But wisdom, where shall it be found? and where is the place of understanding?
Job has just described men tunnelling into the earth for silver, gold and sapphires. Then he stops and asks the one question all that digging cannot answer: can human skill, wealth or exploration ever reach the place where wisdom lives?
Job watched men do remarkable things with rock and water, and saw that none of it produced what he was after.
In Job's day people practised mining. It may have been a new pursuit then, whether for iron or copper, for gold or silver or gems. They dig down, they divert the underground stream, they cut paths that the strongest beasts and the sharpest-eyed birds 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. Since Job's day they have discovered far more. But wisdom still escapes them.
The failure is not only in the method. The motive matters too.
"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, and it is not down in the dark mines where men rush after what they value.
The following verses answer by elimination — not in the deep, not in the sea, not for gold. If wisdom had a price tag, wealth would settle the matter.
Man, frail mortal, does not know the price and does not have it to pay, for it is not found in the land of the living. If it were within reach, some would be able to reach it; some rich man would have the price to pay for it. But it is beyond man. "It is high, I cannot attain it." In the bottomless depths of the deep — "the waters under the earth" — the call for wisdom wakes only one reply: "It is not in me." The wide sea, for all its vastness, does not hold this priceless treasure. Nature, by itself, cannot give a single clue to this heavenly, wondrous good.
A strange witness answers. Destruction and death say they have heard of wisdom, and their report tells us something real, yet it stops short.
Where shall wisdom be found, and where is the path of understanding? It is not found in the land of the living. Destruction and death say we have heard a report of it with our ears. So they have. They tell us the emptiness of all the scene we are in, and, above all, of man at the head of it, the sorest place of all. But it is only negative.
Another writer weighs what a mere report is worth.
"Destruction and death say, We have heard a report about it with our ears" (v. 22), but only a report, for wisdom itself is known only by a direct revelation from God.
The chapter does not leave the question open. God Himself names where wisdom starts.
God alone can declare its true nature and value. To man He said, "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding." Solomon added to this later: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight" (Prov. 9:10). So until God gets His rightful place in a man's mind and heart, he cannot see anything wisely. His thoughts are off-centre. His beginning is all wrong.
Some commentators read Job's question as reaching past his own day. The answer, they say, is a Person.
True wisdom and true understanding not found in the earth at all! It comes down from heaven. It is found only in Christ, and Christ had not yet come. This came out even more in Christ's rejection and Christ's death… "Destruction and death say, We have heard a report of it with our ears." Yes, it was just that very thing. 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, but they did not know it.
- Searched — Human skill goes where no bird or beast can follow, yet comes back without wisdom. Discovery has multiplied since Job; the result is unchanged.
- Self — Gain and distinction drive the digging, so the motive spoils the search before it starts.
- Priceless — No sum buys it and no depth holds it; if money could buy it, the rich would already have it.
- Revealed — Death has heard only a rumour of wisdom; it must come down as revelation from God, not up out of the ground.
- Found — God answers His own question. To fear Him and turn from evil is where wisdom starts, and commentators point on to Christ, who is Himself wisdom.
Man knoweth not the value thereof; and it is not found in the land of the living.
Job 28 turns from the arguments of Job's friends to a poem about mining. Men tunnel through rock for silver, gold and sapphires — so where is wisdom dug up? Verse 13 answers, and the answer is negative. No one knows what wisdom costs, and no one in the land of the living has it.
All that mining skill, one writer notes, produces wealth but not wisdom.
"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?
"Man does not know its worth" means more than ignorance of value. Man also has no price to pay. Here the search moves outward from man to the deep and the sea, and every answer comes back empty.
Man, frail and mortal, does not know the price and does not have it to pay, for wisdom is not found in the land of the living. If it were within reach, then someone would be able to reach it; some rich man would have the price to pay for it. But it is beyond man: "it is high; I cannot attain it." Down in the bottomless depths — "the waters under the earth" — the call for wisdom goes out, and the answer comes back, "It is not in me." The wide sea, for all its vast expanse, does not hold this priceless treasure. Nature, by itself, cannot give even a simple clue to this heavenly, this wonderful good.
The phrase "the land of the living" means this present world of people going about their lives. One writer explains why this world holds no right road, and why death can only report what it has heard.
Where all is morally wrong and departed from God, there can be no right path. Adam did not need a path. He had only to stay where he was. When we have gone wrong, and are driven out by God, and so need a path, none can be found. There is none... Destruction and death say we have heard the fame of it with our ears. So they have. They tell us how empty this whole scene is, and above all how empty man is at the head of it, which is the most painful point of all. But it is only negative. This is an immense truth, that there is no way for living man fallen from God.
The chapter does not leave the search there. What man cannot price, God can locate.
Does it not seem like a hopeless case for any poor ignorant mortal to search for this wondrous pathway? No, blessed be God, it is by no means a hopeless case, for "He understands the way to it, and He knows its place."
Several writers read the chapter forward to Christ. Wisdom is not dug up; it arrives.
True wisdom and true understanding not found in the earth at all! It comes down from heaven. It is found only in Christ, and Christ had not yet come. This came out even more clearly in Christ's rejection and death... 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, but they did not know it.
Another writer ties the same chapter to the Cross.
Yes, God knew the wisdom that was needed. When that "hidden wisdom" came out in Christ, and the world crucified the Lord of glory, then death and destruction heard its fame! It was at that wonderful Cross that God brought His attributes and His nature into harmony, so that sinful man could be blessed.
The chapter ends with God's own word to man.
"And He said to man, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding." ... So until God has His rightful place in a man's mind and heart, he cannot see anything wisely. His thoughts are out of centre. His beginning is all wrong.
- Mined — Man can tunnel down to sapphires and gold, but no shaft reaches wisdom. The digging serves self.
- Priceless — Not knowing its worth means not owning the price. If wisdom could be bought, the rich would already have it.
- Roadless — There is no right path in a world that has left God, so "the land of the living" has none to show.
- Revealed — What man cannot price, God knows the place of; wisdom comes down from heaven and is found in Christ.
- Received — God's answer is not a place but the fear of the Lord. Until He has His rightful place in us, no thinking is wise.
The deep saith, It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is not with me.
Job has just described how far mining reaches — men sink shafts where no bird flies and turn mountains over. Then he asks creation itself for wisdom, and both the deep and the sea answer that they do not have it.
The verse follows a picture of human skill and industry. One writer notes how far that skill had already gone in Job's day, and how little it found:
In his days men were mining: it may have been a new pursuit then, whether for iron or copper, for gold or silver or gems. They dig down, they divert the underground stream, they make paths that no strong beast or sharp-eyed bird has ever travelled. But in all this searching they never find wisdom... Men may discover much, and since Job's day they have discovered far more, but wisdom eludes them.
The deep and the sea speak here, and both deny holding what man wants. One writer sets their answer next to man's own failure to find wisdom or pay for it:
But while man is told to seek, this wisdom is not found in nature, nor by human effort... Man, frail mortal, does not know and does not have the price to obtain it, for it is not found in the land of the living... In the deepest depths of the abyss — "the waters under the earth" — the call for wisdom awakens only the reply, "It is not in me." The wide sea, in all its vast expanse, does not hold this priceless treasure. Nature, on its own, cannot give even a simple clue to this heavenly, wonderful good.
The deep is not empty, yet what fills it is not wisdom. One writer points to where wisdom does come from:
True wisdom and true understanding are not found in the earth at all! It comes down from heaven. It is found only in Christ; and Christ had not yet come... "Therefore the deep says, 'It is not in me.'" There are silver and gold in the deep, and other things like them, and precious stones.
Mining brings up riches. Kelly names what drives that search:
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?
Why has the sea no answer? One writer points to the gap between material things and moral ones:
Moral things are greater than material things. Man is after all greater than the whole of the material universe. Inanimate creation cannot commune with God. Man can. Here stands his greatness, as given by God, and his responsibility.
Job does not leave the question open. The chapter closes with God's own answer:
The depths of the earth will not reveal it, and its value far exceeds that of gold and rubies. God alone can declare its true nature and value, "and to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'"... Therefore until God gets His rightful place in a man's mind and heart he is incapable of viewing anything wisely. His thoughts are out of centre. His beginning is all wrong.
Ridout adds one more turn. Knowing God changes what a person hears in the same creation:
And yet, when once God is known, we find all nature eloquent of Him. Those depths below and above declare His glory and power. The "great and wide sea" tells of the depth of His wisdom, care and goodness... How sad it is to see men of vast knowledge, of profound reasoning powers, gazing into the glorious heavens and failing to find God or wisdom there... How blessed it is then to have the true wisdom — "Christ the wisdom of God, and the power of God."
- Where man digs — human skill reaches where no beast or bird has walked, and brings up gold, silver and gems. It has never brought up wisdom.
- Where creation answers — the deep and the sea both say wisdom is not with them. Nature cannot give even a clue.
- Where the mistake lies — men search the material world for a moral treasure. Man alone can commune with God, and that is his greatness.
- Where God speaks — God's own answer is the fear of the Lord and turning away from evil. Until God holds His rightful place in a man's heart, his thoughts stay out of centre.
- Where wisdom lives — writers point to Christ, the wisdom of God. Once a person knows Him, the same silent depths and seas speak of His glory.
Choice gold cannot be given for it, nor silver be weighed for its price.
Job has just described men digging for treasure — cutting tunnels, overturning rock, hauling silver and gold into the light. Then he stops and asks where wisdom is kept, and this verse is his first answer: gold cannot buy it.
Job is answering his three friends. They had claimed to understand God's ways.
Job's friends thought they had "the secrets of wisdom" (ch. 11:6), but Job could see that their arguments were not wise at all. So he confronts them: wisdom is not so easy to get. In fact, wisdom cannot be bought with gold or silver (v.15).
Job now measures wisdom against the best that people own.
Something of such priceless value is now tested against everything man counts as treasure. Pure gold and silver, weighed out without limit, cannot buy it. The fine gold of Ophir, the precious onyx and the sapphire — "a king's ransom" — have no place here… We search all of nature in vain for anything to compare with it, for its price is above every treasure on earth. If only men saw this, so that they might find the one jewel of eternal value. Everything else is nothing without it.
The problem is not that the price is too high. Wisdom is of a different kind altogether.
In other words, nothing in nature can come near the value of true wisdom. True wisdom is spiritual, not natural… A person receives this wisdom only through faith in the Lord Jesus, as the Spirit of God reveals it. How wonderful this is, far above all natural understanding!
Men work hard for gold. They dig shafts and turn rivers aside to get it. So why will they not work that hard for wisdom?
Again we ask, why will men not work like this for the "hidden wisdom"? Why will they not sift for it, when it lies so close by? Or, if they must, why not remove the very mountains of difficulty by faith? "The course of this world" rushes past like a river, and it would swallow the true riches. So why do men not dam it, or turn it away, so that they may have the one thing worth more than all wealth? "The one who seeks finds" is still true. But this seeking and finding are not like the hard work of digging for gold. Wisdom is hidden, and the way to it is unknown, because God is unknown, and men will not listen to Him.
So wisdom is not in the mine, the sea, or the market. That leaves only one direction: above.
What a very solemn thing that is! True wisdom and true understanding not found in the earth at all! It comes down from heaven. It is found only in Christ; and Christ had not yet come; and further, this is what came out still more by Christ's rejection and Christ's death.
The chapter does not leave the question open. God Himself says what wisdom is.
God alone can declare what wisdom really is and what it is worth. He "said to man, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'" Solomon said the same thing later: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight" (Prov. 9:10). So until God has His rightful place in a man's mind and heart, that man cannot see anything wisely. His thoughts are off centre. His starting point is all wrong.
- Priced. Job prices wisdom against gold and weighed-out silver. Nothing man counts as treasure can meet the price.
- Refused. Wisdom is not simply expensive. It is of another order — spiritual, not natural — so no amount of wealth ever turns into it.
- Misplaced. Men tunnel through mountains and turn rivers aside for metal. The same effort spent on the hidden wisdom would find it, for "the one who seeks finds."
- Given. Wisdom is not in the earth or the sea. It comes down from heaven, and Christ is where it is found.
- Feared. The chapter's own answer is the fear of the Lord and turning from evil. Leave God out and your thinking is off centre from the start.
It is not set in the balance with gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, and the sapphire.
Job has just described men tunnelling deep into rock for silver, gold and sapphires. Now he takes the best those mines produce and asks what price could buy wisdom.
One writer traces how far man's mining skill reaches, and where it stops:
"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, and it is not down in these dark mines where man is so quick to go after what he values.
Job takes everything man counts as treasure and puts it on the scale against wisdom:
Something of such priceless value is now tested by all that man counts treasure. Pure gold and silver, weighed out without limit, cannot buy it. The fine gold of Ophir, the precious onyx and the sapphire — "a king's ransom" — have no place here… Men ransack nature in vain to find anything to compare with wisdom, whose price is above all the treasures of earth. Would that men realised this, so that they might find the one jewel of eternal value. All else is nothing without it.
The onyx has a history in the Bible that makes its appearance here more pointed than a simple mention of a gemstone:
The two stones called "precious" have very significant places. The precious onyx is the first stone named in the Bible (Genesis 2:12). The same verse also mentions gold and bdellium, the substance manna looked like in colour (Numbers 11:7). We find the onyx on the shoulders and breastplate of the high priest in Exodus 28. It appears again in Job 28, in relation to wisdom. Later, in Ezekiel 28:13, it adorns with other gems the king full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
The problem is not a shortage of money. Wisdom and gold belong to two different orders:
Absolutely nothing in nature can approach the value of true wisdom, for this is spiritual, not natural… "But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory" (1 Corinthians 2:7). This wisdom is received only through faith in the Lord Jesus, by the revelation of the Spirit of God (v. 10).
So what is this wisdom that outweighs sapphire?
What then is this wisdom, of such infinite value, and yet so unattainable? We shall be told in a little while by the Author of it. It must be enough for us here to say that it is the knowledge of the truth, the nature of all things, taken from God Himself. It is a knowledge which does not puff up, nor separate from God. It gives the soul a living principle of peace and joy in communion with Him.
No gem matches the price. So the chapter turns from the market to God Himself:
It is useless to hope for a fair exchange. Men weigh out gold or silver in vain. No gem of Ophir will do, nor onyx, nor sapphire, nor golden glass, nor work of art in gold, nor coral or pearl, nor topaz, nor jewel of the clearest lustre… God understands its way and He knows its place… Yet He also laid down the foundation of all righteousness, and this for favoured man on earth to hear. It is to give God His rights. "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding."
- Dug. Man can tunnel into rock and bring hidden things to light. He still comes up without wisdom. The mine holds self, not understanding.
- Weighed. Ophir's gold, the onyx, the sapphire — man weighs out his best treasure and still finds no match.
- Priced. No sum works. Wisdom is spiritual, not natural. Faith in the Lord Jesus receives it; money never buys it.
- Defined. Wisdom is the knowledge of the truth, taken from God Himself. It does not puff up. It gives peace and joy in communion with Him.
- Given. What no treasure could buy, God tells plainly: fear Him and turn from evil. The costliest thing in the chapter goes to the one who gives God His rights.
Gold and glass cannot be compared to it, nor vessels of fine gold be its exchange.
Job has just described how far men will dig for silver and gold. Now he weighs the finest of that treasure against wisdom, and it is refused as payment — so how does anyone ever get wisdom?
Job is answering friends who spoke as though wisdom were already in their pocket. One writer sets the chapter against their confidence:
Job's friends thought they had "the secrets of wisdom" (ch.11:6), but Job could see that their arguments were not wise at all. So he confronts them with this: wisdom is not so easily obtained. In fact, wisdom cannot be bought with gold or silver (v.15).
Where the chapter sits matters too. It follows Job's account of the doom of the rich, and turns to riches of another kind:
Job next contrasts the doom of the ungodly rich, described in the previous chapter, with the true riches, which can never be lost. The opening part of the chapter describes the toil and care with which men search for the dug-out gold, which so often brings only the "strife and curse" that fall on it. He then passes on to the true riches — wisdom. Where can it be found?
The word behind "glass" in this verse points to decorated glass, valuable enough to be listed next to gold:
zekukith, Job 28:17: probably richly decorated glass, of the kind made in Egypt. Here it is listed with gold; but wisdom, the gift of God, is worth far more than such things.
Job is running a test, and one commentator traces it item by item:
A thing of such priceless value is now tested against everything man counts as treasure. Pure gold and silver, weighed out without limit, cannot buy it. The fine gold of Ophir, the precious onyx and the sapphire — "a king's ransom" — have no place here. Gold is named again, along with transparent crystal — "pure gold, like transparent glass" — jewels as beautiful as they are rare; corals, pearls, rubies — wisdom's price is higher than all of them. The topaz of far-off Ethiopia looks dull beside this bright jewel of God's glory. Men search all of nature in vain for anything to compare with what is worth more than every earthly treasure.
No exchange rate exists, because the two are not the same kind of thing:
Job continues his subject of wisdom, saying that the finest gold (from Ophir) or onyx or sapphire stones, or crystal, or jewellery of fine gold have no value at all compared with wisdom (vv.16-17)... In other words, nothing in nature can come near the value of true wisdom, for wisdom is spiritual, not natural.
Men dig for gold and crystal and bring them up out of the ground. Wisdom travels in the opposite direction:
What a very solemn thing that is! True wisdom and true understanding are not found in the earth at all! It comes down from heaven. It is found only in Christ... "Therefore the deep says, 'It is not in me.'" There are silver and gold in the deep, and other such goods, and precious stones. "The sea says, 'It is not with me.'"
Every offer has been refused, which leaves one question:
If man does not know its price, and if it is not to be found in the land of the living... then where am I to turn? If it cannot be bought with gold or precious stones — if the wealth of the universe cannot equal it, and no cleverness of man can discover it — where shall I find it?
Scripture does invite people to "buy" — and then names the currency, which is none:
Scripture urges people elsewhere to "buy," though "without money and without price" (Isa. 55:1)... In fact, the very terms of the gospel are that "the gift of God" cannot be obtained with money, or with anything that might count as its religious equivalent. Pride that will not take a free gift as a gift must be sent away empty.
- Contrast — The chapter sets the doom of the ungodly rich beside true riches, which can never be lost.
- Priceless — Gold, decorated glass and worked jewellery are the best riches the earth yields, and Job shows they cannot buy wisdom.
- Kind — No price works because nothing in nature can come near true wisdom: it is spiritual, not natural.
- Direction — Riches come up out of the mine; wisdom comes down from heaven, and commentators point to Christ as the place it is found.
- Gift — The riches no money can buy, God gives freely; pride that refuses a free gift is sent away empty.
Corals and crystal are no more remembered; yea, the acquisition of wisdom is above rubies.
Job has just described the mines: deep shafts, rock turned over, rivers dammed, all to bring hidden treasure into the light. Now he weighs the best of that treasure against wisdom, and nothing comes close.
The verse belongs to a list that runs from silver and gold through onyx, sapphire, crystal, coral, topaz. One writer treats the list as a test that every earthly treasure fails.
A thing of such priceless value is now tested by everything man counts as treasure. Pure gold and silver, weighed out without limit, cannot buy it... corals, pearls, rubies — wisdom's price is greater than them all. The topaz of far-off Ethiopia looks dull beside this bright jewel of God's glory. Men search all of nature in vain for anything to compare with what is worth more than every earthly treasure.
Commentators differ over the exact stones. Older translations read "rubies" where the ESV reads "pearls," and no one is sure which stone the word names. Its use in Scripture is clearer than its identity.
No one knows for certain which precious stone this word means. Scripture uses it as a symbol of great worth: "the price of wisdom is above rubies"; the value of a virtuous woman is far above rubies. Job 28:18; Prov. 3:15; Prov. 8:11; Prov. 20:15; Prov. 31:10.
Older versions also put "pearls" in the middle of the verse, where the ESV reads "crystal." One writer traces that difference to the Hebrew word itself.
Job 28:18 is no exception, for gabiysh means crystal, not pearl.
Notice that Job does not say wisdom is expensive. He says nobody knows what it costs, and it is not on sale anywhere in the land of the living.
No one on earth knows its price, and in fact it is not found in the land of the living. The deep says wisdom is not in it, and the sea says so even more strongly. There is no hope of trading anything of equal value for it. Weighing out gold or silver is useless. So is the gem of Ophir, or onyx, or sapphire, or golden glass, or fine work in gold, or coral or pearl, or topaz, or the jewel of clearest shine.
The mining picture is not decoration. It sets up an accusation: men will move a mountain for gold and will not lift a finger for something worth more.
Why will men not work like this for the "hidden wisdom"? Why will they not sift it out when it lies so close by, or, if they must, remove the very mountains of difficulty by faith?... "The one who seeks finds" is still true, though the seeking and the finding are not what the toil for gold would suggest. The wisdom is hidden and the way to it unknown, because men do not know God and will not listen to Him.
No jewel comes close because the difference is one of kind, not of amount. Wisdom belongs to another order of things, and it reaches a person another way.
Coral and quartz are not worth mentioning when we weigh the value of wisdom, and neither are rubies... In other words, nothing in nature can come near the value of true wisdom, for this is spiritual, not natural... 1 Corinthians 2:7 tells us, "But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory." We receive this wisdom only through faith in the Lord Jesus, as the Spirit of God reveals it.
The end of the chapter answers Job's question. The answer is not something a man can mine or buy.
The depths of the earth will not reveal it, and its value is far above gold and rubies. God alone can declare its true nature and value: "And He said to man, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'"... So until God has His rightful place in a man's mind and heart, he cannot view anything wisely. His thoughts are off centre. His beginning is all wrong.
- Unpriced — Job does not set a high price on wisdom. He says no one knows its price, and it is not for sale in the land of the living.
- Unmatched — Scripture names coral, crystal and rubies as the top of the scale. Wisdom stands above the whole scale.
- Uncertain — the stones are hard to identify, and commentators differ over whether the verse names pearl or crystal. The point of the list never rested on which stone is which.
- Unbought — nothing in nature comes near wisdom's value, because wisdom is spiritual, not natural. It comes through faith in Christ, by the Spirit.
- Unsought — men will overturn mountains for gold and will not work for wisdom. They do not know God, and wisdom starts with the fear of the Lord.
The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be compared to it, neither shall it be set in the balance with pure gold.
Job 28:19 closes a long auction: Job offers every treasure the ancient world knew, and none of it buys wisdom. He has just watched miners tunnel into the earth for gold and gems, and now he asks what all of it is worth next to wisdom.
Commentators read verses 15 to 19 as one list. Job weighs everything people call wealth against wisdom, and topaz is the last item he tries.
Something of such priceless value is now tested by all that man counts as treasure. Pure gold and silver, weighed out without limit, cannot buy it. The fine gold of Ophir, the precious onyx and the sapphire — a king's ransom — have no place here. Gold comes up again, along with transparent crystal — "pure gold, like transparent glass." These jewels are as beautiful as they are rare. Corals, pearls, rubies — wisdom's price is beyond them all. The topaz of far-off Ethiopia finds its shine dim beside this bright jewel of God's glory. Men search all of nature in vain for anything to compare with it. Its price is above every treasure on earth.
Job names one particular stone. One dictionary traces where its name came from and where else the stone appears in Scripture.
The Hebrew word is pitdah, and has been thought to come from an island in the Red Sea called Topazos. That would explain why the ancient versions call it 'topaz,' but the gem is thought to match our chrysolite. Job 28:19 speaks of 'the topaz of Ethiopia.' It was one of the jewels in the breastplate, Ex. 28:17; Ex. 39:10.
The first half of the chapter praises human skill. Men go where no bird can, and still come back without wisdom.
Man is in eager pursuit of what is rare in this world — a restless search after gold, silver and precious stones of every kind. But where is wisdom to be found? Man can steer his course across the waters. Man can cut a road through the rocks. He can level mountains and fill valleys to get what he wants. He can even go where the vulture does not fly and does not see... But where is wisdom to be found? The finest gold cannot buy it. The most precious gems and the finest works of art are no fair exchange. The treasures of the deep, even pearls, fail in comparison.
The list is not saying wisdom is expensive. It is saying wisdom is a different kind of thing, so no pile of treasure adds up to it.
Coral and quartz are not worth mentioning, nor rubies either, in estimating the value of wisdom, nor the topaz of Ethiopia, nor any pure gold (vv.18-19). In other words, absolutely nothing in nature can approach the value of true wisdom, for this is spiritual, not natural... 1 Corinthians 2:7 tells us, "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory." We receive this wisdom only through faith in the Lord Jesus, when the Spirit of God reveals it.
Job's search ends with a strange line: destruction and death have heard a rumour of wisdom. One writer hears in that an advance whisper of the cross.
If wisdom is not in creation, where does it come from? Where is the place of understanding, since it is hidden from the eyes of all living? The answer comes back: "God understands its way." And "destruction and death" had heard the fame of it. This is surely a hint of the Cross of Christ. Yes, God knew the wisdom that was needed. When that "hidden wisdom" came out in Christ, and the world crucified the Lord of glory, then death and destruction heard its fame!
The chapter ends with God Himself speaking to man. One commentator ties this answer to what a person feels at conversion.
There is a wisdom above man. "And to man He said: 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.'" And that is exactly what a soul feels at conversion. He may know nothing more than that; he sees how he has been in almost all evil, and he departs from it.
- Tested. Job weighs wisdom against gold, onyx, sapphire, crystal, coral, pearls, rubies and topaz. Every one of them comes up short.
- Dim. The topaz of Ethiopia, a gem set in the priest's breastplate, loses its shine next to wisdom.
- Mismatched. No price works. Wisdom is spiritual, not natural, so no amount of treasure ever turns into it.
- Whispered. Death and destruction had only heard the rumour of wisdom. One writer takes this as a hint of the cross, where the hidden wisdom of God came out in Christ.
- Given. What no mine yields and no gold buys, God tells man outright: fear the Lord, turn from evil. Commentators differ on how far this chapter points ahead to Christ. They agree the answer comes from God's side, not man's.
Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
Job has just described miners tunnelling into rock for silver, gold and sapphires, and now he asks his question again. The verses around it press two things at once: no created place holds wisdom, and someone does know where it is.
Job asked the same question in verse 12. Why ask it again?
But why speak of what all searching cannot find, or wealth cannot buy? The question of verse 12 is repeated, not hopelessly, but to show man how useless a merely natural search is. "From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?" Nature does speak of wisdom, but it does not give it.
The verses before this describe real skill and real success. Yet what men bring up is ore.
"He binds the streams so they do not overflow, and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light. But where shall wisdom be found?" No, there is no wisdom in any of that. There is self in all of 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?
Job's list of human achievements was short by our standards.
They dig down, they divert the underground stream, they make paths that the strongest beasts and the sharpest-eyed birds have never walked. But in all this searching they never find wisdom... Men may discover much. Since Job's day they have discovered an immense amount more, but wisdom escapes them.
The verses just after this one say where wisdom is not.
Job knew there is such a thing as wisdom, and people generally realise that wisdom exists. But where? All man's searching does not find it: "it is hidden from the eyes of all living" and even "concealed from the birds of the air" (vv. 20-21)... "Destruction and death say, We have heard a report about it with our ears" (v. 22), but only a report. Wisdom itself comes only by God's direct revelation.
Why would death and destruction have heard of wisdom at all? One writer sees a pointer to the Cross here.
If creation does not hold it, where then does wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding, seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living? In answer, we are told, "God understands the way of it"; also that "destruction and death" had heard the fame of it. This is surely a hint of the Cross of Christ. Yes, God knew the wisdom that was needed. When that "hidden wisdom" came out in Christ, and the world crucified the Lord of glory, then death and destruction heard its fame!
There is a lesson here for the living.
How true it is that those who think about their own end are near to wisdom, ready to receive the revelation which God gives. This is the wisdom that comes down from above, and is given to the meek.
The chapter now turns from creation to God Himself.
We turn now from nature to its Author, from creation to God. He knows the way, and He alone can reveal it to man. And it is not merely God as Creator, but as Revealer in the person of His Son — "I am the way, and the truth, and the life."... He has seen wisdom; no, He is that Wisdom.
The search that began in a mineshaft ends with words God spoke to man.
God alone can declare its true nature and value. "And to man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding."... So until God gets His rightful place in a person's mind and heart, he is unable to view anything wisely. His thoughts are off centre. His beginning is all wrong.
- Asked twice — The repeated question is not despair. It shows how useless a purely natural search is: nature speaks of wisdom but never gives it.
- Not in the mine — Human skill reaches where no bird or lion goes. It brings hidden things to light, but it turns up wealth and self, never wisdom.
- Not in any creature — Wisdom is hidden from the eyes of all living, and from the birds too. Death and destruction have only heard a report of it.
- Known to God — The chapter turns from creation to its Author. He knows the way, He alone reveals it, and He reveals it in His Son.
- Given to man — God speaks the answer Himself: fear the Lord and turn from evil. Until God has His rightful place, every other thought starts off centre.
For it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the fowl of the heavens.
Job has just described how far human skill can reach: into mines, under mountains, through rock. Then he asks where wisdom itself lives. Verse 21 rules out two whole regions at once: every living eye on earth, and everything that flies above it.
The verse does not say wisdom is hard to find. It says it is hidden. One writer explains why even the richest searcher cannot buy it.
But while man is told to seek, this wisdom is not found in nature, nor by human effort. Where is wisdom found? Where does understanding live? Man, frail and mortal, does not know, and he does not have the price to pay for it, for it is not found in the land of the living. If it were within reach, some would be able to reach it; some rich man would have the price to pay for it. But it is beyond man... Nature, by itself, cannot give even one simple clue to this heavenly, this wonderful good.
Human skill gets into places no creature will go, and still comes back empty-handed.
Man can, no doubt, set his course across the waters. Man can cut a road through the rocks. In his eagerness for his own aims, man can level mountains and fill valleys. He can even go where the vulture never flies and never sees. He can break into places no wild beast ever enters... But where is wisdom to be found? The finest gold cannot buy it. The most precious gems and the finest works of art are no fair exchange for it.
The second half of the verse lifts the search above ground level and finds the same answer. Height is no advantage.
Job knew there is such a thing as wisdom, and most people realise that wisdom does exist. But where? All man's searching does not find it: "it is hidden from the eyes of all living" and even "concealed from the birds of the air" (vv. 20-21). The birds fly high above man, yet they have no understanding of it. Remember too that the birds of the air picture spirits, and the unclean birds stand for unclean spirits. God's wisdom is beyond what these can grasp. "Destruction and death say, We have heard a report about it with our ears" (v. 22), but only a report, for wisdom itself is known only when God reveals it.
If wisdom is missing from earth, sea and sky, that does not mean it does not exist. Its home is elsewhere.
What a very solemn thing that is! True wisdom and true understanding not found in the earth at all! It comes down from heaven. It is found only in Christ; and Christ had not yet come; and further, this is what came out still more by Christ's rejection and Christ's death... "It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air." It is not in the skies, as far as the eye can see them. "Destruction and death say, We have heard a report of it with our ears." Yes, that is just what happened. 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, but they did not know it.
Another writer reads the faint rumour heard by death and destruction as pointing forward to the cross.
If it is not to be found in creation, where then does wisdom come from? and where is the place of understanding? seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living. In answer, we are told, "God understands the way thereof"; also that "destruction and death" had heard the fame of it. This is surely an intimation of the cross of Christ. Yes, the necessary wisdom was known to God, and when that "hidden wisdom" came forth in Christ, and the world crucified the Lord of glory, then death and destruction heard its fame!
Verse 21 is not the end of the chapter. What no eye could find, God says plainly to man. His answer is short enough for anyone to remember.
"And he said to man" — there is a wisdom above man — "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding." That is exactly what a soul feels when it is converted. He may know nothing more than that; he sees how he has been in almost all evil, and he departs from it. A real sight of Christ is enough to do that by the Spirit of God, and the fear of the Lord.
One writer gathers up every place the chapter has ruled out, and turns the search into a personal question.
The vulture's eye is keen, powerful and far-seeing, yet it has not seen it. The young lion is strong in movement and majestic in bearing, yet it has not walked there... The depth says, It is not in me, and the sea says, It is not with me. Gold and precious stones cannot buy it. All the wealth of the universe cannot equal it, and no cleverness of man can discover it. So where am I to turn? Where shall I find it?
- Search. Human skill reaches places no bird or beast will go, and still cannot find wisdom. Nature gives no clue.
- Sealed. The verse closes both directions at once. It is hidden from every living eye below and concealed from what flies above. Even creatures far above man have no grasp of it.
- Rumour. Death and destruction heard only a report. Wisdom itself is known only when God reveals it.
- Revealed. Wisdom is not on earth because it comes down from heaven. It is found only in Christ, and it reached us by His death.
- Received. God does not keep the answer to Himself: the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and turning away from evil is understanding. Kelly says this is exactly what happens when a soul is converted.
Destruction and death say, We have heard its report with our ears.
Job's long speech turns from digging and buried gold to a harder search: where do you find wisdom? In verse 22 two voices from the world of the dead answer, and even they have only heard a rumour.
The chapter opens with men hard at work for gold, then sets that work beside something digging cannot reach.
The opening part of the chapter describes the hard work and care with which men dig for gold, which so often brings only the strife and curse that fall on it. He then moves on to the true riches — wisdom. Where can it be found? Searching earth or sea for it is useless, and all the wealth of the world cannot match it. Even the dark shadows of death can only witness that it exists. They do not tell how or where to get it.
Time has not changed the result.
Men may discover much, and since Job's day they have discovered far more, but wisdom escapes them. Suppose Job could see all that people do and discover in our atomic age. He would say the same thing, only a hundred times more strongly.
Older translations turn the name "Abaddon" into "Destruction." It appears in a small group of passages.
Revelation 9:11 shows this name to be the same as Apollyon, "the destroyer," whom it calls "the angel of the bottomless pit." It is perhaps not so much one of the names of Satan, as his character in person. It occurs six times in the Old Testament. Three times it goes with hell (sheol): Job 26:6; Proverbs 15:11; Proverbs 27:20. Once it goes with death: "Destruction and Death say," Job 28:22. Once it goes with the grave, Psalm 88:11. In all these passages, and in Job 31:12, it is translated "destruction."
Hearing about something is not the same as having it.
"Destruction and death say, We have heard a report about it with our ears" (v.22), but only a report, for God alone makes wisdom itself known, by direct revelation.
(Where the ESV reads "a rumor of it," older translations say "a report" or "the fame of it.")
What death takes away is itself a lesson.
Death and destruction cannot give positive wisdom. What they can show, from the other side, is that only what does not belong to mortal man has any value. A man sets up his family and keeps his name alive, but he himself is gone. Nothing stops the hand of death.
Ridout finds one more hint in the same silence.
Nature does speak of wisdom, but it does not pass wisdom on... And yet, if the poet had had ears to hear, those graves would at least whisper back a hint. The present life was not all, and wisdom lies beyond time. "Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame of it with our ears." How true it is that those who think about the end of their life are near to wisdom, ready to receive the revelation which God gives.
Two writers hear in that rumour the report of a Person.
True wisdom and true understanding are not found in the earth at all! It comes down from heaven. It is found only in Christ; and Christ had not yet come... "Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame of it with our ears." Yes, it was just that very thing. 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, but they did not know it.
Darby ties the same words to the death of Christ.
This is how death and destruction heard the fame of His wisdom: only God knows it (Job 28:22-23).
Only one voice can end the search.
God alone can declare its true nature and value, "and to man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding."... So until God has His rightful place in a man's mind and heart, he cannot look at anything wisely. His thoughts are out of centre. His beginning is all wrong.
- Search. Men dig for gold and discover more in every age. Wisdom still stays out of reach.
- Rumour. Destruction and Death — Abaddon, "the destroyer" — have only heard a report. Wisdom itself comes by direct revelation from God.
- Warning. Death teaches nothing positive. It does show that only what does not belong to mortal man has value. Those who think about their own end stand nearest to wisdom.
- Report. Writers hear in that rumour a report of Christ, who is wisdom Himself. Wisdom came to us by way of death, and those who heard the report did not know it.
- Answer. God alone knows wisdom's place, and what He tells man is short: fear the Lord, turn from evil. Until He has His rightful place in a heart, every thought is off centre.
God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth its place
Job has just searched mine shafts and sea depths, and every place gives the same answer: wisdom is not here. Verse 23 is the turn: the search moves from creation to the Creator, from where man can go to what God alone knows.
One writer sums up why every search for wisdom comes up empty.
While man is told to seek, this wisdom is not found in nature, nor by human effort. The question is asked: Where is wisdom found? Where does understanding live? Man, frail mortal, does not know it and cannot pay its price, for it is not found in the land of the living. If it were within reach, then some would be able to attain it; some rich man would have the price to pay for it. But it is beyond man. In the bottomless deep, the call for wisdom wakes only one reply: "It is not in me." The wide sea, for all its size, does not hold this priceless treasure. Nature, in itself, is powerless to give even a simple clue to this heavenly, this wonderful good.
Read the preceding verses as a personal question and you feel the weight of this one. One writer puts himself in the place of the seeker:
If wisdom cannot be bought with gold or precious stones — if the wealth of the universe cannot equal it, and no cleverness of man can discover it — then where am I to turn? where shall I find it?
The verse says God knows both the "way" and the "place" of wisdom. One writer sets that knowledge beside the whole universe God governs.
If destruction and death can only say that they have heard its report, God understands its way and He knows its place. The universe in no degree distracts Him: He looks to the ends of the earth, He sees not only in but under the whole heaven. Nothing is too delicate or too vast for His knowledge and His rule. He gives the winds their weight and measures out the waters. He controls the rain and the lightning. Yet He also laid down the foundation of all righteousness, and this for man on earth to hear. It is to give God His rights.
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One writer follows the search from creation to its Author, and from the Author to a Person.
We turn now from nature to its Author, from creation to God. He knows the way, and He alone can reveal it to man. And it is not merely God as Creator, but as Revealer in the person of His Son — "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." … He has seen wisdom; no, He is that Wisdom.
Another writer reads the answer of verse 23 as reaching past creation into salvation itself.
Yes, in all His creation He knows the way. Much more so in redemption: He is, in the person of His blessed Son, the way to Himself, and in Him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.
One writer turns to the person who leaves God out.
Until God gets His rightful place in a man's mind and heart, he is incapable of viewing anything wisely. His thoughts are out of centre. His beginning is all wrong.
One writer names the secret of wisdom, and what works against it.
Here, then, is the divine secret of wisdom: "the fear of the Lord." This sets the conscience directly in the presence of God, which is its only true place. Satan's aim is to keep the conscience out of this place. He works to bring it under the power and authority of man … He pushes something in between the conscience and the authority of Christ the Lord. It does not matter what it is. It may be a creed or a confession containing a quantity of truth — it may be the opinion of a man or a set of men — the judgment of some favourite teacher — anything, in short, that comes in and takes over, in the heart, the place that belongs to God's Word alone.
- Searched — Man digs and prices the whole earth. Nature cannot give even a simple clue to wisdom.
- Beyond reach — If wisdom could be bought, some rich man would already own it. It lies outside human effort.
- Known — God understands its way and knows its place. The universe never distracts Him, and nothing is too delicate or too vast for His rule.
- Revealed — He alone can give it. He does so not only as Creator but as Revealer in His Son, who holds all the treasures of wisdom.
- Feared — Wisdom starts when God has His rightful place. The conscience then stands before Him, ruled by His Word and nothing else.
For he looketh to the ends of the earth, he seeth under the whole heaven.
Job has just described men tunnelling into the earth for silver, gold and sapphires, then asked where wisdom is found. This verse says why God, not the miner, knows the answer: His gaze runs to the ends of the earth and takes in everything under the sky.
The verse opens with "For" — it explains the statement just before it, that God understands the way to wisdom. His knowledge rests on a range of vision no one else has.
"God understands its way and He knows its place" (v.23). So Job rises high above the speculations of men, who by nature have no idea of wisdom. God alone is the Source of wisdom. He understands it in absolute perfection. He is the One who has established "the ends of the earth" and takes in all that is "under the whole heaven," as no creature can (v.24).
The mining picture earlier in the chapter shows real skill and effort. Yet the hardest search in the wrong place still misses what matters most.
In his days people mined: it may have been a new pursuit then, whether for iron or copper, for gold or silver or gems. They dig down. They turn the underground stream aside. They open paths that the strongest beasts and the sharpest-eyed birds have never travelled. But in all this searching they never find wisdom… Men may discover much, and since Job's day they have discovered far more. But wisdom escapes them.
God's survey of the whole earth is not idle watching. The lines that follow show Him weighing wind and measuring water — a settled order in nature that people took centuries to notice.
"For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. When he gave to the wind its weight." Man discovered that the air has weight many hundreds — yes, some thousands — of years after that. The philosophers of that day never thought of it; they knew nothing about it… God "apportioned the waters by measure," so the sea is never too full, whatever comes.
The verse turns the reader away from the created world and towards its Author. He is more than the maker. He makes wisdom known — and He is Himself that wisdom.
We turn now from nature to its Author, from creation to God. He knows the way, and He alone can reveal it to man. He is not only God the Creator. He is God the Revealer in the person of His Son — "I am the way, and the truth, and the life."… His all-seeing eye sweeps the heavens. He has given its weight to the unseen air and its set proportions to the water. He sends the gentle rain, and with it He gives the lightning its path. He has seen wisdom; no — He is that Wisdom.
The passage does not leave wisdom out of reach. It ends with a word God speaks to man. That word decides whether a person can think straight about anything.
God alone can declare its true nature and value. He "said to man, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'"… So until God gets His rightful place in a man's mind and heart, he cannot view anything wisely. His thoughts are off centre. His beginning is all wrong.
One writer traces how this first shows itself in a person's own life.
"And he said to man" — there is a wisdom above man — "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding." That is exactly what a soul feels when it is converted. He may know nothing more than that. He sees how he has been in almost all evil, and he turns from it.
- Digging — men sink shafts and uncover buried treasure, yet wisdom is never among the finds. The effort is real; the direction is wrong.
- Looking — man digs downward; God looks outward, to the ends of the earth, and takes in everything under heaven. That limitless view is why He alone knows where wisdom lives.
- Weighing — the same look that sweeps the earth sets the weight of the wind and the measure of the waters. People only began to grasp that order thousands of years later.
- Revealing — God is not only the Creator behind that order. He reveals wisdom in His Son, who said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life."
- Fearing — the search ends in a word spoken to man: fear the Lord and turn from evil. Until God has His place in a person's heart, every other thought is off centre.
In making a weight for the wind, and meting out the waters by measure,
Job 28 has been hunting for wisdom — in mines, in ocean depths, in gold and jewels — and no creature can name its price or its place. Verse 25 turns from the search to the Searcher: God weighs the wind and measures the seas.
Job speaks of the wind as something with weight. That claim sat in the text for centuries before anyone could test it.
"He looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole heaven; to make the weight for the winds." It was many hundreds — yes, some thousands — of years later that man discovered the atmosphere has weight. It did not enter into the philosophy of the philosophers then; they knew nothing about it.
Air feels like nothing in the hand. The same air in motion can shatter rock.
It is wisdom far higher than man's conception that "established a weight for the wind" (v.25). Air weighs nothing. Yet the wind has such tremendous weight that it can break rocks in pieces (1 Kings 19:11). God also "apportions the water by measure." Who could even think of measuring the water of the oceans? Yet our great Creator holds all these things under perfect control. Such mighty works show wisdom, no less than power.
God does not only make the waters vast. He sets a limit and keeps it:
"He weighs the waters by measure," so that no matter what comes, the sea is never too full. The circle of waters is always going on. Waters rise up as vapour, and in vast quantities. The power of the sun acts on the waters, and many tons go up every day. There was a measure for it all, in God's mind.
That measuring reaches to the proportion of sea and dry ground, and life depends on the ratio being right.
The average height of land above water is 2,300 feet. The average depth of water is 13,000 feet. God in His wisdom planned the right proportion of land and water. This keeps the true balance of nature. With more land and less water, long drought would have followed. Farmers could not have grown good crops, cattle would have died for want of pasture and water, and the earth would have been scorched. With more water and less land, constant flooding would have been the result.
Weighing wind and measuring water assume a viewpoint that takes in everything at once — which is exactly what the previous verse claims for God, and for no one else.
"God understands its way and He knows its place" (v.23). So Job rises high above the speculations of men, who by nature have no idea of wisdom. God alone is the Source of wisdom. He understands it in absolute perfection — He who has established "the ends of the earth" and contemplates all that is "under the whole heaven," as no creature possibly can (v.24).
A person can study these weights and measures and still miss the One behind them.
How sad it is to see men of vast knowledge and deep reasoning powers. They gaze into the glorious heavens and fail to find God or wisdom there. They analyse the dust of the earth, yet do not perceive Him who "worked by weight and measure." The words of the apostle state the solemn fact: "the world did not know God through wisdom" (1 Corinthians 1:21). How blessed it is then to have the true wisdom — "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." We come to know Him through that cross, which sets aside all of man's pride, his wisdom and his righteousness.
The chapter does not stop at wind and water. The same God who fixed these quantities fixed something for people to live by.
He appointed the wind its weight — a remarkable thought and word for these days. He measured out the waters. He controls the rain and the lightning. Yet He also laid down the foundation of all righteousness, and this for favoured man on earth to hear. It is to give God His rights. "The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding." It is to be subject morally to God as Master.
Ridout takes the further step of identifying that wisdom with a Person:
His all-seeing eye sweeps the heavens. He has given its weight to the invisible air, and its appointed proportions to the water. He sends the gentle rain, and with it gives a course to the lightning's flash. He has seen wisdom; no — He is that Wisdom.
- Weight. God gave weight to what feels weightless. The wind that breaks rocks was on His scales long before man could measure the air.
- Measure. God portions out the waters, so the sea is never too full. The ratio of land to ocean keeps the world from both drought and flood.
- Vantage. Such weighing needs an eye that sweeps the heavens and looks to the ends of the earth, under the whole heaven.
- Limit. Creation displays this wisdom but cannot hand it over. Men have analysed the dust and still missed the One who works by weight and measure.
- Landing. The God who fixed these quantities also laid the foundation of righteousness. Fear Him, turn from evil — and find that the Wisdom sought is Christ Himself.
Some quotations follow older English translations; the featured verse above is ESV.
In appointing a statute for the rain, and a way for the thunder's flash
This line sits inside a chapter asking one question: where can wisdom be found? Job answers by pointing to the God who fixes a rule for the rain and a path for the lightning.
The verse describes weather as legislation. Rain falls by rule — where, when, and how much — and lightning travels a set path. (The writer quotes a translation that reads "law" for the decree and "thunderbolt" for the lightning.)
"He made a law for the rain" (v.26) — a law fixing how and when God releases it, and exactly where. Man has no power at all to change that law. Nor does man understand why God holds back the rain at certain times and places. Nor does he understand why God sends too much rain at times and places of His own choosing. All of it follows the laws of nature that God has set up. "A path for the thunderbolt" shows that thunder is not random, but always under wise supervision. All of this declares God's wisdom (v.27). He prepared wisdom, He searched it out, and left no part of how it works without His fullest consideration.
The rain and the lightning follow two earlier measurements in the chapter: the weight of the wind and the measure of the waters. One of them took man thousands of years to catch up with.
It was many hundreds, yes, some thousands of years after Job's day when man discovered that the atmosphere had weight. It never entered the thinking of the philosophers of that time; they knew nothing about it. "He weighs the waters by measure," so that no matter what comes, the sea is never too full.
Rain and lightning stand together in this one line. That pairing matches how rain actually forms.
How accurate these ancient Scriptures are about science. They speak of vapours gathered from the ends of the earth — a worldwide area. They speak of the tendency of those vapours to rise. They speak of electrical discharge, which turns the vapour into many waters in the heavens. It is indeed most striking! People have often said that the Scriptures were not given to teach science; but when they do touch on science, they make no mistakes.
The list of weather is not there to teach meteorology. Size does not stretch God's attention thin, and detail does not scatter it. The hand that set these rules also laid down a moral rule, and told man about it.
The universe does not distract Him in the least. He looks to the ends of the earth. He sees not only in but under the whole heaven. Nothing is too fine or too vast for His view and rule. He gave the winds their weight — a remarkable thought and word for these days. He measured out the waters. He controlled the rain and the lightning. And He still laid down the foundation of all righteousness, and He did this for man on earth, whom He favoured, to hear.
The chapter opens with mining. Men dig to places no animal or bird has ever reached, and still come up empty on the one thing worth having.
They dig down, they divert the underground stream, they cut paths where the strongest beasts and the sharpest-eyed birds have never walked. But in all this searching they never find wisdom... Men may discover much, and since Job's day they have discovered a great deal more, but wisdom eludes them.
Two verses later the search ends with one short answer. It is not a fact about weather but a state of heart.
The only reason that wisdom eludes people is that "there is no fear of God before their eyes," so that they have no heart to depart from evil. The fear of the Lord is not terror, but a wholesome reverence that gives Him the place of supreme honour.
The same two marks appear at the very start of a changed life.
And that is exactly what a person feels when he is converted. He sees how he has been in almost all evil, and he departs from it. The fear of the Lord and departing from evil are what stay, even when souls are not taken up with their evil and talking about it.
- Law, not luck. God releases rain by decree, and thunder runs a supervised path; no part of the storm is loose or accidental.
- Law you cannot edit. Man has no power to change that decree, and no explanation for why drought falls here and flood there.
- Law observed late. Scripture named the weight of the wind. It linked electrical discharge to rainfall. Man measured neither until thousands of years later.
- Law that is moral too. The God who weighs the wind and measures the waters also laid down the foundation of all righteousness. He said it out loud for man to hear.
- Law that ends in reverence. Mining shafts reach what no bird has seen and still miss wisdom. It comes only to the person who gives God the place of supreme honour and turns from evil.
Then did he see it, and declare it; he established it, yea, and searched it out;
Job 28 watches men dig into the earth for silver, gold and gems, then asks what no mine can answer: where is wisdom found? Verse 27 answers from God's side, with four verbs for what He did with wisdom before any man looked for it.
The chapter has just searched every place men can reach and found nothing. One commentator shows how easily God knows what men cannot find:
Suppose it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the heavens. Suppose destruction and death can only say that they have heard a report of it. God still understands its way, and He knows its place. The universe does not distract Him in the least. He looks to the ends of the earth. He sees not only in but under the whole heaven. Nothing is too delicate or too vast for His sight and His rule.
The verse opens with "then" — after God set the weight of the wind and measured out the waters. Each verb says something different. The strangest is the last: God searched out what He already had. Where the ESV has "established it," older translations read "prepared it," and the comment below follows that wording:
In all this God declares His wisdom (v.27). He prepared wisdom, He searched it out, leaving not one part of its working without the fullest consideration. Does this not fill our souls with wondering admiration?
What God saw and declared was not just an idea. He built it into the running of the sky. Job named things no one around him could measure:
"He weighs the waters by measure," so that no matter what comes, the sea is never too full. The circle of waters is always going on. Water rises as vapour in vast quantities, because the power of the sun acts on the waters. Many tons go up every day. There was a measure for it all, in God's mind.
The same writer points out how long it took man to catch up:
Man discovered that the atmosphere had weight many hundreds, yes, some thousands of years later. But it did not enter into the philosophy of the philosophers then; they knew nothing about it.
"Declared" means wisdom did not stay locked inside God's own thoughts. One commentator sees more here than knowledge — in redemption God Himself is the way:
"God understands the way to it." Yes, in all His creation He knows the way. Much more so in redemption: in the person of His blessed Son, He is the way to Himself. In Him all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge are hidden.
Another commentator points to where wisdom does come from:
This is a very solemn thing! True wisdom and true understanding are not found in the earth at all! It comes down from heaven. It is found only in Christ.
God has done the searching. That leaves something practical for anyone who wants to walk with Him:
What an unspeakable mercy for someone who really wants to walk with God, to know that there is a way for him to walk in! God has prepared a pathway for His redeemed. In it they may walk with all possible certainty, calmness and steadiness.
The chapter ends with God's own word to man. One commentator links it to the moment a person turns to God:
"And He said to man" — there is a wisdom above man — "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding." That is exactly what a soul feels at conversion. He may know nothing more than that. He sees how he has been in almost all evil, and he departs from it. A real sight of Christ is enough to do that, by the Spirit of God and the fear of the Lord.
- Saw — God saw wisdom first. The deep, the sea, the birds and death all come up empty, but nothing is too small or too vast for His sight.
- Declared — what God saw, He spoke out. One commentator finds the fullest declaring in His Son, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.
- Established — He built that wisdom into the weight of the wind and the measure of the waters. The sea is never too full.
- Searched — He also searched wisdom out, leaving no part of its working without the fullest consideration.
- Walked — the searching is finished. A path stands ready, and a person enters it by the fear of the Lord and turning from evil.
And unto man he said, Lo, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
Job has just described how far men will dig for treasure, only to ask where wisdom itself can be bought. The chapter ends with God Himself giving the answer, and it is not a thing men find but a way men live.
The chapter contrasts what human skill can reach with what it cannot. One writer notes that mining may have been a new skill in Job's day. Centuries of digging have not changed the result.
They dig down, they turn aside the underground stream, they cut paths that the strongest beasts have never walked and the sharpest-eyed birds have never seen. But in all this searching they never find wisdom... Men may discover much, and since Job's day they have discovered far more, but wisdom still escapes them. If Job could see all that people do and discover in our atomic age, he would say the same, only a hundred times more strongly.
Another writer names what drives the search:
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?
Verse 28 opens with God speaking. Just before it He weighs the wind, measures the waters, and sets a law for the rain. The God who fixed those measures fixed this one too:
The universe does not distract Him at all. He looks to the ends of the earth, and He sees not only in but under the whole heaven. Nothing is too delicate or too vast for His sight and rule. He gives the wind its weight (surely a remarkable thought and word for these days). He measures out the waters. He controls the rain and the lightning. Yet just as truly He laid down the foundation of all righteousness, and this for man on earth to hear. It is to give God His rights... It is to be morally subject to God as Master, fearing Him and turning from evil — the true wisdom and understanding of man.
The phrase sounds at first like dread. The word behind "the Lord" here is Adonai, which means Sovereign Master. One writer sets out what this fear is not, and what it opens into:
The fear of the Lord (Adonai, the supreme Ruler and Master) is wisdom. It is bowing low in humility before Him, in whose presence seraphim cover their faces... This fear is not mere dread, but reverence, submission, worship. It includes repentance... To know God in this way prepares for, and includes, knowing His mercy and grace toward us — the full knowledge of the gospel. It is not knowledge of God, but being brought to Him, and learning His grace and love. This is more than mere knowledge; it is the key to it; it is eternal life.
Another writer explains why wisdom stays out of reach for most people:
Wisdom escapes people for one reason only: "there is no fear of God before their eyes." So they have no heart to turn from evil. The fear of the Lord is not terror, but a wholesome reverence that gives Him the place of supreme honour.
One writer sees the verse's second half at work from the very start of the Christian life:
That is exactly what a soul feels at conversion. He may know nothing more than that. He sees that he has been in almost every evil, and he turns away from it. A real sight of Christ is enough to do that by the Spirit of God, and the fear of the Lord. That is what lasts, even when souls are no longer taken up with their evil and talking about it — the fear of the Lord and turning from evil.
Job said this before he lived it. Another writer notes that the book itself will supply the demonstration: "In reverence and fear he then turns to Him, bowing in the dust; from evil, yes, from himself he turns."
One writer shows what this fear settles: who has the right to rule your conscience.
This sets the conscience directly in the presence of God, which is its only true place. Satan's aim is to keep the conscience out of this place — to bring it under the power and authority of man, to push something in between the conscience and the authority of Christ the Lord. It does not matter what it is. It may be a creed or a statement of faith with a great deal of truth in it. It may be the opinion of one man or of a group of men... God's Word must rule me — God's pure and simple Word, not man's explanation of it.
- Searched — Men tunnel where no bird flies to find gold, and still come up empty. Wisdom is not in the earth, and no money can buy it.
- Spoken — What man cannot mine, God announces. The God who weighs the wind also laid down the foundation of all righteousness for man to hear.
- Fear — Not terror, but reverence and submission before the supreme Master. It includes repentance, and it opens the way to His grace.
- Depart — Reverence shows itself by turning from evil. A soul feels this at conversion, and it lasts long after.
- Free — Fearing God puts the conscience straight before Him. No man, creed, or teacher may stand in between.