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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Job 28

Job 28: where wisdom is found, and the mines where it is not

General context

The chapter has no speaker heading. It begins with mining: there is a vein for silver and a place where gold is refined; iron is taken from the earth and brass is melted from stone. Someone sets an end to darkness and searches out the stones of darkness and the shadow of death; a flood breaks out where no foot goes; the earth yields bread above and is turned up as by fire beneath; its stones hold sapphires and its dust gold. There is a path no bird knows and no vulture's eye has seen, untrodden by the lion's whelps. He puts his hand on the rock, overturns mountains by the roots, cuts rivers among rocks, binds floods and brings hidden things to light. Then the question: where shall wisdom be found? Man does not know its price; it is not in the land of the living; the depth and the sea say it is not in them. It cannot be bought with gold, silver, gold of Ophir, onyx, sapphire, crystal, jewels, coral, pearls, rubies or the topaz of Ethiopia. The question is asked again: whence comes wisdom? It is hidden from all living and from the birds; destruction and death say they have only heard its fame. God understands its way and knows its place, for he looks to the ends of the earth, gives weight to the winds and measure to the waters. When he made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning, he saw wisdom, declared it, prepared it and searched it out. And to man he said: the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.

Cited passages: Job 28:1, Job 28:2, Job 28:3, Job 28:4, Job 28:5, Job 28:6, Job 28:7, Job 28:8, Job 28:9, Job 28:10, Job 28:11, Job 28:12, Job 28:13, Job 28:14, Job 28:15, Job 28:16, Job 28:17, Job 28:18, Job 28:19, Job 28:20, Job 28:21, Job 28:22, Job 28:23, Job 28:24, Job 28:25, Job 28:26, Job 28:27, Job 28:28

Job 28 (KJV)

1Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.

2Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.

3He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.

4The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.

5As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.

6The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.

7There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen:

8The lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.

9He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.

10He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.

11He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.

12But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?

13Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.

14The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.

15It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.

16It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

17The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.

18No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.

19The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

20Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?

21Seeing 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.

23God 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.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

No speaker is named in this chapter. The last heading before it is "Moreover Job continued his parable" at the start of chapter 27, and the next heading, at the start of chapter 29, repeats the same words, so the printed text places chapter 28 inside Job's speech. Nothing in the chapter itself says "I" or names Job, and it addresses no friend; readers differ on whether it is Job speaking or a poem set between the speeches, and the text does not settle it. The "he" who sets an end to darkness, overturns mountains and cuts rivers in verses 3 to 11 is not named; the surrounding lines describe mining. "Ophir" and "Ethiopia" appear only as sources of gold and topaz, with no location given. The depth, the sea, destruction and death are made to speak. The last verse reports words God spoke "unto man" without saying when. The chapter names no date or setting.

Cited passages: Job 27:1, Job 29:1, Job 28:3, Job 28:9, Job 28:16, Job 28:19, Job 28:14, Job 28:22, Job 28:28

Literary context

The poem falls into two halves joined by a question. Verses 1 to 11 describe what human effort can reach: silver, gold, iron, brass, sapphires, paths no bird has seen, mountains overturned, rivers cut, hidden things brought to light. Verse 12 then asks where wisdom is found, and the same question returns almost word for word at verse 20 as a refrain. Between the two askings comes a list of things that cannot buy wisdom: gold, silver, gold of Ophir, onyx, sapphire, crystal, jewels, coral, pearls, rubies, topaz, pure gold. Personified voices answer in turn: the depth and the sea deny having it, destruction and death have only heard of it. The turn comes at verse 23, "God understandeth the way thereof," and God's own searching in verse 27 mirrors the miner's searching in verse 3 with the same verb. The last verse changes register from description to a spoken decree. Within the dialogue the chapter stands apart: no complaint, no address to the friends, no dispute. Its gold of Ophir and precious things echo Eliphaz's promised gold as dust and Job's silver as the dust, but here the wealth is set aside as unable to purchase what the poem is after.

Cited passages: Job 28:1, Job 28:11, Job 28:12, Job 28:20, Job 28:18, Job 28:14, Job 28:22, Job 28:23, Job 28:27, Job 28:3, Job 28:28, Job 22:24, Job 27:16

Key moments

  1. A vein for the silver (Job 28:1). The poem opens with the places where silver, gold, iron and brass are taken from the earth.
  2. A path no bird knows (Job 28:7). The miner's path is one the vulture's eye has never seen.
  3. Where shall wisdom be found? (Job 28:12). The poem turns from mining to the question of where wisdom and understanding are.
  4. The depth and the sea answer (Job 28:14). The depth and the sea each say wisdom is not in them.
  5. Above rubies (Job 28:18). Coral and pearls go unmentioned because the price of wisdom is above rubies.
  6. God knows its place (Job 28:23). The poem says God understands the way of wisdom and knows where it is.
  7. Fear of the Lord is wisdom (Job 28:28). God tells man that fearing the Lord is wisdom and departing from evil is understanding.

For reflection

The poem says people can reach sapphires under mountains but cannot buy wisdom with them, then ends by defining wisdom as fear of the Lord and departing from evil. Why spend eleven verses on mining before saying that?