3“Man puts an end to darkness,
         And to the farthest limit he searches out
         The rock in gloom and deep shadow.

4“He sinks a shaft far from habitation,
         Forgotten by the foot;
         They hang and swing to and fro far from men.

5“The earth, from it comes food,
         And underneath it is turned up as fire.

6“Its rocks are the source of sapphires,
         And its dust contains gold.

7“The path no bird of prey knows,
         Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.

8“The proud beasts have not trodden it,
         Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.

9“He puts his hand on the flint;
         He overturns the mountains at the base.

10“He hews out channels through the rocks,
         And his eye sees anything precious.

11“He dams up the streams from flowing,
         And what is hidden he brings out to the light.

The Search for Wisdom Is Harder

12“But where can wisdom be found?
         And where is the place of understanding?

13“Man does not know its value,
         Nor is it found in the land of the living.

14“The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
         And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

15“Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
         Nor can silver be weighed as its price.

16“It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
         In precious onyx, or sapphire.

17“Gold or glass cannot equal it,
         Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.

18“Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;
         And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls.

19“The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
         Nor can it be valued in pure gold.

20“Where then does wisdom come from?
         And where is the place of understanding?

21“Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living
         And concealed from the birds of the sky.

22“Abaddon and Death say,
         ‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’

23“God understands its way,
         And He knows its place.

24“For He looks to the ends of the earth
         And sees everything under the heavens.

25“When He imparted weight to the wind
         And meted out the waters by measure,

26When He set a limit for the rain
         And a course for the thunderbolt,

27Then He saw it and declared it;
         He established it and also searched it out.

28“And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
         And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"Iron is taken from the dust, And copper is smelted from rock.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Iron is taken from the ground, and rocks are melted for their copper.

King James Bible
Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Iron is taken out of the earth, and stone melted with heat is turned into brass.

Darby Bible Translation
Iron is taken out of the dust, and copper is molten out of the stone.

English Revised Version
Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.

Webster's Bible Translation
Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is melted out of the stone.

World English Bible
Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted out of the ore.

Young's Literal Translation
Iron from the dust is taken, And from the firm stone brass.

Cross References

Job 28:1 "Surely there is a mine for silver And a place where they refine gold.

Job 28:3 "Man puts an end to darkness, And to the farthest limit he searches out The rock in gloom and deep shadow.

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Chapter 28

The strain of this chapter is very unlike the rest of this book. Job forgets his sores, and all his sorrows, and talks like a philosopher or a virtuoso. Here is a great deal both of natural and moral philosophy in this discourse; but the question is, How does it come in here? Doubtless it was not merely for an amusement, or diversion from the controversy; though, if it had been only so, perhaps it would not have been much amiss. When disputes grow hot, better lose the question than lose our temper. But this is pertinent and to the business in hand. Job and his friends had been discoursing about the dispensations of Providence towards the wicked and the righteous. Job had shown that some wicked men live and die in prosperity, while others are presently and openly arrested by the judgments of God. But, if any ask the reason why some are punished in this world and not others, they must be told it is a question that cannot be answered. The knowledge of the reasons of state in God's government of the world is kept from us, and we must neither pretend to it nor reach after it. Zophar had wished that God would show Job the "secrets of wisdom" (ch. 11:6). No, says Job, "secret things belong not to us, but things revealed," Deu. 29:29. And here he shows, I. Concerning worldly wealth, how industriously that is sought for and pursued by the children of men, what pains they take, what contrivances they have, and what hazards they run to get it (v. 1-11). II. Concerning wisdom (v. 12). In general, the price of it is very great; it is of inestimable value (v. 15-19). The place of it is very secret (v. 14, 20, 22). In particular, there is a wisdom which is hidden in God (v. 23-27) and there is a wisdom which is revealed to the children of men (v. 28). Our enquiries into the former must be checked, into the latter quickened, for that is it which is our concern.

Verses 1-11

Here Job shows, 1. What a great way the wit of man may go in diving into the depths of nature and seizing the riches of it, what a great deal of knowledge and wealth men may, by their ingenious and industrious searches, make themselves masters of. But does it therefore follow that men may, by their wit, comprehend the reasons why some wicked people prosper and others are punished, why some good people prosper and others are afflicted? No, by no means. The caverns of the earth may be discovered, but not the counsels of heaven. 2. What a great deal of care and pains worldly men take to get riches. He had observed concerning the wicked man (ch. 27:16) that he heaped up silver as the dust; now here he shows whence that silver came which he was so fond of and how it was obtained, to show what little reason wicked rich men have to be proud of their wealth and pomp. Observe here,

I. The wealth of this world is hidden in the earth. Thence the silver and the gold, which afterwards they refine, are fetched, v. 1. There they lay mixed with a great deal of dirt and dross, like a worthless thing, of no more account than common earth; and abundance of them will so lie neglected, till the earth and all the works therein shall be burnt up. Holy Mr. Herbert, in his poem called Avarice, takes notice of this, to shame men out of the love of money:-

Money, thou bane of bliss, thou source of woe,

Whence com'st thou, that thou art so fresh and fine?

I know thy parentage is base and low;

Man found thee poor and dirty in a mine.

Surely thou didst so little contribute

To this great kingdom which thou now hast got

That he was fain, when thou wast destitute,

To dig thee out of thy dark cave and grot.

Man calleth thee his wealth, who made thee rich,

And while he digs out thee falls in the ditch.

Iron and brass, less costly but more serviceable metals, are taken out of the earth (v. 2), and are there found in great abundance, which abates their price indeed, but is a great kindness to man, who could much better be without gold than without iron. Nay, out of the earth comes bread, that is, bread-corn, the necessary support of life, v. 5. Thence man's maintenance is fetched, to remind him of his own original; he is of the earth, and is hastening to the earth. Under it is turned up as it were fire, precious stones, that sparkle as fire-brimstone, that is apt to take fire-coal, that is proper to feed fire. As we have our food, so we have our fuel, out of the earth. There the sapphires and other gems are, and thence gold-dust is digged up;, v. 6. The wisdom of the Creator has placed these things, 1. Out of our sight, to teach us not to set our eyes upon them, Prov. 23:5. 2. Under our feet, to teach us not to lay them in our bosoms, nor to set our hearts upon them, but to trample upon them with a holy contempt. See how full the earth is of God's riches (Ps. 104:24) and infer thence, not only how great a God he is whose the earth is and the fulness thereof (Ps. 24:1), but how full heaven must needs be of God's riches, which is the city of the great King, in comparison with which this earth is a poor country.

II. The wealth that is hidden in the earth cannot be obtained but with a great deal of difficulty. 1. It is hard to be found out: there is but here and there a vein for the silver, v. 1. The precious stones, though bright themselves, yet, because buried in obscurity and out of sight, are called stones of darkness and the shadow of death. Men may search long before they light on them. 2. When found out it is hard to be fetched out. Men's wits must be set on work to contrive ways and means to get this hidden treasure into their hands. They must with their lamps set an end to darkness; and if one expedient miscarry, one method fail, they must try another, till they have searched out all perfection, and turned every stone to effect it, v. 3. They must grapple with subterraneous waters (v. 4, 10, 11), and force their way through rocks which are, as it were, the roots of the mountains, v. 9. Now God has made the getting of gold, and silver, and precious stones, so difficult, (1.) For the exciting and engaging of industry. Dii laboribus omnia vendunt-Labour is the price which the gods affix to all things. If valuable things were too easily obtained men would never learn to take pains. But the difficulty of gaining the riches of this earth may suggest to us what violence the kingdom of heaven suffers. (2.) For the checking and restraining of pomp and luxury. What is for necessity is had with a little labour from the surface of the earth; but what is for ornament must be dug with a great deal of pains out of the bowels of it. To be fed is cheap, but to be fine is chargeable.

III. Though the subterraneous wealth is thus hard to obtain, yet men will have it. He that loves silver is not satisfied with silver, and yet is not satisfied without it; but those that have much must needs have more. See here, 1. What inventions men have to get this wealth. They search out all perfection, v. 3. They have arts and engines to dry up the waters, and carry them off, when they break in upon them in their mines and threaten to drown the work, v. 4. They have pumps, and pipes, and canals, to clear their way, and, obstacles being removed, they tread the path which no fowl knoweth (v. 7, 8), unseen by the vulture's eye, which is piercing and quick-sighted, and untrodden by the lion's whelps, which traverse all the paths of the wilderness. 2. What pains men take, and what vast charge they are at, to get this wealth. They work their way through the rocks and undermine the mountains, v. 10. 3. What hazards they run. Those that dig in the mines have their lives in their hands; for they are obliged to bind the floods from overflowing (v. 11), and are continually in danger of being suffocated by damps or crushed or buried alive by the fall of the earth upon them. See how foolish man adds to his own burden. He is sentenced to eat bread in the sweat of his face; but, as if that were not enough, he will get gold and silver at the peril of his life, though the more is gotten the less valuable it is. In Solomon's time silver was as stones. But, 4. Observe what it is that carries men through all this toil and peril: Their eye sees every precious thing, v. 10. Silver and gold are precious things with them, and they have them in their eye in all these pursuits. They fancy they see them glittering before their faces, and, in the prospect of laying hold of them, they make nothing of all these difficulties; for they make something of their toil at last: That which is hidden bringeth he forth to light, v. 11. What was hidden under ground is laid upon the bank; the metal that was hidden in the ore is refined from its dross and brought forth pure out of the furnace; and then he thinks his pains well bestowed. Go to the miners then, thou sluggard in religion; consider their ways, and be wise. Let their courage, diligence, and constancy in seeking the wealth that perisheth shame us out of slothfulness and faint-heartedness in labouring for the true riches. How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! How much easier and safer! Yet gold is sought for, but grace neglected. Will the hopes of precious things out of the earth (so they call them, though really they are paltry and perishing) be such a spur to industry, and shall not the certain prospect of truly precious things in heaven be much more so?

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August the Twenty-Eighth Wisdom and Understanding
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Job
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John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament