seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Job 28:1 There is a mine for silver
and a place where gold is refined.
2 Iron is taken from the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.
3 Mortals put an end to the darkness;
they search out the farthest recesses
for ore in the blackest darkness.
4 Far from human dwellings they cut a shaft,
in places untouched by human feet;
far from other people they dangle and sway.
5 The earth, from which food comes,
is transformed below as by fire;
6 lapis lazuli comes from its rocks,
and its dust contains nuggets of gold.
7 No bird of prey knows that hidden path,
no falcon’s eye has seen it.
8 Proud beasts do not set foot on it,
and no lion prowls there.
9 People assault the flinty rock with their hands
and lay bare the roots of the mountains.
10 They tunnel through the rock;
their eyes see all its treasures.
11 They search[a] the sources of the rivers
and bring hidden things to light.
and a place where gold is refined.
2 Iron is taken from the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.
3 Mortals put an end to the darkness;
they search out the farthest recesses
for ore in the blackest darkness.
4 Far from human dwellings they cut a shaft,
in places untouched by human feet;
far from other people they dangle and sway.
5 The earth, from which food comes,
is transformed below as by fire;
6 lapis lazuli comes from its rocks,
and its dust contains nuggets of gold.
7 No bird of prey knows that hidden path,
no falcon’s eye has seen it.
8 Proud beasts do not set foot on it,
and no lion prowls there.
9 People assault the flinty rock with their hands
and lay bare the roots of the mountains.
10 They tunnel through the rock;
their eyes see all its treasures.
11 They search[a] the sources of the rivers
and bring hidden things to light.
12 But where can wisdom be found?
Where does understanding dwell?
13 No mortal comprehends its worth;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, “It is not in me”;
the sea says, “It is not with me.”
15 It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.
17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,
nor can it be had for jewels of gold.
18 Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
19 The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;
it cannot be bought with pure gold.
Where does understanding dwell?
13 No mortal comprehends its worth;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, “It is not in me”;
the sea says, “It is not with me.”
15 It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.
17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,
nor can it be had for jewels of gold.
18 Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
19 The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;
it cannot be bought with pure gold.
20 Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds in the sky.
22 Destruction(b) and Death say,
“Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”
23 God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
24 for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
25 When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,
26 when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm,
27 then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.
28 And he said to the human race,
“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.”
Where does understanding dwell?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds in the sky.
22 Destruction(b) and Death say,
“Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”
23 God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
24 for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
25 When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,
26 when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm,
27 then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.
28 And he said to the human race,
“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.”
a. Job 28:11 Septuagint, Aquila and Vulgate; Hebrew They dam up
b. Job 28:22 Hebrew Abaddon
A commercial in the Bible..... a break in the action for a word from God.... Wisdom is being smart.... Respecting God is being smart.
This is from the enduringword.com site.
But where can wisdom be found: Job here made the point he had built up to in the previous verses. Men search hard and are willing to endure danger for the sake of the riches of this earth, but all of that is easy compared to the search for wisdom.
“Man doth not see this wisdom but only so far as God is pleased to reveal it to him, and therefore he cannot declare it to others; man did not prepare, nor order, nor contrive it, and therefore no wonder if he cannot search it out.” (Poole)
The deep says, “It is not in me”: Job spoke here of how rare wisdom is, making it all the more valuable among men. Indeed, it cannot be purchased for gold and is therefore worth more than all of those precious metals.
“The logic of saying in one breath, ‘It isn’t there, but, even if it were, you couldn’t buy it’, is often met in the Bible.” (Andersen)
Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding: Job concluded this great speech by coming back to the touchstone of revelation. Since true wisdom comes from God, it is found by being in right relation to Him (the fear of the Lord), and it is shown by a life that does depart from evil.
This is from bibletrack.org.We continue with the monologue by Job that began in chapter 26 (see above); it continues down through chapter 31. It's interesting that Job makes a differentiation between knowledge and wisdom in this chapter. His implications seem to be that his friends might be smart, but they have no wisdom. Where does wisdom come from anyway? That's the burning question Job asks in chapter 28. In the tradition of Job's eloquent, I'm-gonna-wear-you-out style, he asks this question about wisdom in just about every conceivable way you can imagine, and many you can't imagine. Here's the bottom line to this chapter: everything his counselors have said may sound correct before their audience, but it is all devoid of God's wisdom.
How much clearer can it be? Some stupid humans think it's wise to ask God to prove Himself. I wonder.... Just how would they like Him to prove Himself? God showed us respect when He planted stupid humans in a garden..... stupid humans ate their way out of there. Then He put stupid humans in their own land..... but they made shiny objects and worshiped them instead. He sent His Son to teach stupid humans the meaning of love..... and the stupid humans hung the Son of God, naked, on a cross to die a slow horrible suffocating death.
Job didn't know why God took His protection away. Job only knew he had followed all the commandments, and rules and regulations. Job even made sacrifices for the sins he and his kids forgot to cover with sacrifice. Job covered all his bases.... and still.... his kids were gone... and no one was left to give him any reason to finish out this life. If leaving a good name is what life is all about.... the death of Job's kids dashed that.... so if there is no reason to go on... then why bother worshiping God? But Job worshiped God because he loved God and wanted to be a good man..... so he would go on.... [satan didn't count on love spoiling his plan].
Back then there was no Heaven or Life after Death. A man's name [reputation] was all that carried on after death. People would say... there's so-n-so.... son of.... but Job's kids were all dead..... who would come along to give Job's name respect after he was gone? See that's what would be heaven to a man who has no promise of an afterlife..... to have someone respect him after he is gone.... that is what proved a good life. Job's kids were all wiped out by satan [Job doesn't know it was satan] so there "ain't no one for to give you no fame"..... no one would remember him..... that was hell in Job's day.
