Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 28:3

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 28:3. He setteth an end to darkness — As it is likely Job still refers to mining, the words above may be understood as pointing out the persevering industry of man in penetrating into the bowels of the earth, in order to seek for metals and precious stones. Even the stones that lay hidden in the bowels of the earth he has digged for and brought to light, and has penetrated in directions in which the solar light could not be transmitted; so that he appears to have gone to the regions of the shadow of death. Mr. Good translates: "Man delveth into the region of darkness; and examineth, to the uttermost limit, the stones of darkness and death-shade."

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

MAN'S REMARKABLE SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS

"Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place for gold which they refine. Iron is taken out of the earth, And copper is molten out of the stone. Man setteth an end to darkness, And searchest out to the farthest bound, The stones of obscurity and thick darkness. He breaketh open a shaft away from where men sojourn; They are forgotten of the foot; They hang afar from men, they swing to and fro. As for the earth, out of it cometh bread; And underneath it is turned up as it were by fire. The stones thereof are the place of sapphires, And it hath dust of gold. That path no bird of prey knoweth, Neither hath the falcon's eye seen it. The proud beasts have not trodden it, Nor hath the fierce lion passed thereby. He putteth forth his hand upon the flinty rock; He overturneth the mountains by the roots. He cutteth out channels among the rocks; And his eye seeth every precious thing. He bindeth the streams that they trickle not; And the thing that is hid he bringeth forth to light."

The marvelous achievements of the mining industry dominate this paragraph.

"Silver…. gold… iron… and copper" These four metals constituted the great bulk of ancient riches; and the point here regards the source of these things. "They all come from God. They were created by Him and deposited in the earth."Blair, p. 235. Such hidden things as these man is able to seek out and procure.

"Man setteth an end to darkness" "This seems to be a reference to the use of lamps in the underground darkness of mines."The New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 579.

"He breaketh open a shaft… they swing to and fro." This is a reference to the shaft by which men enter mines, and their swinging to and fro resulted from the primitive method of letting men down into such mines in baskets.

"The stones thereof are the place of sapphires" "It is doubtful if the gem called by the Hebrews `sapphire' was the gem that bears that name today. It may have been lapiz lazuli."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 7d, p. 456.

"No bird of prey knoweth… neither hath the falcon's eye seen it… the proud beasts have not trodden it" Birds and beasts alike are unable to travel the ways of the miner who searches out the treasures of the earth.

"He overturneth the mountains… cutteth out channels among the rocks… bindeth the streams that they trickle not" These are references to necessary mining operations, "Given as illustrations of man's persistence through difficulties, however great, to his end - the acquisition of treasure."International Critical Commentary, Job, p. 239. The mention of this here appears to have the purpose of showing that if true wisdom could be found by exploring the earth, or any other part of man's physical environment, then he might be expected at last to find it. This thought serves to establish the principle developed in the final section of the chapter, namely, that man cannot find wisdom.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

He setteth an end to darkness - That is, man does. The reference here is undoubtedly to the operations of mining, and the idea is, that man delves into the darkest regions; he goes even to the outer limits of darkness; he penetrates everywhere. Probably the allusion is derived from the custom of carrying torches into mines.

And searcheth out all perfection - Makes a complete search; examines everything; carries the matter to the utmost. The idea is not that he searches out all perfection - as our translation would seem to convey; but that he makes a complete and thorough search - and yet after all he does not come to the true and highest wisdom.

The stones of darkness - The last stone, says Herder, in the mining investigations in the time of Job; the corner or boundary stone, as it were, of the kingdom of darkness and night. Prof. Lee supposes that there is allusion here to the fact that stones were used as “weights,” and that the idea is, that man had ascertained the “exact weight” of the gross darkness, that is, had taken an accurate admeasurement of it, or had wholly investigated it. But this solution seems far-fetched. Schultens supposes the center of the earth to be denoted by this expression. But it seems to me that the words “stone” and “darkness” are to be separated, and that the one is not used to qualify the other. The sense is, that man searches out everything; he perfectly and accurately penetrates everywhere, and examines all objects; “the stone” (אבן 'eben), that is, the rocks, the mines; “the darkness” (אפל 'ôphel), that is, the darkness of the cavern, the interior of the earth; “and the shadow of death” (צלמות tsalmâveth), that is, the most dark and impenetrable regions of the earth. So it is rendered by Coverdale: “The stones, the dark, and the horrible shadow.”

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

He setteth an end to darkness,.... Some understand this and what follows of God, who, by making the luminaries, has fixed the periods and revolutions of light and darkness, of day and night; or who has determined the times before appointed, for the discoveries of things in nature, as mines of gold, silver, and precious stones, how long they should lie in darkness, and then be brought to light, and who searches out the perfection of all things in nature; and makes them known to men, when he himself and his ways are not to be found out unto perfection by men; but rather this is to be understood of the miner that digs for the above metals, who, when he opens a mine, lets in natural light, or carries artificial light along with him, and so puts an end to the darkness which had reigned there before, even from the creation:

and searcheth out all perfection; searches thoroughly the mines he opens, and gets all he can out of them, and searches perfectly into the nature of the ore; he finds, and tries, and proves it, what it is, its worth and value:

the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death; searches and digs through them, to get at what he is seeking; or brings stones, precious stones, to light, which lay in darkness from the beginning, and in such places which were the shadow of death, and looked dismal and horrible, and even threatened with death, to get into and fetch them out: so spiritual miners, that search into the mines of the Scriptures, should not be discouraged with darkness and difficulties that may attend their search; but should continue it, in order to find out truths that have lain in darkness, more precious than gold and silver, and the richest gems; and such who search for them in like manner as miners do shall find them, Proverbs 2:4.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.   2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.   3 He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.   4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.   5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.   6 The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.   7 There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen:   8 The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.   9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.   10 He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.   11 He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.   12 But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?   13 Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.

      Here Job shows, 1. What a great way the wit of man may go in diving into the depths of nature and seizing the riches of it, what a great deal of knowledge and wealth men may, by their ingenious and industrious searches, make themselves masters of. But does it therefore follow that men may, by their wit, comprehend the reasons why some wicked people prosper and others are punished, why some good people prosper and others are afflicted? No, by no means. The caverns of the earth may be discovered, but not the counsels of heaven. 2. What a great deal of care and pains worldly men take to get riches. He had observed concerning the wicked man (Job 27:16; Job 27:16) that he heaped up silver as the dust; now here he shows whence that silver came which he was so fond of and how it was obtained, to show what little reason wicked rich men have to be proud of their wealth and pomp. Observe here,

      I. The wealth of this world is hidden in the earth. Thence the silver and the gold, which afterwards they refine, are fetched, Job 28:1; Job 28:1. There they lay mixed with a great deal of dirt and dross, like a worthless thing, of no more account than common earth; and abundance of them will so lie neglected, till the earth and all the works therein shall be burnt up. Holy Mr. Herbert, in his poem called Avarice, takes notice of this, to shame men out of the love of money:--

      Iron and brass, less costly but more serviceable metals, are taken out of the earth (Job 28:2; Job 28:2), and are there found in great abundance, which abates their price indeed, but is a great kindness to man, who could much better be without gold than without iron. Nay, out of the earth comes bread, that is, bread-corn, the necessary support of life, Job 28:5; Job 28:5. Thence man's maintenance is fetched, to remind him of his own original; he is of the earth, and is hastening to the earth. Under it is turned up as it were fire, precious stones, that sparkle as fire--brimstone, that is apt to take fire--coal, that is proper to feed fire. As we have our food, so we have our fuel, out of the earth. There the sapphires and other gems are, and thence gold-dust is digged up;, Job 28:6; Job 28:6. The wisdom of the Creator has placed these things, 1. Out of our sight, to teach us not to set our eyes upon them, Proverbs 23:5. 2. Under our feet, to teach us not to lay them in our bosoms, nor to set our hearts upon them, but to trample upon them with a holy contempt. See how full the earth is of God's riches (Psalms 104:24) and infer thence, not only how great a God he is whose the earth is and the fulness thereof (Psalms 24:1), but how full heaven must needs be of God's riches, which is the city of the great King, in comparison with which this earth is a poor country.

      II. The wealth that is hidden in the earth cannot be obtained but with a great deal of difficulty. 1. It is hard to be found out: there is but here and there a vein for the silver,Job 28:1; Job 28:1. The precious stones, though bright themselves, yet, because buried in obscurity and out of sight, are called stones of darkness and the shadow of death. Men may search long before they light on them. 2. When found out it is hard to be fetched out. Men's wits must be set on work to contrive ways and means to get this hidden treasure into their hands. They must with their lamps set an end to darkness; and if one expedient miscarry, one method fail, they must try another, till they have searched out all perfection, and turned every stone to effect it, Job 28:3; Job 28:3. They must grapple with subterraneous waters (Job 28:4; Job 28:10; Job 28:11), and force their way through rocks which are, as it were, the roots of the mountains, Job 28:9; Job 28:9. Now God has made the getting of gold, and silver, and precious stones, so difficult, (1.) For the exciting and engaging of industry. Dii laboribus omnia vendunt--Labour is the price which the gods affix to all things. If valuable things were too easily obtained men would never learn to take pains. But the difficulty of gaining the riches of this earth may suggest to us what violence the kingdom of heaven suffers. (2.) For the checking and restraining of pomp and luxury. What is for necessity is had with a little labour from the surface of the earth; but what is for ornament must be dug with a great deal of pains out of the bowels of it. To be fed is cheap, but to be fine is chargeable.

      III. Though the subterraneous wealth is thus hard to obtain, yet men will have it. He that loves silver is not satisfied with silver, and yet is not satisfied without it; but those that have much must needs have more. See here, 1. What inventions men have to get this wealth. They search out all perfection,Job 28:3; Job 28:3. They have arts and engines to dry up the waters, and carry them off, when they break in upon them in their mines and threaten to drown the work, Job 28:4; Job 28:4. They have pumps, and pipes, and canals, to clear their way, and, obstacles being removed, they tread the path which no fowl knoweth (Job 28:7; Job 28:8), unseen by the vulture's eye, which is piercing and quick-sighted, and untrodden by the lion's whelps, which traverse all the paths of the wilderness. 2. What pains men take, and what vast charge they are at, to get this wealth. They work their way through the rocks and undermine the mountains, Job 28:10; Job 28:10. 3. What hazards they run. Those that dig in the mines have their lives in their hands; for they are obliged to bind the floods from overflowing (Job 28:11; Job 28:11), and are continually in danger of being suffocated by damps or crushed or buried alive by the fall of the earth upon them. See how foolish man adds to his own burden. He is sentenced to eat bread in the sweat of his face; but, as if that were not enough, he will get gold and silver at the peril of his life, though the more is gotten the less valuable it is. In Solomon's time silver was as stones. But, 4. Observe what it is that carries men through all this toil and peril: Their eye sees every precious thing,Job 28:10; Job 28:10. Silver and gold are precious things with them, and they have them in their eye in all these pursuits. They fancy they see them glittering before their faces, and, in the prospect of laying hold of them, they make nothing of all these difficulties; for they make something of their toil at last: That which is hidden bringeth he forth to light,Job 28:11; Job 28:11. What was hidden under ground is laid upon the bank; the metal that was hidden in the ore is refined from its dross and brought forth pure out of the furnace; and then he thinks his pains well bestowed. Go to the miners then, thou sluggard in religion; consider their ways, and be wise. Let their courage, diligence, and constancy in seeking the wealth that perisheth shame us out of slothfulness and faint-heartedness in labouring for the true riches. How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! How much easier and safer! Yet gold is sought for, but grace neglected. Will the hopes of precious things out of the earth (so they call them, though really they are paltry and perishing) be such a spur to industry, and shall not the certain prospect of truly precious things in heaven be much more so?