Job 28:1-28
1 Surely there is a veina for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.
2 Iron is taken out of the earth,b 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 dustc 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;d 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;e 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 jewelsf of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of coral,g 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 is the place of understanding?
21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.h
22 Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame 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 the weight for the winds; and he weigheth 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 declarei it; he prepared 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.
Job 28. Here again we come to a critical question. It is difficult to fit this chapter into the argument, whether Job 27:7 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. 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, 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. 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 bird's 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). 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. 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, Ecclesiastes 12:13.