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 furthest bound, The stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.
4 He breaketh open a shaft away from where men sojourn; They are forgotten of the foot; They hang afar from men, they swing to and fro.
5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread; And underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
6 The stones thereof are the place of sapphires, And it hath dust of gold.
7 That path no bird of prey knoweth, Neither hath the falcon's eye seen it:
8 The proud beasts have not trodden it, Nor hath the fierce lion passed thereby.
9 He putteth forth his hand upon the flinty rock; He overturneth the mountains by the roots.
10 He cutteth out channels among the rocks; And his eye seeth every precious thing.
11 He bindeth the streams that they trickle not; And the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.
12 But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?
13 Man knoweth not the price thereof; Neither is it found in the land of the living.
14 The deep saith, It is not in me; And the sea saith, It is not with me.
15 It cannot be gotten for gold, Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, With the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
17 Gold and glass cannot equal it, Neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal: Yea, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
20 Whence then cometh wisdom? And where is the place of understanding?
21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, And kept close from the birds of the heavens.
22 Destruction and Death say, We have heard a rumor thereof with our ears.
23 God understandeth the way thereof, And he knoweth the place thereof.
24 For he looketh to the ends of the earth, And seeth under the whole heaven;
25 To make a weight for the wind: Yea, he meteth out the waters by measure.
26 When he made a decree for the rain, And a way for the lightning of the thunder;
27 Then did he see it, and declare it; He established it, yea, and searched it out.
28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Job 28
Commentary on Job 28 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 28
The strain of this chapter is very unlike the rest of this book. Job forgets his sores, and all his sorrows, and talks like a philosopher or a virtuoso. Here is a great deal both of natural and moral philosophy in this discourse; but the question is, How does it come in here? Doubtless it was not merely for an amusement, or diversion from the controversy; though, if it had been only so, perhaps it would not have been much amiss. When disputes grow hot, better lose the question than lose our temper. But this is pertinent and to the business in hand. Job and his friends had been discoursing about the dispensations of Providence towards the wicked and the righteous. Job had shown that some wicked men live and die in prosperity, while others are presently and openly arrested by the judgments of God. But, if any ask the reason why some are punished in this world and not others, they must be told it is a question that cannot be answered. The knowledge of the reasons of state in God's government of the world is kept from us, and we must neither pretend to it nor reach after it. Zophar had wished that God would show Job the "secrets of wisdom' (ch. 11:6). No, says Job, "secret things belong not to us, but things revealed,' Deu. 29:29. And here he shows,
Job 28:1-11
Here Job shows,
Job 28:12-19
Job, having spoken of the wealth of the world, which men put such a value upon and take so much pains for, here comes to speak of another more valuable jewel, and that is, wisdom and understanding, the knowing and enjoying of God and ourselves. Those that found out all those ways and means to enrich themselves thought themselves very wise; but Job will not own theirs to be wisdom. He supposes them to gain their point, and to bring to light what they sought for (v. 11), and yet asks, "Where is wisdom? for it is not here.' This their way is their folly. We must therefore seek it somewhere else, and it will be found nowhere but in the principles and practices of religion. There is more true knowledge, satisfaction, and happiness, in sound divinity, which shows us the way to the joys of heaven, than in natural philosophy or mathematics, which help us to find a way into the bowels of the earth. Two things cannot be found out concerning this wisdom:-
Job 28:20-28
The question which Job had asked (v. 12) he asks again here; for it is too worthy, too weighty, to be let fall, until we speed in the enquiry. Concerning this we must seek till we find, till we get some satisfactory account of it. By a diligent prosecution of this enquiry he brings it, at length, to this issue, that there is a twofold wisdom, one hidden in God, which is secret and belongs not to us, the other made known by him and revealed to man, which belongs to us and to our children.