Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 28:19

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 28:19. The topaz of Ethiopia — The country called Cush, which we call Ethiopia, is supposed to be that which extends from the eastern coast of the Red Sea, and stretches towards Lower Egypt. Diodorus Siculus says that the topaz was found in great abundance, as his description intimates, in an island in the Red Sea called Ophiodes, or the isle of serpents, Hist. lib. iii., p. 121. His account is curious, but I greatly doubt its correctness; it seems too much in the form of a legend: yet the reader may consult the place.

See also Clarke on "Job 28:16".

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

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 that shows people’s courage and inventiveness. While grain grows quietly above the earth, miners in dark underground tunnels dig out the minerals (28:1-6). Travellers, animals and birds move about in the world above, unaware that beneath them miners are changing the course of underground streams in search for precious metals (7-11). But people do not know how to find wisdom. They cannot dig it out of the earth, find it in the sea, or buy it with money. It is precious beyond value (12-19). Neither the living nor the dead can give wisdom (20-22).
God alone is the source of wisdom. He created everything, controls everything and knows everything (23-27). People will find wisdom only when they cease acting according to their sinful urges and act instead out of the humble desire to please God and do his will (28).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

WISDOM - THE MOST PRECIOUS OF ALL THINGS, IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND

"But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof, Neither is it found in the land of the living. The deep saith, It is not in me; And the sea saith, It is not with me. It cannot be gotten for gold, Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, With the precious onyx, or the sapphire. Gold and glass cannot equal it, Neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yea, the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold. Whence then cometh wisdom? And where is the place of understanding? Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, And kept close from the birds of the heavens. Destruction and Death say, We have heard a rumor thereof with our ears."

Matthew Henry's summary of this section is: "The caverns of the earth may be discovered, but not the counsels of heaven."Matthew Henry's Commentary, Vol. III, p. 149. The previous paragraph has eloquently affirmed that wisdom cannot be discovered by searching; it cannot be purchased with gold or precious stones; and man cannot even ascertain the place where it might be found. It is no ordinary kind of wisdom that is spoken of here. "It is not the practical kind of `wisdom' spoken of in the Book of Proverbs, but the full and complete understanding of the world and its order...There is a great gulf between human and divine wisdom."The New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 578. "Men can discover anything that is hidden, all but one thing, wisdom! And the irony is that all of the precious fortunes he can discover cannot purchase the one thing he needs more than anything else. That comes from God."Layman's Bible Commentary, Vol. 8, p. 120.

"Gold… silver… onyx… crystal… sapphires…rubies… topaz, etc." "This continuing list of things that are inferior to wisdom has the effect of elevating more and more the great wisdom that is from God."R. B. Sweet Publishing Company, op. cit., p. 55.

"Wisdom is not a thing that may be bought or sold. God alone must grant it and find a way of imparting it, which he certainly will not do for a sum of money."The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 458.

"Whence cometh wisdom? And where is the place of understanding?" This repeats the question of Job 28:12, indicating that, "Job 28:14-19 have thrown no light on the question."Ibid.

"It is hid from the eyes of all living" "Job never doubted for a moment that God was wise. What troubled him was that such wisdom was hidden from men."R. B. Sweet Publishing Company, op. cit., p. 56.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The topaz - The topaz is a precious stone, whose colors are yellow, green, blue, and red. Its natural place is in various primitive rocks, such as the topaz-rock, gneiss, and clay-slate. It is found in the granite and gneiss districts of Mar and Cairnaorta, in Cornwall, in Brazil, and in various other places. The most valuable stones of this kind now known are those which are found in Brazil. This gem is much prized by jewelers, and is considered as one of the more beautiful ornamental stones. The Hebrew word פטדה pı̂ṭdâh, occurs in Exodus 28:17; Exodus 39:10; Ezekiel 28:13. and in this place only. It is uniformly rendered topaz. It is not improbable that the English word “topaz,” and the Greek τοπάζιον topazion, are derived from this, by a slight transposition of the letters - טפדה. The Vulgate and the Septuagint render this “topaz.”

Of Ethiopia - Hebrew כוּשׁ kûsh - “Cush.” Coverdale here renders it, “India.” On the meaning of this word, and the region denoted by it, see the notes at Isaiah 11:11. It may mean either the part of Africa now known as Ethiopia, or Abyssinia and Nubia; the southern part of Arabia, or the Oriental Cush in the vicinity of the Tigris. It is better, since the word has such ambiguity, to retain the original, and to translate it “Cush.” For anything that appears, this may have denoted, in the time of Job, the southern part of Arabia. It is known that the topaz was found there. Thus, Pliny says, Lib. xxxvii. 32, Reperta est - in Arabiae insula, quae Citis vocatur; in qua Troglodytae praedones, diutius fame - prossi cum herbas radicesque effoderant, eruerunt topazion.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 28

Now, Job said, turning now to a different vein of thought, he said, "Now, there are places where gold is discovered and silver is discovered, and iron and brass, men dig the shafts, they follow the vein of gold and so forth. And they mine these things out of the earth. He digs, overturns the rocks, digs his caves. It's places that the birds don't know. The vultures haven't seen it. But he follows down through the vein, finding the gold, the silver and all."

But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? ( Job 28:12 )

Man values gold. Man values silver. He'll sacrifice to dig gold out of the ground. He'll go down in these dark shafts. He'll get all grubby and dirty in order that he might find the treasure of gold, the treasure of silver. But, where is wisdom found? Where is the place of understanding?

Man knows not the price; neither is it found in the land of the living. The depth say, It is not in me: the sea says, It's not with me. It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof ( Job 28:13-15 ).

Wisdom, understanding, more valuable than this gold. You can't buy it for gold. It can't be purchased for silver.

It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, or with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral, or pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold. Whence then cometh wisdom? [Where does it come from?] and where is the place of understanding? Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. But God understands the way thereof, and he knows the place thereof. For he looks to the ends of the earth, and he sees under the whole heaven; To make the weight for the winds; and he weighs the waters by measure. And when he has made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder: Then did he see it, and declare it; and he prepared it, yea, he searched it out. And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding ( Job 28:16-28 ).

Wisdom, more valuable than jewels, than gold. You can't buy it. Wisdom and understanding. Men know how to find gold; they know how to mine it out of the ground. But wisdom and understanding, where can it be found? With God is wisdom; with God is understanding. And God has declared it and this is God's declaration, "The fear of the Lord, to reverence God, that is wisdom. And to depart from evil, that is understanding." Tremendous. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. Job’s discourse on God’s wisdom ch. 28

Because the speech in this chapter is more soliloquy than dialogue, some scholars have concluded that someone other than Job spoke it: Zophar, Bildad, or God. One writer argued for it’s being a speech by none of the characters, but a composition by the storyteller in which he expressed his own point of view. [Note: Andersen, pp. 222-29.] The subject matter, however, is in harmony with what Job had said previously (cf. Job 9:10-11; Job 12:13; Job 17:10; Job 23:8-10; Job 26:14). For this reason, it seems that Job probably spoke these words.

"Chapter 28, a wisdom hymn, may be a kind of interlude which marks the transition between the two major parts of the poetic body-the previous dialogue between Job and his friends, and the forth-coming long discourses by Job (chaps. 29-31), Elihu (chaps. 32-37), and God (chaps. 38-41) which are almost monologues." [Note: Parsons, p. 141.]

In this chapter, Job summarized his stance before God. Rather than being in rebellion against God, as his friends accused, Job claimed that he feared God and sought to depart from evil (Job 28:28). He continued to follow the instruction he had received while growing up, namely, that people should trust and obey God because He governs the world in infinite wisdom. [Note: Robert Laurin, "The Theological Structure of Job," Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 84 (1972):86-89.] The fact that Job believed God was unjust-in his case-did not mean that he had abandoned faith in God completely.

"The internal structure of chapter 28 is as follows:

    Introduction (Job 28:1-2): All treasure has a source

I.    First stanza (Job 28:3-11): The discovery of treasure

        Refrain and response (Job 28:12-14): Wisdom is elusive

II.    Second stanza (Job 28:15-19): Wisdom as treasure

        Refrain and response (Job 28:20-22): Wisdom is elusive

III.    Third stanza (Job 28:23-27): God and wisdom

Conclusion (Job 28:28): The source of wisdom" [Note: Smick, "Architectonics, Structured . . .," p. 91.]

The point of Job’s soliloquy is this: People have been extremely clever and industrious in exploring, discovering, and extracting earth’s richest physical resources. Nonetheless, they have not been able to do so with what is even more essential to their welfare, namely, wisdom. The reason for this is that wisdom does not lie hidden in the earth but in the person of God. The key to obtaining that wisdom is orienting oneself properly toward God.

Job 28:5 b probably means that mining produces a mixture of rubble just as a fire does. [Note: Rowley, p. 228.] The essence of wisdom is to fear (treat with reverential trust) the Lord (Master) and to depart from evil (Job 28:28). We know this only by supernatural revelation ("to man He said"). We can never plumb the depths of God’s wisdom. However, we can experience wisdom partially as we adore and obey God-making Him, rather than self, the center of our lives, and allowing Him to regulate our lives.

In this speech, Job demonstrated that his understanding of wisdom was greater than that of his three friends. It was a rebuke of their shortsighted wisdom. [Note: Gleason L. Archer Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, p. 463.] In chapter 28, Job gave evidence that he did fear God. In chapter 29, he proceeded to give evidence that he also turned away from evil. Consequently, Job 28:28 is a hinge and connecting link. It is also "one of the great climactic moments in the Book." [Note: Reichert, p. 145.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it,.... Not Ethiopia Abyssinia, or that which lies beyond Egypt in Africa; for, as Ludolphus x says, there are no gems found there, or very rarely; but Cush, as the word is, or Arabia Chusaea, the same with the country of Midian, and the parts adjacent; see Habakkuk 3:7; hence Zipporah, the wife of Moses, who was of that country, is called an Ethiopian woman, Numbers 12:1; and this was near Job's country, who knew the produce of it; and here the topaz is found, as many writers observe. Diodorus Siculus says y, in Ophiodes, an island in the Arabian gulf, belonging to the Troglodytes, the topaz is found, which is a very clear stone, pleasant to the sight, like to glass, and affording a wonderful golden colour; and with him Strabo z agrees, who relates there is an island called Ophiodes, from its being freed from serpents by the king's orders, which killed men that came there for topazes; which, he says, is a clear stone of a golden colour, and so refulgent, that it is not easy to see it in the daytime, being so surrounded with light; but at night it is seen by those that gather it, who set a vessel for a sign, and then dig for it in the daytime; and, he adds, a multitude of men are hired by the kings of Egypt, to gather and keep these stones, and men from stealing them; and, according to Archelaus a, the topaz is found in Chitis, an island in Arabia, where the Troglodytes digging for herbs and roots find it; and, as Juba relates b, there is an island called Topazion, in the Red sea, three hundred furlongs (about 73 miles) from the continent, which is cloudy, and is therefore often sought for by navigators; whence he says it had its name Topazion, which in the language of the Troglodytes signifies to seek, and the topaz itself in their language so signifies; in the Samaritan version of Exodus 39:10; it is called Dachetah, from the Arabic word c "Dachatz", the language of the Troglodytes, which signifies to seek and search by removing the earth with the foot. This island seems to be the same with Topazos, which Pliny d says is an island of the Arabians, and gave name to a gem, meaning the topaz; but the truth rather is, that the gem gave name to the island: upon the whole, it is no wonder, as Braunius e observes, that this gem should be called by Job the Arabian topaz. The Targum here calls it a green pearl; and some have thought the emerald is meant, which is of that colour; and the emeralds of Ethiopia are praised by some, according to Juba f; and in Egypt were emerald mines the Ethiopians laid a claim to g; and there were emeralds also in Arabia, as the above Juba relates; however, be this what it may, as it is most likely to be the topaz, it is not equal in value to wisdom, no, not the largest topaz ever known; not even that of the great Mogul, which weighs more than an hundred fifty seven carats, valued at 271,500 French pounds h; and according to Tavernier i it weighs almost an hundred fifty eight carats, and was bought at Goa for almost 272,000 florins:

neither shall it be valued with pure gold; that is most refined and freed from dross; they are not to be laid together as of equal value;

Exodus 39:10- :, where the same word is used.

x Hist. Ethiop. l. 1. c. 7. y Bibliothec. l. 3. p. 172. z Geograph. l. 16. p. 529. a Apud Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 37. c. 8. b Apud ib. c Vid. Castel. Lex. Heptaglott. col. 686, 693. d Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 29. e De Vest. Sacerdot. Heb. p. 649. f Apud Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 37. c. 5. g Heliodor. Ethiop. l. 8. 1. & 9. 6. h Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr p. 747. i Apud Braunium de Vest. Sacerdot. Heb. p. 649, 650.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      14 The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.   15 It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.   16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.   17 The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.   18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.   19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

      Job, having spoken of the wealth of the world, which men put such a value upon and take so much pains for, here comes to speak of another more valuable jewel, and that is, wisdom and understanding, the knowing and enjoying of God and ourselves. Those that found out all those ways and means to enrich themselves thought themselves very wise; but Job will not own theirs to be wisdom. He supposes them to gain their point, and to bring to light what they sought for (Job 28:11; Job 28:11), and yet asks, "Where is wisdom? for it is not here." This their way is their folly. We must therefore seek it somewhere else, and it will be found nowhere but in the principles and practices of religion. There is more true knowledge, satisfaction, and happiness, in sound divinity, which shows us the way to the joys of heaven, than in natural philosophy or mathematics, which help us to find a way into the bowels of the earth. Two things cannot be found out concerning this wisdom:--

      I. The price of it, for that is inestimable; its worth is infinitely more than all the riches in this world: Man knows not the price thereof (Job 28:13; Job 28:13), that is, 1. Few put a due value upon it. Men know not the worth of it, its innate excellency, their need of it, and of what unspeakable advantage it will be to them; and therefore, though they have many a price in their hand to get this wisdom, yet they have no heart to it,Proverbs 17:16. The cock in the fable knew not the value of the precious stone he found in the dunghill, and therefore would rather have lighted on a barley-corn. Men know not the worth of grace, and therefore will take no pains to get it. 2. None can possibly give a valuable consideration for it, with all the wealth this world can furnish them with. This Job enlarges upon Job 28:15-19; Job 28:15-19, c., where he makes an inventory of the bona notabilia--the most valuable treasures of this world. Gold is five times mentioned silver comes in also; and then several precious stones, the onyx and sapphire, pearls and rubies, and the topaz of Ethiopia. These are the things that are highest prized in the world's markets: but if a man would give, not only these, heaps of these, but all the substance of his house, all he is worth in the world, for wisdom, it would utterly be contemned. These may give a man some advantage in seeking wisdom, as they did to Solomon, but there is no purchasing wisdom with these. It is a gift of the Holy Ghost, which cannot be bought with money,Acts 8:20. As it does not run in the blood, and so come to us by descent, so it cannot be got for money, nor does it come to us by purchase. Spiritual gifts are conferred without money and without price, because no money can be a price for them. Wisdom is likewise a more valuable gift to him that has it, makes him richer and happier, than gold or precious stones. It is better to get wisdom than gold. Gold is another's, wisdom our own; gold is for the body and time, wisdom for the soul and eternity. Let that which is most precious in God's account be so in ours. See Proverbs 3:14-20, c.

      II. The place of it, for that is undiscoverable. Where shall wisdom be found?Job 28:12; Job 28:12. He asks this, 1. As one that truly desired to find it. This is a question we should all put. While the most of men are asking, "Where shall money be found?" we should ask, Where may wisdom be found? that we may seek it and find it, not vain philosophy, or carnal policy, but true religion; for that is the only true wisdom, that is it which best improves our faculties and best secures our spiritual and eternal welfare. This is that which we should cry after and dig for, Proverbs 2:3; Proverbs 2:4. 2. As one that utterly despaired of finding it any where but in God, and any way but by divine revelation: It is not found in this land of the living,Job 28:13; Job 28:13. We cannot attain to a right understanding of God and his will, of ourselves and our duty and interest, by reading any books or men, but by reading God's book and the men of God. Such is the degeneracy of human nature that there is no true wisdom to be found with any but those who are born again, and who, through grace, partake of the divine nature. As for others, even the most ingenious and industrious, they can tell us no tidings of this lost wisdom. (1.) Ask the miners, and by them the depth will say, It is not in me,Job 28:14; Job 28:14. Those who dig into the bowels of the earth, to rifle the treasures there, cannot in these dark recesses find this rare jewel, nor with all their art make themselves masters of it. (2.) Ask the mariners, and by them the sea will say, It is not in me. It can never be got either by trading on the waters or diving into them, can never be sucked from the abundance of the seas or the treasures hidden in the sand. Where there is a vein for the silver there is no vein for wisdom, none for grace. Men can more easily break through the difficulties they meet with in getting worldly wealth than through those they meet with in getting heavenly wisdom, and they will take more pains to learn how to live in this world than how to live for ever in a better world. So blind and foolish has man become that it is in vain to ask him, Where is the place of wisdom, and which is the road that leads to it?