Job 28
Evangelical Heritage Version
A Poem About Wisdom[a]
28 Yes, there is a mine for silver
and a place where gold is refined.
2 Iron is taken from the ground,
and copper is smelted out of stone.
3 A miner puts an end to darkness by exploring its farthest limits.
He looks for ore in the gloom and in the deep darkness.[b]
4 He breaks open a mineshaft far from where settlers live,
in places no one has walked before.
Far away from other people, he dangles and sways.
5 The earth’s surface produces food,
but its depths are overturned as if by fire,
6 in places where the stones are sapphires[c]
and the dust is gold.
7 No scavenging bird knows the way there,
and the eyes of vultures[d] have not seen it.
8 The king of beasts has not set foot on it.
The lion has not prowled there.
9 The miner’s hand attacks the hard rock.
He overturns the roots of the mountain.
10 He cuts tunnels into the rocks,
and his eyes see every treasure.
11 He dams up even the trickling water from the rivers,
and he brings light to the earth’s hidden places.
12 But wisdom—where can it be found?
Where is the place for understanding?
13 Mankind does not know where it is kept.
It is not found in the land of the living.
14 The deep ocean says, “It is not in me!”
The sea says, “It is not with me!”
15 It cannot be purchased with the best gold,[e]
and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.
16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir[f]
or with precious onyx or sapphires.
17 Gold and crystal cannot be compared to it.
The finest gold jewelry cannot be substituted for it.
18 Coral and quartz are not worth mentioning,
and the value of wisdom is greater than a bag of rubies.
19 The chrysolite of Cush cannot be compared with it.
It cannot be purchased even with pure gold.
20 But what about wisdom—where does it come from?
And where is the place to find understanding?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of all the living.
It is concealed from the birds of the sky.
22 Destruction and Death[g] say,
“With our ears we have heard only a rumor about it.”
23 God understands the way to it,
and he alone knows its place,
24 because he watches the ends of the earth,
and he sees everything under the heavens.
25 He determines the weight of the wind,
and he measures out the waters by volume.
26 He made a decree for the rain
and established a path for the roaring thunderstorm.
27 He saw wisdom and appraised its value.
He established it and also explored it.
28 Then he said to mankind:
Listen carefully. The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.
Footnotes
- Job 28:1 It is uncertain whether the speaker of this poem is Job or the author of the book. It seems likely that it is an intermission inserted by the author to mark the end of the three rounds of speeches.
- Job 28:3 The Hebrew scribes regularly spell this word so that it means shadow of death. Here, however, it may be a similar word, deep darkness.
- Job 28:6 Or lapis lazuli
- Job 28:7 The identification of these birds is uncertain. They may be birds of prey like the falcon.
- Job 28:15 Literally closed [gold]. The precise identification of the various types of gold and gemstones in this section is uncertain.
- Job 28:16 Ophir is a source of gold in Arabia or Africa.
- Job 28:22 Hebrew abaddon and maveth
Job 28
New Catholic Bible
The Praise of Wisdom[a]
Chapter 28
Where Can Wisdom Be Found?[b]
1 “There are mines for silver
and places where gold is refined.
2 Iron is extracted from the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.
3 Miners penetrate the darkness;
they search to the farthest recesses
to discover the ore hidden in gloom and shadow.
4 They open shafts in uninhabited places,
swinging suspended, far away from anyone.
5 “While grain is coming forth from the earth above,
what lies beneath is ravaged by fire.
6 Its rocks are the enclosure for sapphires,
and there is gold contained in its dust.
7 No bird of prey knows the path there;
the eye of a falcon has not seen it.
8 Proud beasts have not trodden it;
no lion has ever passed over it.
9 “Man begins to assail the granite rock
and overturns the mountains at their foundations.
10 He cuts channels into the rocks,
and his eyes behold precious gems.
11 He explores the sources of the streams
and brings hidden riches to light.
12 But where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
Wisdom Cannot Be Purchased[c]
13 “No one knows the way to it,
nor is it to be found in the land of the living.
14 The abyss declares, ‘It is not in me.’
The sea says, ‘I do not have it.’
15 It cannot be purchased with gold,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
16 “It cannot be acquired with the gold of Ophir,
nor with precious onyx or sapphire.
17 Gold or crystal[d] cannot be compared to it,
nor can it be exchanged for vessels of gold.
18 Neither coral nor alabaster deserve to be mentioned;
the price of wisdom is beyond pearls.
19 Topaz from Ethiopia is worthless in comparison to it,
nor can it be valued in terms of pure gold.
20 “Where then is the source of wisdom?
Where is intelligence to be found?
God Alone Knows Where Wisdom Can Be Found[e]
21 “It cannot be seen by the eye of any living creature;
it is even concealed from the birds of the air.
22 Abaddon and the netherworld[f] admit,
‘We have only heard rumors of it.’
23 “God alone understands the path to wisdom;
he alone knows where it can be found.
24 For he can observe the farthest ends of the earth,
and he sees everything under the heavens.
25 “When God regulated the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,
26 when he imposed a limit for the rain
and cleared a path for the thunderbolt,
27 then he saw wisdom and evaluated it,
established it and assessed it completely.
28 And then he declared to man:
‘The fear of the Lord is wisdom,
and to turn from evil is understanding.’ ”
Footnotes
- Job 28:1 This praise of wisdom breaks into the debate between Job and his friends. This passage is related to other important passages in other Books dealing with the same subject (Prov 8:22-36; Sir 24; Bar 3:9—4:4). Wisdom is imagined as a person who dwells with God and is consulted by him. It is an image of God’s own thought, in comparison with which all human efforts to discover things seem trivial.
- Job 28:1 The exploitation of mines in the search for gold or precious stones has amazed people from antiquity and led them to use the contribution of slaves and prisoners in pursuit of this difficult work (v. 4). However, it is not by such searches that one can extract the secret of wisdom.
- Job 28:13 Wisdom is not found along the route of human discoveries; all the treasures of the world are of no avail in acquiring it.
- Job 28:17 Crystal: the text actually speaks of “glass,” but in antiquity this was very rare and valuable.
- Job 28:21 God alone knows where wisdom is found. Indeed, she was the inspiration of his work of creation (Prov 8:22-31)!
- Job 28:22 Abaddon and the netherworld: see note on Job 26:6.
Job 28
1599 Geneva Bible
28 Job showeth that the wisdom of God is unsearchable.
1 The silver surely hath his vein, [a]and the gold his palace, where they take it.
2 Iron is taken out of the dust, and brass is molten out of the stone.
3 God putteth an end to darkness, [b]and he trieth the perfection of all things: he setteth a bond of darkness, and of the shadow of death.
4 The flood breaketh out against the [c]inhabitant, and the waters [d]forgotten of the foot, being higher than man, are gone away.
5 Out of the same earth cometh [e]bread, and under it, as it were fire is turned up.
6 The stones thereof are a place [f]of Sapphires, and the dust of it is gold.
7 There is a path which no fowl hath known, neither hath the kite’s eye seen it.
8 The Lion’s whelps have not walked it, nor the Lion passed thereby.
9 He putteth his hand upon the [g]rocks, and overthroweth the mountains by the roots.
10 He breaketh rivers in the roots, and his eye seeth every precious thing.
11 He bindeth the floods, that they do not overflow, and the thing that is hid, bringeth he to light.
12 But where is wisdom found? [h]and where is the place of understanding?
13 Man knoweth not [i]the price thereof: for it is not found in the land of the living.
14 The depth saith, It is not in me: the Sea also saith, It is not with me.
15 [j]Gold shall not be given for it, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
16 It shall not be valued with the wedge of gold of Ophir, nor with the precious onyx, nor the sapphire.
17 The gold nor the crystal shall be equal unto it, nor the exchange shall be for plate of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of coral, nor of the [k]gabish: for wisdom is more precious than pearls.
19 The Topaz of Ethiopia shall not be equal unto it, neither shall it be valued with the wedge of pure gold.
20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding,
21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all the living, and is hid from the [l]fowls of the heaven?
22 Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
23 But God understandeth the [m]way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.
24 For he beholdeth the ends of the world, and seeth all that is under heaven,
25 To make the weight of the winds and to weigh the waters by measure.
26 When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunders,
27 Then did he see it, and counted it: he prepared it, and also considered it.
28 And unto man he said, Behold, (A)the [n]fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.
Footnotes
- Job 28:1 His purpose is to declare that man may attain in this world to divers secrets of nature, but man is never able to comprehend the wisdom of God.
- Job 28:3 There is nothing but it is compassed within certain limits, and hath an end, but God’s wisdom.
- Job 28:4 Meaning, him that dwelleth thereby.
- Job 28:4 Which a man cannot wade through.
- Job 28:5 That is, come, and underneath is brimstone or coal, which easily conceiveth fire.
- Job 28:6 He alludeth to the mines and secrets of nature, which are under the earth, whereinto neither fowls nor beasts can enter.
- Job 28:9 After that he hath declared the wisdom of God in the secrets of nature he describeth his power.
- Job 28:12 Though God’s power and wisdom may be understood in earthly things, yet his heavenly wisdom cannot be attained unto.
- Job 28:13 It is too high a thing for man to attain unto in this world.
- Job 28:15 It can neither be bought for gold nor precious stones, but is only the gift of God.
- Job 28:18 Which is thought to be a kind of precious stone.
- Job 28:21 Meaning, that there is no natural means whereby man might attain to the heavenly wisdom: which he meaneth by the souls that fly high.
- Job 28:23 He maketh God only the author of this wisdom, and the giver thereof.
- Job 28:28 He declareth that man hath so much of this heavenly wisdom, as he showeth by fearing God, and departing from evil.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
