Read & Study the Bible Online - Bible Portal
Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 28:20-28

The question which Job had asked (Job 28:12) he asks again here; for it is too worthy, too weighty, to be let fall, until we speed in the enquiry. Concerning this we must seek till we find, till we get some satisfactory account of it. By a diligent prosecution of this enquiry he brings it, at length, to this issue, that there is a twofold wisdom, one hidden 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.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 28:28

And unto man he said ,.... What follows; unto Adam, so some render it, as Mr. Broughton; taking what is after delivered to be said to the first man; either by suggesting it to his mind and conscience, and inscribing it on his heart, where the law of God was written, and by which he was directed to fear God and avoid evil; or by the express command he gave him not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge; thereby instructing him to fear him, and abstain from evil; which, had he done,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 28:28

Unto man he said - לאדם laadam , unto man, he said: This probably refers to the revelation of his will which God gave to Adam after his fall. He had before sought for wisdom in a forbidden way. When he and Eve saw that the tree was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, they took and did eat, Genesis 3:6 . Thus they lost all the wisdom that they had, by not setting the fear of the Lord before their eyes; and became foolish, wicked, and miserable. Hear, then,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 28:1-28

The connection of this chapter with the preceding is somewhat obscure. Probably we are to regard Job as led to see, even while he is justifying God's ways with sinners ( Job 27:8-23 ), how many and how great are the difficulties in the way of forming a single consistent theory of the Divine action, which shall be applicable to all cases. Hence he comes to the conclusion that God is incomprehensible by man and inscrutable; and that it is only given to man to know him sufficiently for his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 28:1-28

Job's first parable: 3. A discourse upon true wisdom. I. THE WISDOM UNDISCOVERABLE BY HUMAN GENIUS . Among the stupendous efforts of human industry and skill with which Job was acquainted, nothing was better fitted to impress the mind with a sense of man's illimitable daring, resistless might, and wonderful success in searching out all perfection (verse 3), and brining hidden things to light (vet, 11), than the operations of the miner. These, a knowledge of which may have been... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 28:12-28

Here we come on an abrupt change. From human ingenuity and contrivance Job turns to the consideration of "wisdom"—that wisdom which has been defined as "the reason which deals with principles "(Canon Cook). "Where," he asks, "is this to be found?" It is a wholly different thing from cleverness and ingenuity. It inquires into causes and origins, into the ends and purposes of things; it seeks to solve the riddle of the universe. Perfect wisdom can, of course, only dwell with God (verse 23). Man... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 28:28

And unto man he said . Not in so many words, not by any written or spoken revelation; but by the nature which he implanted in man, and especially by the conscience wherewith he endowed him. Man feels in his heart of hearts that whatever wisdom may be in the abstract, his true wisdom is "the fear of God," his true understanding "to depart from evil." No amount of intelligence, no amount of cleverness, or of information, or of knowledge, or of worldly or scientific wisdom, will be of any... 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 28:28

Job 28:28. And Or, rather, but, unto man For this is added by way of opposition, to show that man’s wisdom doth not lie in a curious inquiry into, or an exact knowledge of God’s secret counsels, and the ways of his providence, but in things of quite another nature; he said Unto Adam, in the day when he was created, and in and with him to all his posterity: that is, God spake it partly, and at first inwardly, to the mind of man, in which he wrote this with his own finger; and partly... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Job 28:1-28

The search for true wisdom (28:1-28)At this point there is a pause in the story while the writer inserts a poem on the pricelessness of true wisdom. The poem does not state who composed it, though it could have been spoken by Job during the period of quiet that followed the last of the friends’ speeches. The theme of the poem is that, though people go to much trouble to find the riches hidden in the earth, they are not able to find the far greater riches of true wisdom.Mining is an occupation... read more

Group of Brands