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King James Version
Job 28:1
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"People know where to mine silver and how to refine gold.
Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine.
Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place for gold which they refine.
"There are mines where people dig silver and places where gold is made pure.
"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined.
Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold [where] they fine [it].
"Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place for gold which they refine.
"Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place where they refine gold.
"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold that they refine.
Siluer hath bigynnyngis of his veynes; and a place is to gold, in which it is wellid togidere.
Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.
Job Continues Gold and silver are mined, then purified;
Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place for gold which they refine.
Truly there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is washed out.
"There are mines for silver and places where gold is refined;
Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold which they refine;
"There are mines where people get silver and places where people melt gold to make it pure.
For there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine.
Surely there is a veine for the siluer, and a place for golde where they fine it.
"For sure there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is made pure.
"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold to be refined.
The siluer surely hath his veyne, and ye gold his place, where they take it.
SURELY there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined.
There are mines where silver is dug; There are places where gold is refined.
Though there is, for silver, a vein, and a place for the gold they refine;
Silver hath beginnings of its veins, and gold hath a place wherein it is melted.
"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine.
There is a place wher siluer is brought out of, and where golde is tryed,
For there is a place for the silver, whence it comes, and a place for the gold, whence it is refined.
Surely there is a mine for silver
"Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place for gold which they refine.
"Indeed, there is a mine for silver and a place for gold to be refined.
Surely there is a mine for the silver, and a place where they refine gold.
Surely there is for silver a source, And a place for the gold they refine;
There are places where syluer is molte, & where golde is tryed:
"We all know how silver seams the rocks, we've seen the stuff from which gold is refined, We're aware of how iron is dug out of the ground and copper is smelted from rock. Miners penetrate the earth's darkness, searching the roots of the mountains for ore, digging away in the suffocating darkness. Far from civilization, far from the traffic, they cut a shaft, and are lowered into it by ropes. Earth's surface is a field for grain, but its depths are a forge Firing sapphires from stones and chiseling gold from rocks. Vultures are blind to its riches, hawks never lay eyes on it. Wild animals are oblivious to it, lions don't know it's there. Miners hammer away at the rock, they uproot the mountains. They tunnel through the rock and find all kinds of beautiful gems. They discover the origins of rivers, and bring earth's secrets to light.
"Certainly there is a mine for silver And a place for refining gold.
"Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place where gold is refined.
"Surely there is a mine for silver And a place where they refine gold.
"Surely there is a mine for silver,And a place where they refine for gold.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
vein: or, mine
the silver: Genesis 2:11, Genesis 2:12, Genesis 23:15, Genesis 24:22, 1 Kings 7:48-50, 1 Kings 10:21, 1 Chronicles 29:2-5
where they fine it: Psalms 12:6, Proverbs 17:3, Proverbs 27:21, Isaiah 48:10, Zechariah 13:9, Malachi 3:2, Malachi 3:3, 1 Peter 1:7
Cross-References
That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
And I will make thee swear by the Lord , the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell:
And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.
And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?
And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;
And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Surely there is a vein for the silver,.... Silver is mentioned first, not because the most valuable, for gold is preferable to it, as brass is to iron, and yet iron is mentioned first in Job 28:2; but because silver might be first known, or was first in use, especially in the coinage of money; we read of pieces of silver, or shekels of silver, in the times of Abraham, but not of any golden coin,
Genesis 23:15; and among the old Romans silver was coined before gold p; it has its name from a word which signifies "desire", because it is desirable to men, it answering to various uses and purposes; and sometimes the desires and cravings of men after it are enlarged too far, and become criminal, and so the root of all evil to them: and now there is a "vein" for it in the earth, or a mine in which it may be dug for, and found, in which it runs as veins in a man's body, in certain ramifications, like branches of trees, as they do; and the inhabitants of Hispaniola, and other parts of the West Indies, when found out by Columbus, which abounded with gold mines, declared that they found by experience that the vein of gold is a living tree, (and so the same, perhaps, may be said of silver,) and that it spreads and springs from the root, which they say extends to the centre of the earth by soft pores and passages of the earth, and puts forth branches, even to the uppermost part of the earth, and ceases not till it discovers itself unto the open air; at which time it shows forth certain beautiful colours instead of flowers, round stones of golden earth instead of fruits, and thin plates instead of leaves q; so here there is a vein, or a "going out for the silver" r, by which it makes its way, as observed of the gold, and shows itself by some signs and tokens where it may be found; or rather this egress is made for it, by opening the mine where it is, digging into it, and fetching it out of it, and from whence great quantities are often brought. In Solomon's time it was made as the stones in Jerusalem, 1 Kings 10:27;
and a place for gold [where] they fine [it]; there are particular places for this most excellent of all metals, which has its name in Hebrew from its yellow colour; all countries do not produce it; some are famous for it, and some parts of them, as the land of Havilah, where was gold, and that gold was good, Genesis 2:11; and Ophir; hence we often read of the gold of Ophir, so called from the place where it was found, as in this chapter, Job 28:16; and now the Spanish West Indies; but nearer to Job than these gold was found; there were not only mountains that abounded with gold near to Horeb, in the desert of Arabia s, but it was to be found with the Sabeans t, the near neighbours of Job; yea, the Ophir before referred to was in Arabia. Some understand this of the place where pure gold is found already refined, and needs no melting and refining; and of such Pliny u speaks, and of large lumps and masses of it; but for the most part it lies in ore, which needs refining; and so here it may intend the place where it is found in the ore, and from whence it is taken and had to the place where it is refined; for melting places used to be near where the golden ore was found; and so when Hispaniola was first found by Columbus, the gold that was dug out of the mountains of Cibana, and other places, were brought to two shops, which were erected with all things appertaining to melt and refine it, and cast into wedges; and so early as that, in these two shops, were molten yearly three hundred thousand pound weight of gold w.
p Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 33. c. 3. q Peter Martyr. Decad. 3. l. 8. r מוצא "exitus", Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus, Drusius, Michaelis; "egressio", Vatablus. s Hieron. de loc. Heb. fol. 90. A. t Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 28. u Ut supra, (Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 33.) c. 4. w P. Martyr. Decad. 1. l. 10.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Surely there is a vein for silver - Margin, “mine” Coverdale renders this, “There are places where silver is molten.” Prof. Lee renders it, “There is an outlet for the silver,” and supposes it means the coming out or separation of the silver from the earthy particles by which it is surrounded in the ore, not the coming out from the mine. The word rendered “vein” (מוצא môtsâ') means properly a going forth, as the rising of the sun, Psalms 19:6; the promulgation of an edict Daniel 9:25; then a place of going forth - as a gate, door; Ezekiel 42:11; Ezekiel 43:11, and thence a mine, a vein, or a place of the going forth of metals; that is, a place where they are procured. So the Septuagint here, Ἔστι γὰρ άργυρίῳ τό πος ὅθεν γίνεται Esti gar arguriō topos hothen ginetai - “there is a place for silver whence it is obtained.” The idea here is that man had evinced his wisdom in finding out the mines of silver and working them. It was one of the instances of his skill that he had been able to penetrate into the earth, and bring out the ore of the precious metals, and convert it to valuable purposes.
And a place for gold - A workshop, or laboratory, for working the precious metals. Job says, that even in his time such a laboratory was a proof of the wisdom of man. So now, one of the most striking proofs of skill is to be found in the places where the precious metals are purified, and worked into the various forms in which they are adapted to ornament and use.
Where they fine it - - יזקו yāzoqû. The word used here (זקק zâqaq) means properly to bind fast, to fetter; and then to compress, to squeeze through a strainer; and hence, to strain, filter; and thence to purify - as wine that is thus filtered, or gold that is purified Malachi 3:3. It may refer here to any process of purifying or refining. It is commonly done by the application of heat. One of the instructive uses of the book of Job is the light which it throws incidentally on the state of the ancient arts and sciences, and the condition of society in reference to the comforts of life at the early period of the world when the author lived. In this passage it is clear:
(1) that the metals were then in general use, and
(2) that they were so worked as to furnish, in the view of Job a striking illustration of human wisdom and skill.
Society was so far advanced as to make use not only of gold and silver, but also of copper and brass. The use of gold and silver commonly precedes the discovery of iron, and consequently the mention of iron in any ancient book indicates a considerably advanced state of society. It is of course, not known to what extent the art of working metals was carried in the time of Job, as all that would be indicated here would be that the method of obtaining the pure metal from the ore was understood. It may be interesting, however, to observe, that the art was early known to the Egyptians, and was carried by them to a considerable degree of perfection. Pharaoh arrayed Joseph in vestures of fine linen, and put a chain of gold about his neck; Genesis 41:42, and great quantities of gold and silver ornaments were borrowed by the Israelites of the Egyptians, when they were about to go to the promised land. Gold and silver are mentioned as known in the earliest ages; compare Genesis 2:11-12; Genesis 41:42; Exodus 20:23; Genesis 23:15-16. Iron is also mentioned as having been early known; Genesis 4:22. Tubal Cain was instructor in iron and brass. Gold and silver mines were early worked in Egypt, and if Moses was the compiler of the book of Job, it is possible that some of the descriptions here may have been derived from that country, and at all events the mode of working these precious metals was probably the same in Arabia and Egypt. From the mention of ear rings, bracelets, and jewels of silver and gold, in the days of Abraham, it is evident that the art of metallurgy was known at a very remote period. Workmen are noticed by Homer as excelling in the manufacture of arms, rich vases, and other objects inlaid or ornamented with vessels:
Πηλείδης δ ̓ ἆιψ ἄλλα τίθει ταχυτῆτος ἄεθλα,
Αργύρεον κρατῆρα τετυγμειον.
Pēleidēs d' aips alla tithei tachutēnos aethla,
Argirepm kratēra tetugmeion.
Iliad xxiii. 741.
His account of the shield of Achilles (Iliad xviii. 474) proves that the art of working in the precious metals was well known in his time; and the skill required to delineate the various objects which he describes was such as no ordinary artisan, even at this time, could be supposed to possess. In Egypt, ornaments of gold and silver, consisting of rings, bracelets, necklaces, and trinkets, have been found in considerable abundance of the times of Osirtasen I, and Thothmes III, the contemporaries of Joseph and of Moses. Diodorus (i. 49) mentions silver mine of Egypt which produced 3,200 myriads of minae. The gold mines of Egypt remained long unknown, and their position has been ascertained only a few years since by M. Linant and M. Bonomi. They lie in the Bisharee desert, about seventeen days’ journey to the South-eastward from Derow. The matrix in which the gold in Egypt was found is quartz, and the excavations to procure the gold are exceedingly deep.
The principal excavation is 180 feet deep. The quartz thus obtained was broken by the workmen into small fragments, of the size of a bean, and these were passed through hand mills made of granitic stone, and when reduced to powder the quartz was washed on inclined tables, and the gold was thus separated from the stone. Diodorus says, that the principal persons engaged in mining operations were captives, taken in war, and persons who were compelled to labor in the mines, for offences against the government. They were bound in fetters, and compelled to labor night and day. “No attention,” he says, “is paid to these persons; they have not even a piece of rag to cover themselves; and so wretched is their condition, that every one who witnesses it, deplores the excessive misery which they endure. No rest, no intermission from toil, are given either to the sick or the maimed; neither the weakness of age, nor women’s infirmities, are regarded; all are driven to the work with the lash, until, at last, overcome with the intolerable weight of their afflictions, they die in the midst of their toil.”
Diodorus adds, “Nature indeed, I think, teaches that as gold is obtained with immense labor, so it is kept with difficulty, creating great anxiety, and attended in its use both with pleasure and with grief.” It was perhaps, in view of such laborious and difficult operations in obtaining the precious metals, and of the skill which man had evinced in extracting them from the earth, that Job alluded here to the process as a striking proof of human wisdom. On the early use of the metals among the ancient Egyptians, the reader may consult with advantage, Wilkinsoh’s “Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians,” vol. iii. pp. 215ff.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER XXVIII
Job, in showing the vanity of human pursuits in reference to
genuine wisdom, mentions mining for and refining gold and
silver, 1;
iron and other minerals, 2;
the difficulties of mining, 3, 4;
produce of grain for bread from the earth, and stones of fire
from under it, 5.
He speaks of precious stones and gold dust, 6;
of the instinct of fowls and wild beasts in finding their way,
7, 8;
and of the industry and successful attempts of men in mining
and other operations, 9-11:
but shows that with all their industry, skill, and perseverance,
they cannot find out true wisdom, 12;
of which he gives the most exalted character, 13-22;
and shows that God alone, the fountain of wisdom, knows and can
teach it, 24-27;
and in what this true wisdom consists, 28.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXVIII
Verse Job 28:1. Surely there is a vein for the silver — This chapter is the oldest and finest piece of natural history in the world, and gives us very important information on several curious subjects; and could we ascertain the precise meaning of all the original words, we might, most probably, find out allusions to several useful arts which we are apt to think are of modern, or comparatively modern, invention.
The word מוצא motsa, which we here translate vein, signifies literally, a going out; i.e., a mine, or place dug in the earth, whence the silver ore is extracted. And this ore lies generally in veins or loads, running in certain directions.
A place for gold where they fine it.] This should rather be translated, A place for gold which they refine. Gold ore has also its peculiar mine, and requires to be refined from earthy impurities.
