Job 28:12-28

2. But where wisdom is, man cannot discover; only God knows. (Job 28:12-28)

TEXT 28:12-28

12 But where shall wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?

13 Man knoweth not the price thereof;

Neither is it found in the land of the living.

14 The deep saith, It is not in me;

And the sea saith, It is not with me.

15 It cannot be gotten for gold,

Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.

16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir,

With the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

17 Gold and glass cannot equal it,

Neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

18 No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal:

Yea, the price of wisdom is above rubies.

19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it,

Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

20 Whence then cometh wisdom?

And where is the place of understanding?

21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living,

And kept close from the birds of the heavens.

22 Destruction and Death say,

We have heard a rumor thereof with our ears.

23 God understandeth the way thereof,

And he knoweth the place thereof.

24 For he looketh to the ends of the earth,

And seeth under the whole heaven;

25 To make a weight for the wind:

Yea, he meteth out the waters by measure.

26 When he made a decree for the ram,

And a way for the lightning of the thunder;

27 Then did he see it, and declare it;

He established it, yea, and searched it out.

28 And unto man he said,

Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.

COMMENT 28:12-28

Job 28:12Man can mine silver, gold, precious gems, but what about wisdom and understanding?Proverbs 1:2; Proverbs 4:5; Proverbs 4:7; Proverbs 9:10; Proverbs 16:16. The wisdom with which God governs creation eludes man's search. (The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Paul calls Jesus the wisdom of God, 1 Corinthians 1:30 ff). This verse is repeated with little modification in Job 28:20.

Job 28:13Though the Hebrew text has its price (-erkah) as A. V., this verse is concerned with locating wisdom; Job 28:15 ff treat the value or price of wisdom. Thus it would be appropriate to emend the text to read the way to it, (darkah)[289] instead of its price, following the LXX. The thesis here is that man knows the way to find the things discussed in the preceding verses; but he is completely at a loss as to how to locate wisdom. The parallelism strongly favors the emendation, which follows the LXX. The second line suggests that wisdom is not found in the land of the living either, a metaphor for inhabited earthPsalms 27:13; Psalms 52:7, Job 28:22; Isaiah 38:11; Isaiah 53:8; Jeremiah 11:19; and Ezekiel 26:20.

[289] Perhaps more support is now available for M. Dahood's suggestion which produces the emendation house or abode of wisdomBiblica, 1969, p. 355. Still the emphasis is on the location of wisdom, not its price.

Job 28:14Tehom, the deep, says wisdom is not there eitherGenesis 7:11; Genesis 49:25; and Job 3:18. Man may explore the watery abyss as he digs for gold and silver, but he will not find wisdom.

Job 28:15Wisdom cannot be purchased with gold (Heb. segorgold bullion, pure gold). The word is found only here, but a slightly different word is used to describe the gold of Temple ornaments1 Kings 6:20. The root meaning is enclose, perhaps prized, or even gold bars1 Kings 7:49; Job 10:21; 2 Chronicles 4:20; 2 Chronicles 4:22; 2 Chronicles 9:20. In the ancient world, money was weighed not countedGenesis 23:16; Zechariah 11:12.

Job 28:16Wisdom cannot be obtained for gold (Heb. ketenwhich is a derivation from the Egyptian source of goldNubia). The verb rendered be valued is found only here and Job 28:19 and means to be weighed againstJob 22:24. The precious gem (Heb. sohom) can be given only a precarious and conjectural meaningGenesis 2:12; Exodus 39:13; and Ezekiel 29:13, but the meaning is clear. The things men value most cannot purchase wisdom.

Job 28:17The only direct reference to glass (gabiscrystal, used of hail stones in Ezekiel 13:11; Ezekiel 13:13; and Ezekiel 38:22) in the Old Testament is found here. Glass was made in Egypt as early as 4000 B.C. It was used for ornamentation and was very valuable. Because of its value, no one would exchange wisdom for vessels of fine goldPsalms 19:10; Proverbs 8:19.

Job 28:18The gems mentioned here cannot be identified with certainty, but Lamentations 4:7 gives us a clue to their color as being reddishProverbs 31:10; Ezekiel 27:16.[290]

[290] See S. T. Byington, JBL, 1945, pp. 340ff.

Job 28:19The price of wisdom continues to be contrasted with topaz (green pearl or yellowish stone) and pure goldJob 28:16. Pliny (Historia Naturalis, XXXVII, XXXII, 108) indicates that there was an island in the Red Sea called Topazos.

Job 28:20Perhaps this verse is a refrainJob 28:12. Both the living and the dead fail to ensnare wisdom. All human searching is futile.

Job 28:21Wisdom is not made available to man through his searching the earth, sea, Sheol, or the heavensJob 28:13-14; Job 28:22. No one can locate the hiding place of wisdom. Neither heights nor depths provide a vantage point for observation in order to provide advantage in reconnaissance; wisdom is no place to be found.

Job 28:22Destruction, AbaddonJob 26:6 band death personified have only a rumour; they have no direct concrete knowledge of wisdom. The dread powers have only heard with their ears2 Samuel 7:22; Psalms 44:2, i.e., have only second-hand evidence. Man's most dreaded enemydeathhas only a vague rumour as to wisdom's home, source.

Job 28:23God stands in the emphatic position both in the text and in the Universe. He alone knows the nature and source of wisdom.

Job 28:24Heaven and earth were created by wisdom and understandingProverbs 3:19; Job 37:3; Job 41:3; Isaiah 40:28; Isaiah 41:5; Isaiah 41:9. The Creator surveys His entire creation and knows its every need.

Job 28:25God's providential guidance of the cosmos is illustrated by the fact that He regulates the force of the wind and measures the watersJob 5:10; Job 36:27-33; Job 38:26-27; Isaiah 40:12; note and contrast with Job 12:15.

Job 28:26The Hebrew wordhoqshould not be translated decree as in the A. V., but in the sense of boundary or limit as in Jeremiah 5:22; Proverbs 8:29; Psalms 148:6. The root significance of hoq is to engrave (cf. Job 38:25 a uses te-'alahtrench or groove). God also sets limits on the way (darekpath)[291] lightning of the thunder (R. S. V.thunderbolt, see Zechariah 10:1). Probably this means a thunderstorm (haziz qolot)Job 37:4; Zechariah 10:1; Psalms 18:13; Isaiah 30:30 ff; and Jeremiah 10:13.

[291] See E. F. Sutcliffe, The Clouds as Water Carriers in Hebrew Thoughts, Vetus Testamentum, 1953, pp. 99-103.

Job 28:27The reference here is to the time of creation. Man was not present; therefore, He could not reveal the nature of wisdom to man. The A. V. rendering of declare (verb, sprappraise, evaluate, or count) might suggest that God announced it to man, but this is impossible in that man did not yet exist. The significance of the first two verbs suggests that God perfectly understood the nature of wisdomJob 14:6; Job 38:37; Psalms 22:18. God appraised (spr) and established (hekinah, rather than the emendation hebinahdiscerned) and tested wisdom. God exhaustively evaluated wisdom in the process of creation. An analogue might be that of a computer evaluating all possible options in a finite system.

Job 28:28After evaluating the process of creation, after man is created, God (-dnyadonai is found nowhere else in Job) says to him that there is a practical wisdom available to man, which is the way to ultimate wisdom, that isStand in awe before God. In Proverbs 9:10 and Psalms 111:10 the authors declare that awe or reverence (not fear as dread or horror) of God is the chief (roshhead) or foundation for wisdom. Reverent submission to the gracious will of God is the only place in the universe where one gains hope of ultimate victory over sin and evil. Evil is irrational in that there is no logical explanation nor technological way of removing evil from the fallen universe. The empirical evidence remains intact; man is separated from God, self, others, and nature by sinful self-elevation When pride is destroyed by being born again, the self is crucified, and we accept a new center from which to maintain integritythat new center is Job's redeemer, Lord of heaven and earth.[292]

[292] See statement regarding the problem which chapter 28 presents in F. I. Andersen, Job, pp. 222-229.