Job 28

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:4

Job 28:4. The flood breaketh out While men are digging and searching in the mines, a flood of waters breaks in suddenly and violently upon them, and disturbs them in their work; from the inhabitant Hebrew, מעם גר , megnim gar, from with the inhabitant, or sojourner, as the word rather means: that is, out of that part of the earth which the miners inhabit, or wherever they sojourn and work; so that they dare not continue there any longer: but are forced to leave the place; even the... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:5-6

Job 28:5-6. As for the earth, out of it cometh bread Out of the surface of the earth man gets herbs and corn, and other kinds of food for his sustenance: and under it is turned up, as it were, fire Lime, to manure and enrich the ground, or coals and brimstone, and other materials of fire: unless, as some suppose, this rather refers to a central fire in the bowels of the earth. The stones of it are the place of sapphires Of precious stones; the sapphire, as one of the most eminent, being... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:7-8

Job 28:7-8. There is a path which no fowl knoweth Namely, in the bowels of the earth. Man by his industry goeth in mines under the earth, in paths where neither bird nor beast has ever entered. Which the vulture’s eye hath not seen Whose eye is very quick and strong, and searches all places for its prey. The lion’s whelps Hebrew, בני שׁחצ , benei shachatz, the sons of the wild beast, have not trodden it The wildest beasts, who search for solitary places, have never made their den... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:9-11

Job 28:9-11. He putteth forth his hand upon the rock, &c. He digs through the hardest rocks by his obstinate labour; and undermines mountains, that he may find the treasures hid in their bowels. He cutteth out rivers among the rocks If he meets with waters in his mining, which hinder his work, he cuts a channel through the rocks to convey them away; or, if he wants water, to wash the ore, he, with incredible industry, cuts channels to bring it into the mines. And his eye seeth every... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:12

Job 28:12. But where shall wisdom be found? I confess that man hath one kind of wisdom, and that in a great degree, namely, to discover the works of nature, and to perform the operations of art; but as for that sublime and eminent wisdom which consists in the perfect knowledge of all God’s counsels and ways, and of the reasons of the dispensations of his providence toward good and bad men, this is far above man’s reach, and is the prerogative of God alone. Nay, and that wisdom which... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:13-14

Job 28:13-14. Man knoweth not the price thereof Its immense, its unspeakable value: nor can it be purchased with all that he hath to give for it. Neither is it found in the land of the living It is not a thing that any part of this world affords. Nor is it found in perfection among mortal men, that live on earth, but only among those blessed spirits that live in heaven. The depth saith, It is not in me, &c. Could the profound abysses of the sea speak, they would tell us they do not... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:15-17

Job 28:15-17. It cannot be gotten for gold The choicest gold laid up in treasures, as the word סגר , segor, signifies: neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof Namely, in the balance; for in those times money was paid by weight. It cannot be valued with gold of Ophir Though the gold that comes from thence be the purest of all, neither that, nor the most precious stones, can purchase this wisdom. The gold and the crystal Hebrew, זכוכית , zecucith, gemma nitidissima, a... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:18-19

Job 28:18-19. No mention shall be made of coral or of pearls They are of no value, if compared with wisdom, nor fit to be mentioned as a price wherewith to purchase it. For the price, &c. Hebrew, משׁךְ , meshech, the attraction, or extraction, of wisdom is above rubies מפנינים , mippeninim, pearls. But the expression is rendered by the LXX., υπερ τα εσωτατα , above the innermost, or most concealed and guarded things; and by the Vulgate de occultis, of secret things. ... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:20-21

Job 28:20-21. Whence then cometh wisdom, &c. By what means, then, shall we get this precious treasure of wisdom, of which we are so desirous? Who can show us where it lies, that we may go and search for it? By a diligent prosecution of this inquiry he brings us at length to this issue: That there is a two-fold wisdom; one hid in God, which is secret, and belongs not to us; the other made known by him, and revealed to man, which belongs to us and to our children. It is hid from the... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:22

Job 28:22. Destruction and death Either, 1st, Men that are dead, and thereby freed from the encumbrance of their bodies, which depressed their minds, and whose faculties are more raised and enlarged than those of men still in the body; or, rather, 2d, The grave, the habitation of the dead, to which these things are here ascribed, as they are to the depths and to the sea, Job 28:14, by a common figure. These inward recesses of the earth are as little acquainted with this wisdom as the upper... read more

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:4

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:5-6

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:7-8

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:9-11

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:12

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:13-14

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:15-17

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:18-19

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:20-21

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 28:22

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