He cutteth out channels in the rocks, and his eye seeth every precious thing.
Job has been describing the mines of his day: deep shafts, ropes swinging in the dark, ore torn out of the rock. Verse 10 is the peak of that skill, and it leads straight to a question no miner can answer.
Nothing in the rock is hard enough to stop the search. One commentator also names what drives it.
Man's daring resources, with greed behind them, conquer every difficulty. The hard flint gives way to his hand. He overturns mountains by the root if they stand in his way, and he cuts rivers through the rocks, to reach the precious things his eye picks out.
The verse describes a method, not just brute strength.
He cuts his way deep down, following the vein the way a river follows its course, and looking with greedy eyes at the rich shining treasures locked up inside. If water flows in, he finds a way to divert it, so that he can go after the hidden wealth he has uncovered.
The verse credits the miner with an eye that "sees every precious thing" — a real skill. But even here the expert gets it wrong.
They develop a very sensitive sense of what a thing is worth — though they are by no means always right. Sometimes miners in our country have thrown away as rubbish something just as valuable as the thing they were after. But as a rule they do learn what is valuable.
Commentators differ over who does the cutting. Most take it to be man. One reads verses 9 to 11 as God at work, and makes the timing of every discovery His.
God's hand does what creatures cannot. He overturns mountains at the roots, to expose what lies hidden beneath (v.9). Through the hard rocks He cuts out channels, using water to wear the rock away. And in those rocks "He sees every precious thing" — which man would not discover until God saw fit to uncover it (v.10).
Right after this display of skill, Job asks where wisdom is. No amount of digging turns it up, and the centuries since have not changed that.
They dig down, they divert the underground stream, they make paths where the strongest beast and the sharpest-eyed bird have never walked. But in all this searching they never find wisdom. This is the question he raised in verse 12, and he was right to say that these human activities could not find it. Men may discover much, and since Job's day they have discovered a great deal more, but wisdom still escapes them.
One commentator names what the digging does produce, and what it never touches.
No, there is no wisdom in any of that. There is self in all of it. There is what will make a man rich; there is what will bring money and maybe status; but "Where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?"
Put the effort men spend on ore beside the effort they spend on God, and the verse turns into a rebuke.
Again we ask: why will men not work this hard for the "hidden wisdom"? Why will they not sift it out, when it lies so close at hand — or, if they must, remove by faith the very mountains of difficulty? If the sweeping rush of "the course of this world" would swallow the true riches like a river, why do men not stop it, or turn it aside, so that they may have for themselves what is worth more than all wealth? "The one who seeks finds" is still true, though this seeking and this finding are nothing like the hard work of digging for gold. The wisdom stays hidden and the way to it stays unknown, because men do not know God and will not listen to Him.
- Skill — Human power at its peak: flint gives way, mountains come up by the roots, water turns aside, and a trained eye picks out the treasure.
- Motive — Behind that skill lies greed. The energy is real, but so is the self in it.
- Limit — The same eye that spots every precious stone has thrown away as rubbish what was worth as much as the prize.
- Question — Right after this triumph the chapter asks, "Where shall wisdom be found?" Centuries of discovery since have brought no answer.
- Redirection — Aim that same energy at God: remove the mountains of difficulty, turn back the rush of the world's course, and seek what is worth more than all wealth.
He bindeth the streams that they drip not, and what is hidden he bringeth forth to light.
The mining picture in Job 28 ends here. Water floods the shaft, so the miner shuts it off and lifts out what the earth had buried. Then comes the question that gives this line its weight: a man who can do all this still has to ask where wisdom is.
Before this verse, the miner has sunk his shaft and followed the vein. When underground water threatens the work, he moves it out of his way.
Coming back to the search for treasure, Job describes this fruitless hunt, in which man lays hold of the rocks and overturns the mountains… He cuts his way deep down, following the vein like a river in its course, and looking with greedy eyes at the rich shining treasures locked up inside. If water flows in, he finds a way to divert it, so that he can go after the hidden wealth he has now uncovered.
Commentators differ on who is acting in verses 9–11. Most take it as the miner. One reads the subject as God, whose dams block the digger instead of helping him.
But God's hand does what creatures cannot. It even overturns mountains at the roots, to uncover what lies hidden beneath (v.9). In the rocks "He sees every precious thing," which man would not discover until God saw fit to expose it (v.10). On streams where man may expect to find treasure, He places dams that thwart men's intentions. But in the end, even what is hidden God brings forth (v.11).
Whoever drains the water, the success is real. That is what makes the next question so sharp.
"He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle, and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light. But where shall wisdom be found?" No, there is no wisdom in all that. There is self in all that. There is what will make a man rich; there is what will bring money and perhaps distinction; but where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? Well, it is not on the earth.
The verse describes enormous trouble taken for metal. Ridout turns that energy into a question about the better treasure.
Again we ask: why will men not work this hard for the "hidden wisdom"? Why will they not sift it out where it lies so close by, or, if need be, remove by faith the very mountains of difficulty? If "the course of this world" would sweep over the true riches like a river, why do men not stop it, or turn it away from them, so that they can have what is worth more than all wealth? "The one who seeks finds" is still true. But the seeking and the finding are not what the toil for gold would suggest.
The mind that drains a flooded mine is a remarkable thing. Its failure to find God is therefore not a failure of ability.
"He can cut out channels among the rocks, and his eyes see every precious thing. He can dam up the streams, and bring what is hidden out to light" (Job 28). But he has lost the knowledge of God through sin, and lost all desire for that knowledge. "No one understands; no one seeks for God." The guilt is not in the capacity, but in the will. "People loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil."
If wisdom is not under the ground, it has to come from somewhere else.
True wisdom and true understanding are not found in the earth at all! It comes down from heaven. It is found only in Christ… There was a report of that One who is Himself wisdom, and who is the Giver of wisdom to the meek. It was by death that it came to us.
- Dig: the miner shuts off the underground water and lifts buried wealth into daylight. It is the peak of human skill in the chapter.
- Differ: commentators split on who acts. Most see the miner. One sees God, uncovering what no creature could reach.
- Fall short: the digging succeeds and still misses the prize — "there is no wisdom in all that. There is self in all that."
- Will, not skill: the same mind that masters rock and flood has lost the desire for God; "the guilt is not in the capacity, but in the will."
- Descend: wisdom is never dug up; it comes down from heaven, and is found in Christ.