THE MYSTERY OF DIVINE WISDOM In this famous chapter Job declares that Wisdom—that is, the principle of the divine government of the world—is a mystery not to be solved by man. Man's wisdom lies in fearing God, and in departing from evil. But this conclusion is quite at variance with the position tak... [ Continue Reading ]
SURELY] RM 'For.' Perhaps the question in Job 28:12 and Job 28:20, 'Where shall Wisdom be found?', 'Whence then cometh Wisdom?' may be understood at the beginning of this verse. It has even been suggested that it once stood at the beginning and has been omitted by accident. VEIN] RV 'mine.' Remains... [ Continue Reading ]
BRASS] rather, 'copper.'... [ Continue Reading ]
Render, 'Man setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out to the furthest bound the stones,' etc., a reference to mining operations.... [ Continue Reading ]
RV 'HE (the miner) breaketh open a shaft away from where men sojourn; They (miners) are forgotten of the foot _that passeth by_ (overhead); They hang afar from men, they swing to and fro (i.e. by ropes).' The word rendered 'shaft' should be' channel.' Ancient mines were often not vertical shafts, bu... [ Continue Reading ]
AS IT WERE FIRE] RV 'as it were by fire,' a reference to mining operations. 7. A PATH] the miner's tunnel.... [ Continue Reading ]
The miner's excavations.... [ Continue Reading ]
RIVERS] RM 'passages.' IIa. RV 'He bindeth (with clay) the streams that they trickle not,' i.e. he prevents water from entering the mine. 12-28. Man can discover some things by his cleverness, but Wisdom, the mystery of the universe and its ordering, is beyond his ken. It is the secret of God who o... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PRICE THEREOF] LXX reads, 'the way thereof.'... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DEPTH] the primeval abyss supposed to lie under the earth: cp. Genesis 1:2. 15F Cp. Proverbs 3:14; Proverbs 8:10;... [ Continue Reading ]
CRYSTAL] RV 'glass': known to the ancients, but extremely costly.... [ Continue Reading ]
No mention] because there is no comparison. Rubies] RM 'pearls.'... [ Continue Reading ]
DESTRUCTION] Heb. _Abaddon_, the realm of the dead. The fame of Wisdom, but not the knowledge of it, has reached these gloomy regions.... [ Continue Reading ]
See on 12-28. Since God is the creator of the universe, and knows even its most secret recesses, He must know where Wisdom is to be found. Not only so, but the very work of creation and the adjustment of natural phenomena are indications of Wisdom, and prove not merely God's knowledge of Wisdom's ab... [ Continue Reading ]
RM 'When he maketh a weight for the wind: yea, he meteth out the waters by measure,' i.e. the regulation by God of the forces of nature.... [ Continue Reading ]
A decree for the rain] i.e. for its regulation.... [ Continue Reading ]
'When God ordered creation, Wisdom was present to Him; He declared it, gave it existence, and contemplated it in all its fulness with divine approval' (Gibson).... [ Continue Reading ]
Man's wisdom is a distinct thing from the Divine Wisdom. It is that right conduct which accompanies reverence for a holy God. The description of Wisdom in this chapter closely connects the book of Job in this respect with the other Wisdom literature of the OT., viz. Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. The p... [ Continue Reading ]