Job 28

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:22

Destruction - This is a personification which is exceedingly sublime. Job had spoken of the wonderful discoveries made by science, but none of them had disclosed true wisdom. It had not been discovered in the shaft which the miner sank deep in the earth; in the hidden regions which he laid open to day, nor by the birds that saw to the farthest distance, or that were regarded as the interpreters of the will of the gods. It was natural to ask whether it might not have been discovered in the vast... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:23

God understandeth the way thereof - These are doubtless the words of Job. The meaning is, that the reason of the divine dispensations could be known only to God himself. He had given no clew by which man could discover this. He might carry his investigations far into the regions of science; he could penetrate the earth, and look on the stars, but still all his investigations fell short of disclosing the reasons of the divine dispensations. The secret was lodged in his bosom, and he only could... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:24

For he looketh to the ends of the earth - That is, God sees and knows everything. He looks upon the whole universe. Man sees objects dimly; he sees but a few, and he little understands the bearing of one thing or another. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:25

To make the weight for the winds - That is, to weigh the winds and to measure the waters - things that it would seem most difficult to do. The idea here seems to be, that God had made all things by measure and by rule. Even the winds - so fleeting and imponderable - he had adjusted and balanced in the most exact manner, as if he had “weighed” them when he made them. The air has “weight,” but it is not probable that this fact was known in the time of Job, or that he adverted to it here. It is... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:26

When he made a decree for the rain - A statute or law (חק chôq) by which the rain is regulated. It is not sent by chance or hap-hazard. It is under the operation of regular and settled laws. We cannot suppose that those laws were understood in the time of Job, but the fact might be understood that the rain was regulated by laws, and that fact would show that God was qualified to impart wisdom. His kingdom was a kingdom of settled law and not of chance or caprice, and if the rain was regulated... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:27

Then did he see it - That is, then did he see wisdom. When in the work of creation he gave laws to the rain and the thunder storm; when he weighed out the winds and measured out the waters, then he saw and understood the principles of true wisdom. There is a remarkable similarity between the expression here and Proverbs 8:27-30, “When he prepared the heavens, I (wisdom) was there; when he set a compass upon the face of the depth; when he established the clouds above; when he strengthened the... read more

Albert Barnes

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

And unto man he said - At what time, or how, Job does not say. Prof. Lee supposes that this refers to the instruction which God gave in Paradise to our first parents; but it may rather be supposed to refer to the universal tenor of the divine communications to man, and to all that God had said about the way of true wisdom. The meaning is, that the substance of all that God had said to man was, that true wisdom was to be found in profound veneration of him.The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom -... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28

A.M. 2484. B.C. 1520. Job shows that the industry of man finds out many hidden things, such as silver, gold, iron, and brass, Job 28:1-11 . But that the more valuable treasure of wisdom lies beyond his reach, and is not discoverable by any of his efforts, Job 28:12-22 . That God, however, who alone comprehends it, hath revealed to man that portion of it which it most concerns him to understand, which is to fear God, and depart from evil. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:1

Job 28:1. Surely, &c. Job, having confuted his three friends on their own principles, in the last two and some of the preceding chapters, here falls into a kind of soliloquy on the difficulty of obtaining true wisdom. His friends had laid claim to it from their great age, and from their knowledge of ancient traditions: see Job 5:27, and Job 8:8-9, and Job 15:9-10, and Job 20:4; but he had shown them of how little importance or signification their conclusions were. Where, then, it became... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:2-3

Job 28:2-3. Iron is taken out of the earth, &c. They invent means to extract iron and brass out of the earth and stone. He setteth an end to darkness, &c. There is no mine so dismally dark, but there is some man or other who will undertake to work in it, and find out a method of conveying light into it: and searcheth out all perfection He searches to the very bottom of it, and finds out all the valuable treasures contained therein; the stones of darkness, and the shadow of... read more

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:22

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:23

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:24

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:25

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:26

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 28:27

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

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:1

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:2-3

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