The miners praise the wisdom of God
1 There is a silver mine
and a place where gold is refined.
2 Iron is taken from earth
and copper is smelted from ore.
3 Trying to conquer darkness,
piercing to the uttermost depths
in darkness for the gloomy stone,
4 strange people cut a shaft
in places remote and long forgotten,
and there they labor, dangling and swaying.
5 The earth which produces food
is plowed up as if by fire.
6 Sapphires come from its rocks,
gold nuggets from its dust.
7 No bird of prey knows the hidden path,
no falcon’s eye has seen it yet.
8 No proud beast has trodden it,
no prowling lion has passed over it.
9 Man attacks the flinty rocks,
upturns mountains by their roots.
10 Tunneling through earth’s layers,
he sees all its treasures.
11 He searches the source of rivers,
and brings hidden things to light.
12 But where does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?
13 Man has known no way to wisdom;
it is not found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, “It is not in me”;
the sea says, “It is not with me.”
15 It cannot be purchased with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed in silver.
16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
nor with precious onyx or sapphire.
17 It is beyond comparison with gold or crystal;
its worth is unmatched by any golden vessel.
18 Not worth mentioning are coral and jasper;
the price of wisdom is above the biggest pearl.
19 The topaz of Cush cannot equal it;
it cannot be valued in pure gold.
20 Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of all the living,
concealed from the birds in the sky.
22 Destruction and Death can only say,
“We have heard of it.”
23 God alone knows the way to wisdom,
his eye enters its dwelling place.
24 When he looked to the ends of the earth,
and watched everything under the heavens,
25 when he gave the wind its force
and measured out the waters,
26 when he set a bound for the rain
and a way for the thunder and lightning,
27 then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he established it, knowing it in depth.
28 And to humans he said:
The fear of the Lord is wisdom;
avoiding evil is understanding.
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Comments Job, Chapter 28
• 28.1 This poem marks an interval and a break after Job’s discussion with his friends.
Miners know how to look for hidden treasures in side hills: gold, silver and precious stones. But who will look for God’s wisdom? We find something similar in Baruch 3:15-30.