver be told.
For the gold of Ophir it may not be won,
The onyx rare or the sapphire stone.
Gold is no measure and glass no hire,
Jewels of gold twice fined by fire.
Coral and crystal tell in vain,
Pearls of the deep for wisdoms gain.
Topaz of Cush avails thee nought,
Nor with gold of glory is it bought.
While wisdom is thus of value incommensurate with all else men count precious and rare, it is equally beyond the reach of all other forms of mundane life. The birds that soar high into the atmosphere see nothing of it, nor does any creature that wanders far into uninhabitable wilds. Abaddon and Death indeed, the devouring abyss and that silent world which seems to gather and keep all secrets, have heard a rumour of it. Beyond the range of mortal sense some hint there may be of a Divine plan governing the mutations of existence, the fulfilment of which will throw light on the underworld where the spirits of the departed wait in age-long night. But death has no knowledge any more than life. Wisdom is Gods prerogative, His activities are His own to order and fulfil.
God understandeth the way thereof,
And He knoweth the place thereof.
For He looketh to the ends of the earth,
And seeth under the whole heaven,
Making weight for the winds;
And He meteth out the waters by measure.
When He made a decree for the rain.
And a way for the lightning of thunder,
Then did He see it and number it,
He established it, yea, and searched it out.
The evolution, as we should say, of the order of nature gives fixed and visible embodiment to the wisdom of God. We must conclude, therefore, that the poet indicates the complete idea of the world as a cosmos governed by subtle all-pervading law for moral ends. The creation of the visible universe is assumed to begin, and with the created before Him God sees its capacities, determines the use to which its forces are to be put, the relation all things are to have to each other, to the life of man and to His own glory. But the hokhma or understanding of this remains forever beyond the discovery of the human intellect. Man knoweth not the way thereof. The forces of earth and air and sea and the deep that lieth under do not reveal the secret of their working; they are but instruments. And the end of all is not to be found in Sheol, in the silent world of the dead. God Himself is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.
Yet man has his life and his law. Though intellectual understanding of his world and destiny may fail however earnestly he pursues the quest, he should obtain the knowledge that comes by reverence and obedience. He can adore God, he can distinguish good from evil and seek what is right and true. There lies his hokhma, there, says the poet, it must continue to lie.
“And unto man He said,
Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
And to depart from evil is understanding.”
The conclusion lays a hush upon mans thought-but leaves it with a doctrine of God and faith reaching above the limitations of time and sense. Reverence for the Divine will not fully known, the pursuit of holiness, fear of the Unseen God are no agnosticism, they are the true springs of religious life.