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Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:12

But where shall wisdom be found? - That is, the full understanding of the plans of God - for this is the point of inquiry. The object of Job is to show that it is not to be found in the most profound science; by penetrating to the farthest extent of which man was capable in the earth, nor by any human investigations whatever. None of these things revealed the great plans of the Almighty in reference to his moral government, and particularly to the points which engrossed the attention of Job and... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:13

Man knoweth not the price thereof - The word rendered “price” (ערך ‛êrek) means properly that which is set in a pile or row, or which is arranged in order. Here it means preparation, equipment - that is, anything put in order, or ready, Judges 17:10. It is also used in the sense of estimation or valuation, Leviticus 5:15, Leviticus 5:18. The word “price” here, however, seems to form no proper answer to the question in the previous verse, as the question is, “where” wisdom is to be found, not... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:14

The depth saith - This is a beautiful personification. The object of this verse and the following is, to show that wisdom cannot be found in the deepest recesses to which man can penetrate, nor purchased by anything which man possesses. It must come from God only. The word “depth” here (תהום tehôm) means properly a wave, billow, surge; then a mass of waters, a flood, or the deep ocean, Deuteronomy 8:7; Genesis 7:11; Psalms 36:6; and then a gulf, or abyss. It refers here to the sea, or ocean;... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:15

It cannot be gotten for gold - Margin, “fine gold shall not be given for it.” The word which is here rendered “gold.” and in the margin “fine gold” (סגור segôr), is not the common word used to denote this metal. It is derived from סגר sâgar, to “shut,” to “close,” and means properly that which is “shut up” or “enclosed;” and hence, Gesenius supposes it means pure gold, or the most precious gold, as that which is shut up or enclosed with care. Dr. Good renders it “solid gold,” supposing it... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:16

The gold of Ophir - Uniformly spoken of as the most precious gold; see the notes at Job 22:24.With the precious onyx - The onyx is a semi-pellucid gem, with variously colored veins or zones. It is a variety of the chalcedony. The Arabic word denotes that which was of two colors, where the white predominated. The Greeks gave the name “onyx” ὄνυξ onux to the gem from its resemblance to the color of the thumbnail; see Passow.Or the sapphire - See the notes at Job 28:6. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:17

The gold and the crystal - A crystal, in chemistry, is an inorganic body which, by the operation of affinity, has assumed the form of a regular solid, terminated by a number of plane and smooth surfaces. It is round in various forms and sizes, and is composed of a great variety of substances. The common “rock crystal” is a general name for all the transparent crystals of quartz, particularly of limpid or colorless quartz. “Webster.” The word used here (זכוּכית zekûkı̂yth) occurs nowhere else... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:18

No mention shall be made of coral - That is, as a price by which to purchase wisdom, or in comparison with wisdom. The margin here is, “Ramoth” - retaining the Hebrew word ראמה râ'mâh. Jerome renders it, “excelsa” - exalted or valuable things. So the Septuagint, Μετέωρα Meteōra - exalted or sublime things; as if the word were from רום, to be exalted. According to the rabbis, the word here means “red coral.” It occurs also in Ezekiel 27:16, where it is mentioned as a valuable commodity in... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:19

The topaz - The topaz is a precious stone, whose colors are yellow, green, blue, and red. Its natural place is in various primitive rocks, such as the topaz-rock, gneiss, and clay-slate. It is found in the granite and gneiss districts of Mar and Cairnaorta, in Cornwall, in Brazil, and in various other places. The most valuable stones of this kind now known are those which are found in Brazil. This gem is much prized by jewelers, and is considered as one of the more beautiful ornamental stones.... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:20

Whence then cometh wisdom? - This question is now repeated from Job 28:12, in order to give it greater emphasis. It is designed to fix the attention on the inquiry as one which found no solution in the discoveries of science, and whose solution was hidden from the most penetrating human intellect. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:21

It is hid from the eyes of all living - That is, of all people, and of all animals. Man has not found it by the most sagacious of all his discoveries, and the keenest vision of beasts and fowls has not traced it out.And kept close - Hebrew “concealed.”From the fowls of the air - Compare the notes at Job 28:7. Umbreit remarks, on this passage, that there is attributed to the fowls in Oriental countries a deep knowledge, and an extraordinary gift of divination, and that they appear as the... read more

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