Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 28:4
The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; [even the waters] forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.
4. This verse reads as a whole,
They break a shaft away from man’s abode;
They are forgotten of the foot;
Far away from men they hang, and swing.
The first clause, lit. away from the dweller or inhabitant, describes how the miners sink their shaft deep down below and away from the abode of men above. There they are forgotten by the foot of those overhead, who walk oblivious of them. And the last clause describes how they “hang and swing,” i.e. swing suspended in cages or from ropes as they pursue their unnatural operations
half way down
Hangs one that gathers samphire dreadful trade.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant – It would be difficult to tell what idea our translators affixed to this sentence, though it seems to be a literal version of the Hebrew. There has been a great variety of rendering given to the passage. Noyes translates it:
From the place where they dwell they open a shaft,
Unsupported by the feet,
They are suspended, they swing away from men.
Herder:
A flood goeth out from the realm of oblivion,
They draw it up from the foot of the mountain,
They remove it away from men.
According to this, the meaning, Herder says, would be, that the dwelling of the forgotten would be the kingdom of the dead, and at greater depth than the deepest mines have reached. Streams break forth from the river of eternal oblivion beneath, and yet are overcome by the miners, pumped dry, and turned out of the way. Yet I confess, says he, the passage remains obscure to my mind. Coverdale renders it, With the river of water parteth he asunder the strange people, that knoweth no good neighborhood; such as are rude, unmannerly, and boisterous. The Septuagint renders it, The channels of brooks are choked up with sand; when to such as know not the right way strength is unavailing, and they are removed from among men. The difficulty of interpreting the passage has been felt by every expositor to be great; and there are scarcely two expositions alike. There can be no doubt that Job refers to mining operations, and the whole passage should be explained with reference to such works. But the obscurity may possibly arise from the fact that mining operations were then conducted in a manner different from what they are now, and the allusion may be to some custom which was then well understood, but of which we now know nothing. A plausible interpretation, at least, has been furnished by Gesenius, and one which seems to me to be more satisfactory than any other. An explanation of the words in the passage will bring out this view. The word rendered breaketh out ( parats) means to break, rend, tear through – and here refers to the act of breaking through the earth for the purpose of sinking a shaft or pit in a mine. The word rendered flood ( nachal) means properly a stream or brook; then a valley in which a brook runs along; and here Gesenius supposes it means a shaft or pit of a mine. It may be called a nachal, or valley, from the resemblance to a gully which the water has washed away by a mountain-torrent.
From the inhabitant – This conveys evidently no idea as it now stands. The Hebrew is mem–gar. The word gur, from which gar is derived, means to sojourn for a time, to dwell, as a stranger or guest; and the phrase here means, away from any dweller or inhabitant; that is, from where people dwell, or from the surface of the ground as the home of men; that is, under ground. Or the idea is, that it is done where no one could dwell. It could not be the abode of man.
Even the waters forgotten of the foot – The words even the waters are supplied by the translators. The Hebrew is hanskachym mny–regel, and refers to being unsupported by the foot. They go into a place where the foot yields no support, and they are obliged to suspend themselves in order to be sustained.
They are dried up – dalu. The word dalal, from which this is derived, means to hang down, to be pendulous, as boughs are on a tree, or as a bucket is in a well. According to this interpretation, the meaning is, that they hang down far from men in their mines, and swing to and fro like the branches of a tree in the wind.
They are gone away from men – The word nau, from nua, means to move to and fro, to waver, to vacillate. Gr. and Latin neuo, nuo, Germ. nicken, to nod backward and forward. The sense here is, that, far from the dwellings of people, they wave to and fro in their deep mines, suspended by cords. They descend by the aid of cords, and not by a firm foothold, until they penetrate the deep darkness of the earth. Other interpretations may be seen, however, defended at length in Schultens, and in Rosenmuller – who has adopted substantially that of Schultens – in Dr. Good, and in other commentaries. Few passages in the Bible are more obscure.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 4. The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant] This passage is very difficult. Some think it refers to mining; others to navigation. If it refer to the former, it may be intended to point out the waters that spring up when the miners have sunk down to a considerable depth, so that the mine is drowned, and they are obliged to give it up. Previously to the invention of the steam-engine this was generally the case: hence ancient mines may be reopened and worked to great advantage, because we have the means now to take off the water which the ancient workers had not. When, therefore, floods break out in those shafts, they are abandoned; and thus they are,
Forgotten of the foot] No man treads there any more. The waters increase dallu, they are elevated, they rise up to a level with the spring, or till they meet with some fissure by which they can escape; and thence meenosh nau, they are moved or carried away from men; the stream is lost in the bowels of the earth.
Mr. Peters thinks that both this verse, and Job 9:26, refer to navigation, then in a state of infancy; for the sea is not so much as mentioned; but nachal, a torrent or flood, some river or arm of the sea perhaps of a few leagues over, which, dividing the several nations, must interrupt their hospitality and commerce with each other, unless by the help of navigation. According to this opinion the verse may be translated and paraphrased thus: The flood-rivers and arms of the sea – separateth from the stranger, meim gar, divides different nations and peoples: they are forgotten of the foot – they cannot walk over these waters, they must embark in vessels; then they dwindle away, dallu, from the size of men, that is, in proportion to their departure from the land they lessen on the sight; nau, they are tossed up and down, namely, by the action of the waves. This receives some countenance from the psalmist’s fine description, Ps 107:26-27, of a ship in a rough sea: They mount up to heaven; they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, yanuu, (the same word as above,) they stagger like a drunken man. Mr. Good’s translation is singular: –
He breaketh up the veins from the matrice,
Which, though thought nothing of under the foot,
Are drawn forth, are brandished among mankind.
This learned man thinks that it applies solely to mining, of which I cannot doubt; and therefore I adopt the first interpretation: but as to agreement among translators, it will be sought in vain. I shall just add Coverdale: With the ryver of water parteth he a sunder the straunge people, that knoweth no good neighbourheade; such as are rude, unmannerly, and boysterous.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This verse speaks either,
1. Of another great and remarkable work of God, whereby in some places either new rivers break forth, or old rivers break in upon the inhabitants, and drive them away; and in other places rivers or other waters are dried up, or derived into other channels or grounds, by which means these lands are rendered more useful and fruitful. Or rather,
2. Of an accident which commonly happens in mines, where, whilst men are digging, a flood of waters breaks in suddenly and violently upon them, and disturbs them in their work.
From the inhabitant, Heb.
from with the inhabitant, i.e. out of that part of the earth which the miners in a manner inhabit, or where they have their fixed abode, and for the most part dwell. Or, so that there is no inhabitant or abider, i.e. so that the miners dare continue there no longer, but are forced to come away.
Even the waters; which word is easily and fitly understood out of the foregoing word flood. Or without this supplement, the flood may be said to be forgotten, &c., that singular word being collectively taken, and so conveniently joined with this word of the plural number.
Forgotten of the foot, i.e. untrodden by the foot of man, such waters as men either never did pass over, by reason of their depth, cannot pass over; or such as though the miners at first for a while did pass over, yet now cannot, or dare not, do so any more. Forgetfulness is here ascribed to the foot, as it is to the hand, Psa 137:5; and it is put for ignorance or unacquaintedness; as all sinners are said to forget God, though many of them never remembered nor minded him.
They are dried up, they are gone away from men; Heb.
they are dried up (or drawn up, to wit, by engines made for that purpose) from men, (i.e. from the miners, that they may not be hindered in their work. Or, with or by men, the prefix mem being oft put for beth, i.e. by the labour of men,) they remove or vanish, or pass away, and so the miners return to their work.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. Three hardships in mining: 1.”A stream (flood) breaks out at the side of the stranger”;namely, the miner, a strange newcomer into places heretoforeunexplored; his surprise at the sudden stream breaking out besidehim is expressed (English Version, “from theinhabitant”). 2. “Forgotten (unsupported) by the foot theyhang,” namely, by ropes, in descending. In the Hebrew,“Lo there” precedes this clause, graphically placing it asif before the eyes. “The waters” is inserted by EnglishVersion. “Are dried up,” ought to be, “hang,””are suspended.” English Version perhaps understood,waters of whose existence man was previously unconscious, andnear which he never trod; and yet man’s energy is such, thatby pumps, c., he soon causes them to “dry up and go away”[So HERDER]. 3. “Faraway from men, they move with uncertain step” they stagger; not”they are gone” [UMBREIT].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant,…. Or, “so that there is no inhabitant” z; of the mine, as the miner may be said to be, who lives there continually; and, when a flood of water arises, which is an usual thing in mines, he is obliged to flee, and make haste to save his life:
[even the waters] forgotten of the foot; such as never any foot of man touched, or was acquainted with, being subterraneous water, and never seen with the eye of man before, and who before knew not there were such floods underground a. A like figurative expression in
Ps 137:5;
they are dried up, they are gone away from men; though such a flood of waters rise apace, and flow in with great force, and threaten the miners’ lives, and the ruin of their works; yet they are not discouraged, but by means of engines, pumps, and buckets, and such like things, draw up the waters, and clear the mines of them; and they are gone from the workmen, who return to their work again, and go on with their mining: and so sometimes spiritual miners are interrupted by a flood of Satan’s temptations, the world’s persecutions, and various afflictions; but, by the assistance of the spirit and grace of God, whereby a standard is lifted up against them, they get clear of them, and receive no hurt by them, but go on cheerfully in the work of the Lord, Isa 59:19.
z “qui accolas non fert”, Tigurine version; “dimisso accola”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator “ut non sit accola”, Mercerus. a Vid. Senecae Nat. Quaest. l. 5. c. 15.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(4) The flood breaketh out . . . is very uncertain. We may render, Man breaketh open a shaft where none sojourneth; they are forgotten where none passeth by: i.e., the labourers in these deserted places, they hang afar from the haunts of men, they flit to and fro. Or it may be, The flood breaketh out from the inhabitants, even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from man: that is, the very course of rivers is subject to the will and power of man. Those who walk over the place forget that it was once a river, so completely has man obliterated the marks of it.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. The flood “Cimmerian darkness,” to use the words of Schultens, surrounds this verse. The reading most accepted at present is, literally, He sinketh a shaft away from where men dwell: forgotten of the foot, they hang far from men, they string to and fro.
The flood breaketh , which commonly signifies a stream of water, and sometimes a valley or gorge, Gen 26:17; Gen 26:19; 2Ki 3:16, is here used in the unusual sense of shaft, and objectively to the verb “breaketh,” or “sinketh.”
They are dried up It is now admitted that the Arabic signification of dalal, “hang suspended,” is the proper meaning of the Hebrew here. Job’s description of the dizzy and dangerous descent into a mine strikingly agrees with that of Pliny, who represents the men as “suspended by ropes and swinging,” even while they cut the rocks. “The course taken,” he says, “is where there is no footing for men.” Pliny thus best interprets forgotten of the foot, a phrase which is used like that of the psalmist, “let my right hand forget,” etc., Psa 137:5, to express temporary disability for performing its ordinary offices.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 28:4. The flood breaketh out The author here gives us another instance of the daring spirit and ingenuity of mankind; how they cross the broad rivers and arms of the sea for commerce, where there is no path for the foot of man; where they lessen to the sight, and are tossed upon the waves. The verse may be literally translated thus: The flood interrupts from the stranger; forgotten of the foot, they appear less than men; they are tossed. If we were to see such a passage in Pindar, I am persuaded, we should think that which I have given to be the sense of it, and admire the strong and lively images here set before us. There are but two places which I remember in the Book of Job, where there is any allusion to navigation, and both shew it to have been in its infancy: the one is chap. Job 9:26 on which see the note; the other is this before us; where the sea is not so much as mentioned, but nachal, a torrent, or flood; some arm of the sea, perhaps, of a few leagues over, which, dividing the several nations, must interrupt their hospitality and commerce with each other, except by the help of navigation. One would think that Job had the boat and mariners in his eye when he describes them so poetically in these three remarkable particulars; that they are forgotten of the foot; i.e. their feet forget them, and are no longer serviceable to them in this very different way of travelling; that they lessen to the sight; they look like crows instead of men, as they go further and further from the shore; and lastly, are tossed up and down upon the billows; nau. The word seems to denote any involuntary and irregular motion, and is used by the Psalmist for the staggering of a drunkard; to which he compares the unsteady motion of a ship’s crew tossed in a storm, in that fine description, Psa 107:27. Peters.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Job 28:4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; [even the waters] forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.
Ver. 4. The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant ] Broughton rendereth it, from the spring. Others, Erumpit fluvius iuxta accolam, A river breaketh out near to the inhabitant; that is, to the miner, who is forced to leave the place, till by buckets, wheels, and other fit devices, the pits be cleared, so that they may start working again. Illae ergo utribus praegrandibus ex multis bovum coriis consutis indefesso labore exhauriuntur, adhibitis ad eam rem rotis et machinis idoneis (Merl.).
Even the waters forgotten of the foot
They are dried up, &c.
They are gone away from men
Per mare pauperiem fugiunt, per saxa, per ignes (Horat.).
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
men = mortal men.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Reciprocal: Gen 7:11 – all
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 28:4. The flood breaketh out While men are digging and searching in the mines, a flood of waters breaks in suddenly and violently upon them, and disturbs them in their work; from the inhabitant Hebrew, , megnim gar, from with the inhabitant, or sojourner, as the word rather means: that is, out of that part of the earth which the miners inhabit, or wherever they sojourn and work; so that they dare not continue there any longer: but are forced to leave the place; even the waters forgotten of the foot The first words in this clause, even the waters, are not in the Hebrew. It is only, They (namely, the waters) are forgotten of the foot; that is, the foot, treading on dry ground, forgets that the waters were lately there. They are dried up, they are gone away from men That is, the art of man finds a way to divert such waters into different channels, and to drain them, so that they leave the places dry again, or, at least, run in such shallow streams that they are easily passed over.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
28:4 The flood breaketh out from the {c} inhabitant; [even the waters] {d} forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.
(c) Meaning, him that dwells by it.