Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 28:23

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 28:23. God understandeth the way thereof — It can only be taught by a revelation from himself. Instead of הבין hebin, understandeth, six MSS. have הכין hechin, disposed or established. This reading is also supported by the Septuagint; Ὁ Θεος ευ συνεστησεν αυτης ὁδον, "God hath well established her way:" falsely rendered bene cognovit, hath well known, in the Latin version of the Septuagint in the London Polyglot; but bene constituit, hath well established, in the Complutensian, Antwerp, and Paris Polyglots.

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

THE GREAT SECRET OF TRUE WISDOM REVEALED

"God understandeth the way thereof, And he knoweth the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, And seeth under the whole heaven; To make a weight for the wind: Yea, he meteth out the waters by measure. When he made a decree for the rain, And a way for the lightning of the thunder; Then did he see it, and declare it; He established it, yea, and searched it out. And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. And to depart from evil, that is understanding."

"There is but One who possesses perfect knowledge and wisdom, that is, [~'Elohiym]."C. F. Keil, Keil-Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), Vol. 111, p. 111. He is the omniscient, ubiquitous and omnipotent One. Infinite knowledge and understanding are His and His alone. "Any man who would travel in the direction of acquiring any portion of the true wisdom, of which only God is the possessor, must do so only as a moral and upright worshipper of the Creator."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 436. "Not only is the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom, it is the chief part of it as well."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 480.

"No amount of intelligence, or cleverness, or information, or knowledge, or of worldly or scientific wisdom will be of any avail for any man unless he starts with this beginning, `The Fear of the Lord,' (Psalms 91:10; Proverbs 1:7), building upon that as his foundation."The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 460.

That foundation of true wisdom Job most certainly possessed, as the concluding chapter of this remarkable book fully reveals.

We conclude this chapter with the observation that the fear of the Lord is not merely the `beginning of wisdom,' it also stands as the principal burden and assignment that God has laid upon all of his human children. "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

God understandeth the way thereof - These are doubtless the words of Job. The meaning is, that the reason of the divine dispensations could be known only to God himself. He had given no clew by which man could discover this. He might carry his investigations far into the regions of science; he could penetrate the earth, and look on the stars, but still all his investigations fell short of disclosing the reasons of the divine dispensations. The secret was lodged in his bosom, and he only could communicate it where and when he pleased. It may be added here, that this is as true now as it was in the time of Job. Man has carried the investigations of science almost infinitely further than he had then, but still by the investigations of science he has by no means superseded the necessity of revelation, or shed light on the great questions that have, in all ages, so much perplexed the race. It is only by direct communication, by his word and by his Spirit, that man can be made to understand the reason of the divine doings, and nothing is better established by the course of events than the truth on which Job here so much insists, that science cannot answer the questions of so much interest to man about the divine government.

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

God understandeth the way thereof,.... And he only; not the way that men can come at the knowledge of wisdom, which at present appears to be past finding out; but rather the way which wisdom itself takes, and is in the deep, and its footsteps not known by any other, and the grounds and reasons of its taking such a course it does; which are only understood by the Lord: it may be applied to spiritual wisdom in men, and the way to come at it; which God only knows and instructs in, and is his special and peculiar gift; and to Christ, the wisdom of God, and the way which he has taken in the council and covenant of grace and peace, for the salvation of his people; and which he took in time, in the assumption of human nature, and by sufferings and death to obtain it for them:

and he knoweth the place thereof; the seat of wisdom within himself, the source of all his dealings with men, his sovereign will and pleasure in his own heart; the place of spiritual wisdom and knowledge, the heart of a regenerate man, where his Gospel is, and has come with power, and took place and works effectually; and where Christ, the Logos, the Wisdom of God is, even with himself, and in his bosom, as in the times of Job, and now at his right hand, in human nature.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?   21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.   22 Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.   23 God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.   24 For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;   25 To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.   26 When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:   27 Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.   28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

      The question which Job had asked (Job 28:12; 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.

      I. The knowledge of God's secret will, the will of his providence, is out of our reach, and what God has reserved to himself. It belongs to the Lord our God. To know the particulars of what God will do hereafter, and the reasons of what he is doing now, is the knowledge Job first speaks of.

      1. This knowledge is hidden from us. It is high, we cannot attain unto it (Job 28:21; Job 28:22): It is hid from the eyes of all living, even of philosophers, politicians, and saints; it is kept close from the fowls of the air; though they fly high and in the open firmament of heaven, though they seem somewhat nearer that upper world where the source of this wisdom is, though their eyes behold afar off (Job 39:29; Job 39:29), yet they cannot penetrate into the counsels of God. No, man is wiser than the fowls of heaven, and yet comes short of this wisdom. Even those who, in their speculations, soar highest, and think themselves, like the fowls of the air, above the heads of other people, yet cannot pretend to this knowledge. Job and his friends had been arguing about the methods and reasons of the dispensations of Providence in the government of the world. "What fools are we" (says Job) "to fight in the dark thus, to dispute about that which we do not understand!" The line and plummet of human reason can never fathom the abyss of the divine counsels. Who can undertake to give the rationale of Providence, or account for the maxims, measure, and methods of God's government, those arcana imperii--cabinet counsels of divine wisdom? Let us then be content not to know the future events of the Providence until time discover them (Acts 1:7) and not to know the secret reasons of Providence until eternity discover them. God is now a God that hideth himself (Isaiah 45:15); clouds and darkness are round about him. Though this wisdom be hidden from all living, yet destruction and death say, We have heard the fame of it. Though they cannot give an account of themselves (for there is no wisdom, nor device, nor knowledge at all in the grave, much less this), yet there is a world on the other side death and the grave, on which those dark regions border, and to which we must pass through them, and there we shall see clearly what we are now in the dark about. "Have a little patience," says Death to the inquisitive soul: "I will fetch thee shortly to a place where even this wisdom will be found." When the mystery of God shall be finished it will be laid open, and we shall know as we are known; when the veil of flesh is rent, and the interposing clouds are scattered, we shall know what God does, though we know not now, John 13:7.

      2. This knowledge is hidden in God, as the apostle speaks, Ephesians 3:9. Known unto God are all his works, though they are not known to us, Acts 15:18. There are good reasons for what he does, though we cannot assign them (Job 28:23; Job 28:23): God understands the way thereof. Men sometimes do they know not what, but God never does. Men do what they did not design to do; new occurrences put them upon new counsels, and oblige them to take new measures. But God does all according to the purpose which he purposed in himself, and which he never alters. Men sometimes do that which they cannot give a good reason for, but in every will of God there is a counsel: he knows both what he does and why he does it, the whole series of events and the order and place of every occurrence. This knowledge he has in perfection, but keeps to himself. Two reasons are here given why God must needs understand his own way, and he only:--

      (1.) Because all events are now directed by an all-seeing and almighty Providence, Job 28:24; Job 28:25. He that governs the world is, [1.] Omniscient; for he looks to the ends of the earth, both in place and time; distant ages, distant regions, are under his view. We do not understand our own way, much less can we understand God's way, because we are short-sighted. How little do we know of what is doing in the world, much less of what will be done? But the eyes of the Lord are in every place; nay, they run to and fro through the earth. Nothing is, or can be, hidden from him; and therefore the reasons why some wicked people prosper remarkably and others are remarkably punished in this world, which are secret to us, are known to him. One day's events, and one man's affairs, have such a reference to, and such a dependence upon, another's, that he only to whom all events and all affairs are naked and open, and who sees the whole at one entire and certain view, is a competent Judge of every part. [2.] He is omnipotent. He can do every thing, and is very exact in all he does. For proof of this Job mentions the winds and waters, Job 28:25; Job 28:25. What is lighter than the wind? Yet God hath ways of poising it. He knows how to make the weight for the winds, which he brings out of his treasuries (Psalms 135:7), keeping a very particular account of what he draws out, as men do of what they pay out of their treasuries, not at random, as men bring out their trash. Nothing sensible is to us more unaccountable than the wind. We hear the sound of it, yet cannot tell whence it comes, nor whither it goes; but God gives it out by weight, wisely ordering both from what point it shall blow and with what strength. The waters of the sea, and the rain-waters, he both weighs and measures, allotting the proportion of every tide and every shower. A great and constant communication there is between clouds and seas, the waters above the firmament and those under it. Vapours go up, rains come down, air is condensed into water, water rarefied into air; but the great God keeps an exact account of all the stock with which this trade is carried on for the public benefit and sees that none of it be lost. Now if, in these things, Providence be so exact, much more in dispensing frowns and favours, rewards and punishments, to the children of men, according to the rules of equity.

      (2.) Because all events were from eternity designed and determined by an infallible prescience and immutable decree, Job 28:26; Job 28:27. When he settled the course of nature he foreordained all the operations of his government. [1.] He settled the course of nature. Job mentions particularly a decree for the rain and a way for the thunder and lightning. The general manner and method, and the particular uses and tendencies, of these strange performances, both their causes and their effects, were appointed by the divine purpose; hence God is said to prepare lightnings for the rain,Psalms 135:7; Jeremiah 10:13. [2.] When he did that he laid all the measures of his providence, and drew an exact scheme of the whole work from first to last. Then, from eternity, did he see in himself, and declare to himself, the plan of his proceedings. Then he prepared it, fixed it, and established it, set every thing in readiness for all his works, so that, when any thing was to be done, nothing was to seek, nor could any thing unforeseen occur, to put it either out of its method or out of its time; for all was ordered as exactly as if he had studied it and searched it out, so that, whatever he does, nothing can be put to it nor taken from it, and therefore it shall be for ever,Ecclesiastes 3:14. Some make Job to speak of wisdom here as a person, and translate it, Then he saw her and showed her, c., and then it is parallel with that of Solomon concerning the essential wisdom of the Father, the eternal Word, Proverbs 8:22-31, &c. Before the earth was, then was I by him,John 1:1; John 1:2.

      II. The knowledge of God's revealed will, the will of his precept, and this is within our reach; it is level to our capacity, and will do us good (Job 28:28; Job 28:28): Unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord that is wisdom. Let it not be said that when God concealed his counsels from man, and forbade him that tree of knowledge, it was because he grudged him any thing that would contribute to his real bliss and satisfaction; no, he let him know as much as he was concerned to know in order to his duty and happiness; he shall be entrusted with as much of his sovereign mind as is needful and fit for a subject, but he must not think himself fit to be a privy-counsellor. He said to Adam (so some), to the first man, in the day in which he was created; he told him plainly it was not for him to amuse himself with over-curious searches into the mysteries of creation, nor to pretend to solve all the phenomena of nature; he would find it neither possible nor profitable to do so. No less wisdom (says archbishop Tillotson) than that which made the world can thoroughly understand the philosophy of it. But let him look upon this as his wisdom, to fear the Lord and to depart from evil; let him learn that, and he is learned enough; let this knowledge serve his turn. When God forbade man the tree of knowledge he allowed him the tree of life, and this is that tree, Proverbs 3:18. We cannot attain true wisdom but by divine revelation. The Lord giveth wisdom,Proverbs 2:6. Now the matter of that is not found in the secrets of nature or providence, but in the rules for our own practice. Unto man he said, not, "Go up to heaven, to fetch happiness thence;" or, "Go down to the deep, to draw it up thence." No, the word is nigh thee,Deuteronomy 30:14. He hath shown thee, O man! not what is great, but what is good, not what the Lord thy God designs to do with thee, but what he requires of thee,Micah 6:8. Unto you, O men! I call,Proverbs 8:4. Lord, what is man that he should be thus minded, thus visited! Behold, mark, take notice of this; he that has ears let him hear what the God of heaven says to the children of men: The fear of the Lord, that is the wisdom. Here is, 1. The description of true religion, pure religion, and undefiled; it is to fear the Lord and depart from evil, which agrees with God's character of Job, Job 1:1; Job 1:1. The fear of the Lord is the spring and summary of all religion. There is a slavish fear of God, springing from hard thoughts of him, which is contrary to religion, Matthew 25:24. There is a selfish fear of God springing from dreadful thoughts of him, which may be a good step towards religion, Acts 9:5. But there is a filial fear of God, springing from great and high thoughts of him, which is the life and soul of all religion. And, wherever this reigns in the heart, it will appear by a constant care to depart from evil,Proverbs 16:6. This is essential to religion. We must first cease to do evil, or we shall never learn to do well. Virtus est vitium fugere--Even in our flight from vice some virtue lies. 2. The commendation of religion: it is wisdom and understanding. To be truly religious is to be truly wise. As the wisdom of God appears in the institution of religion, so the wisdom of man appears in the institution of religion, so the wisdom of man appears in the practice and observance of it. It is understanding, for it is the best knowledge of truth; it is wisdom, for it is the best management of our affairs. Nothing more surely guides our way and gains our end than being religious.