# Job 28 📖: Where Wisdom Is Found
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> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]]
> [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]]
> [[#💬 Discussion Questions]]
> [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#📂 Internal Notes]]
## 📜 Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
# **III. Job’s Search for Wisdom ([28:1-28](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job.28.1-Job.28.28&version=NET))**
## No Known Road to Wisdom
[[#Verse 01.]] “Surely there is a mine for silver,
and a place where gold is refined.
[[#Verse 02.]] Iron is taken from the ground,
and rock is poured out as copper.
[[#Verse 03.]] Man puts an end to the darkness;
he searches the farthest recesses
for the ore in the deepest darkness.
[[#Verse 04.]] Far from where people live he sinks a shaft,
in places travelers have long forgotten,
far from other people he dangles and sways.
[[#Verse 05.]] The earth, from which food comes,
is overturned below as though by fire;
[[#Verse 06.]] a place whose stones are sapphires
that contain dust of gold;
[[#Verse 07.]] a hidden path no bird of prey knows—
no falcon’s eye has spotted it.
[[#Verse 08.]] Proud beasts have not set foot on it,
and no lion has passed along it.
[[#Verse 09.]] On the flinty rock man has set to work with his hand;
he has overturned mountains at their bases.
[[#Verse 10.]] He has cut out channels through the rocks;
his eyes have spotted every precious thing.
[[#Verse 11.]] He has searched the sources of the rivers
and what was hidden he has brought into the light.
## No Price Can Buy Wisdom
[[#Verse 12.]] “But wisdom—where can it be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
[[#Verse 13.]] Mankind does not know its place;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
[[#Verse 14.]] The deep says, ‘It is not with me.’
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
[[#Verse 15.]] Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
[[#Verse 16.]] It cannot be measured out for purchase with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx or sapphires.
[[#Verse 17.]] Neither gold nor crystal can be compared with it,
nor can a vase of gold match its worth.
[[#Verse 18.]] Of coral and jasper no mention will be made;
the price of wisdom is more than pearls.
[[#Verse 19.]] The topaz of Cush cannot be compared with it;
it cannot be purchased with pure gold.
## God Alone Has Wisdom
[[#Verse 20.]] “But wisdom—where does it come from?
Where is the place of understanding?
[[#Verse 21.]] For it has been hidden
from the eyes of every living creature,
and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed.
[[#Verse 22.]] Destruction and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.’
[[#Verse 23.]] God understands the way to it,
and he alone knows its place.
[[#Verse 24.]] For he looks to the ends of the earth
and observes everything under the heavens.
[[#Verse 25.]] When he made the force of the wind
and measured the waters with a gauge,
[[#Verse 26.]] when he imposed a limit for the rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
[[#Verse 27.]] then he looked at wisdom and assessed its value;
he established it and examined it closely.
[[#Verse 28.]] And he said to mankind,
‘The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
###### Verse 18.
###### Verse 19.
###### Verse 20.
###### Verse 21.
###### Verse 22.
###### Verse 23.
###### Verse 24.
###### Verse 25.
###### Verse 26.
###### Verse 27.
###### Verse 28.
## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. Job 28 is a poem on wisdom that pauses the debate, and scholars discuss whether Job or the narrator is speaking.
2. Mining for copper took place in biblical times at sites such as Timna and Faynan in the Arabah, south of the Dead Sea.
3. Verse 4 pictures miners lowering themselves on ropes into shafts far from where people live.
4. The "sapphire" of 28:6 is likely lapis lazuli, a deep blue stone often flecked with gold-colored pyrite.
5. Birds of prey are known for keen eyesight, yet even the falcon has not seen the path to wisdom (28:7).
6. Ophir was famous for gold, and Cush (28:19) was the land south of Egypt, roughly ancient Nubia.
7. The Deep, the Sea, Destruction, and Death are personified as speakers who have not found wisdom (28:14, 22).
8. God gave weight to the wind and set a limit for the rain (28:25-26).
9. The conclusion in 28:28 echoes Proverbs 1:7 and 9:10.
10. Verse 28 uses the same description given of Job in 1:1: one who fears God and turns away from evil.
## 🧠 Chapter Summary
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the wisdom of God that no gold can buy (28:15-19). In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3), and He has become wisdom from God for us (1 Corinthians 1:30).
## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## 💬 Discussion Questions
1. People dig deep into the earth for silver and gold (28:1-11). What do people today work hardest to find, and how does that compare to how hard we seek wisdom?
2. Wisdom cannot be bought with the finest gold or jewels (28:15-19). Why can't wisdom be purchased?
3. God says the fear of the Lord is wisdom and turning from evil is understanding (28:28). What does that look like in your everyday choices?
## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember
- 📖 verse 12: Where can wisdom be found?
- 📖 verse 23: God understands the way to wisdom and knows where it is.
- 📖 verse 28: The fear of the Lord is wisdom, and turning away from evil is understanding.
## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference
- 🔗 [[Colossians 02#Verse 02.|Colossians 2:2-3]] - All the treasures of wisdom are hidden in Christ.
- 🔗 [[1 Corinthians 01#Verse 24.|1 Corinthians 1:24, 30]] - Christ is the wisdom of God.
- 🔗 [[Proverbs 09#Verse 10.|Proverbs 9:10]] - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
- 🔗 [[Proverbs 03#Verse 13.|Proverbs 3:13-15]] - Wisdom is more precious than rubies.
- 🔗 [[James 01#Verse 05.|James 1:5]] - Ask God for wisdom, and He will give it.
## 🙏 Devotional Reflection
📝 SOAP: [[Job 28 - SOAP|The Bottom Line]]
## 📂 Internal Notes