Albert Barnes Commentary Job 28

Surely there is a vein for silver - Margin, “mine.” Coverdale translates this, “There are places where silver is molten.” Professor Lee translates it, “There is an outlet for the silver,” and supposes it means the emergence or separation of the silver from the earthy particles surrounding it in the ore, not its extraction from the mine. The word translated “vein” (מוצא môtsâ') properly means a going forth, like the rising of the sun (Psalms 19:6), or the promulgation of an edict (Daniel 9:25). It can also mean a place of going forth—such as a gate or door (Ezekiel 42:11; Ezekiel 43:11)—and from there, a mine, a vein, or a place from which metals come forth; that is, a place where they are obtained. So the Septuagint here says, Ἔστι γὰρ άργυρίῳ τόπος ὅθεν γίνεται Esti gar arguriō topos hothen ginetai — “there is a place for silver from which it is obtained.” The idea here is that humanity had shown its wisdom in discovering silver mines and working them.

It was one of the instances of human skill that people had been able to penetrate the earth, bring out the ore of precious metals, and convert it to valuable purposes.

And a place for gold - This refers to a workshop or laboratory for working precious metals. Job says that even in his time, such a laboratory was a proof of human wisdom. So now, one of the most striking proofs of skill is found in the places where precious metals are purified and worked into the various forms suitable for ornament and use.

Where they fine it - — יזקו yāzoqû. The word used here (זקק zâqaq) properly means to bind fast, to fetter; then to compress, to squeeze through a strainer; and thus, to strain, filter; and subsequently to purify—as wine that is filtered, or gold that is purified (Malachi 3:3). It may refer here to any process of purifying or refining. This is commonly done by applying heat. One of the instructive uses of the book of Job is the light it incidentally sheds on the state of ancient arts and sciences, and the condition of society regarding the comforts of life in 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 provide, in Job’s view, a striking illustration of human wisdom and skill.

Society was so far advanced as to use not only gold and silver but also copper and brass. The use of gold and silver commonly precedes the discovery of iron; consequently, the mention of iron in any ancient book indicates a considerably advanced state of society. Of course, it is not known to what extent the art of working metals was carried in Job’s time, since all that would be indicated here is that the method of obtaining the pure metal from the ore was understood. It may be interesting, however, to observe that this art was known to the Egyptians early on and was developed 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 from the Egyptians when they were about to go to the Promised Land. Gold and silver are mentioned as known in the earliest ages (Genesis 41:42; Exodus 20:23; Genesis 23:15–16).

Iron is also mentioned as having been known early (Genesis 4:22). Tubal Cain was an instructor in iron and brass. Gold and silver mines were worked early in Egypt. If Moses compiled the book of Job, it is possible that some of the descriptions here may have been derived from that country; in any case, the method of working these precious metals was probably the same in Arabia and Egypt. From the mention of earrings, 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 noted by Homer as excelling in the manufacture of arms, rich vases, and other objects inlaid or ornamented with metals:

Πηλείδης δ’ ἆιψ’ ἄλλα τίθει ταχυτῆτος ἄεθλα,
Ἀργύρεον κρατῆρα τετυγμειον.
Pēleidēs d' aips alla tithei tachytētos aethla,
Argyreon kratēra tetugmeion.
Iliad xxiii. 741.

His account of the shield of Achilles (Iliad xviii. 474) proves that the art of working in precious metals was well known in his time. The skill required to delineate the various objects he describes was such that no ordinary artisan, even today, could be supposed to possess. In Egypt, gold and silver ornaments—consisting of rings, bracelets, necklaces, and trinkets—have been found in considerable abundance from the times of Osirtasen I and Thothmes III, who were contemporaries of Joseph and Moses. Diodorus (i. 49) mentions an Egyptian silver mine that produced 3,200 myriads of minae.

The gold mines of Egypt remained unknown for a long time, and their position was ascertained only relatively recently by M. Linant and M. Bonomi. They lie in the Bisharee desert, about a seventeen-day journey southeast from Derow. The matrix in which Egyptian gold was found is quartz, and the excavations to procure the gold are exceedingly deep.

The principal excavation is 180 feet deep. The quartz obtained this way was broken by the workmen into small fragments, about the size of a bean. These fragments were passed through hand mills made of granitic stone. 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 people engaged in mining operations were captives taken in war and individuals compelled to labor in the mines for offenses against the government. They were bound in fetters and forced to labor night and day. “No attention,” he says, “is paid to these persons; they do not even have a piece of rag to cover themselves. So wretched is their condition that everyone who witnesses it deplores the excessive misery they endure.

No rest, no intermission from toil, is given to either 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 with both pleasure and grief.”

It was perhaps in view of such laborious and difficult operations in obtaining precious metals, and of the skill humanity had shown 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 metals among the ancient Egyptians, the reader may consult with advantage Wilkinson’s “Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians,” Volume 3, pages 215 and following.

Iron - As has been remarked above, iron was early known, yet probably its common use indicates a more advanced state of civilization than that of gold and silver. The Mexicans were ignorant of the use of iron, though ornaments of gold and silver elegantly worked abounded among them. Iron is less easily discovered than copper, though more abundant, and is worked with more difficulty. Among the ancient nations, copper was in general use long before iron; and arms, vases, statues, and implements of every kind were made of this metal alloyed and hardened with tin, before iron came into general use.

Tubal Cain is indeed mentioned (Genesis 4:22) as the “instructor of every artificer in brass and iron,” but no direct mention is made of iron arms (Numbers 35:16) or tools (Deuteronomy 27:5), until after the departure from Egypt.

According to the Arundelian Marbles, iron was known one hundred and eighty-eight years before the Trojan war, about 1370 B.C.; but Hesiod, Plutarch, and others, limit its discovery to a much later period.

Homer, however, distinctly mentions its use, Iliad xxiii. 262:

Η δε γυνᾶικα ὲΰζώνα;, πολιον τε σίδηρον.

Hē de gunaikas euzōnas, polion te sidēron.

That by the “sideros” of the poet is meant iron, is clear, from a simile which he uses in the Odyssey, derived from the quenching of iron in water, by which he illustrates the hissing produced in the eye of Polyphemus by piercing it with the burning stake:

“And as when armorers temper in the ford
The keen edged pole-axe or the shining sword,
The red-hot metal hisses in the lake,
Thus in the eye-ball hissed the plunging stake.”

Odyssey ix. 391; Pope

Iron is mentioned in the time of Og king of Bashan, 1450 B.C. It was at first, however, regarded as of great value, and its use was very limited. It was presented in the temples of Greece as among the most valuable offerings, and rings of iron have been found in the tombs of Egypt that had been worn as ornaments, showing the value of the metal.

One of the reasons why this metal comes so slowly into use, and why it was so rare in early times, was the difficulty of smelting the ore, and reducing it to a malleable state. “Its gross and stubborn ore,” says Dr. Robertson (America, B. iv.) “must feel twice the force of fire, and go through two laborious processes, before it becomes fit for use.”

It was this fact which made it to Job such a proof of the wisdom of man that he had invented the process of making iron, or of separating it from the earthy portions in which it is found.

Is taken out of the earth - Margin, “dust.” The form in which iron is found is too well known to need description. It is seldom, if ever, found in its purity, and the ore generally has so much the appearance of mere earth, that it requires some skill to distinguish them.

And brass - נחוּשׁה nechûshâh. Brass is early and frequently mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 4:22; Exodus 25:3; Exodus 26:11, et al.), but there is little doubt that copper is meant in these places. Brass is a compound metal, made of copper and zinc—containing usually about one third of the weight in zinc—and it is hardly probable that the art of compounding this was early known (compare the notes at Job 20:24).

Dr. Good renders this, “And the rock poureth forth copper.” Coverdale, “The stones resolved to metal.” Noyes, “The stone is melted into copper.” Prof. Lee, “Also the stone (is taken from the earth) from which one fuseth copper.”

The Hebrew is, literally, ”And stone is poured out יציק copper.” The Septuagint renders it, “And brass is cut like stones;” that is, is cut from the quarry.

The word “stone” here in the Hebrew (אבן ’eben) means, doubtless, “ore” in the form of stone; and the fact mentioned here, that such ore is fused into the נחוּשׁה nechûshâh—is clear proof that copper is intended. Brass is never found in ore, and is never compounded in the earth.

A similar idea is found in Pliny, who probably uses the word “aes” to denote copper, as it is commonly employed in the ancient writings. Aes fit ex lapide aeroso, quem vocant Cadmiam; et igne lapides in nes solvantur. Nat. Hist. xxxiv. i. 22.

On the general subject of ancient metallurgy, see Wilkinson’s Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. chapter ix.

He setteth an end to darkness - That is, man does. The reference here is undoubtedly to mining operations, 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, and carries the matter to the utmost. The idea is not that he searches out all perfection—as our translation seems to convey; but that he makes a complete and thorough search—and yet, after all, he does not arrive at true and highest wisdom.

The stones of darkness - Herder says this refers to the last stone in the mining investigations in the time of Job: the corner or boundary stone, as it were, of the kingdom of darkness and night. Professor Lee supposes that there is an 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 measurement of it, or had wholly investigated it. But this solution seems far-fetched. Schultens supposes the center of the earth is 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.

The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant—It would be difficult to tell what idea our translators affixed to this sentence, though it seems to be a literal version of the Hebrew. A great variety of renderings have been given for this passage. Noyes translates it:

“From the place where they dwell they open a shaft,
Unsupported by the feet,
They are suspended, they swing away from men.”

Herder:

“A flood goeth out from the realm of oblivion,
They draw it up from the foot of the mountain,
They remove it away from men.”

According to this, Herder says, the meaning would be that “the dwelling of the forgotten would be the kingdom of the dead, and at greater depth than the deepest mines have reached. Streams break forth from the river of eternal oblivion beneath, and yet are overcome by the miners, pumped dry, and turned out of the way. “Yet I confess,” says he, “the passage remains obscure to my mind.” Coverdale renders it, “With the river of water parteth he asunder the strange people, that knoweth no good neighborhood; such as are rude, unmannerly, and boisterous.” The Septuagint renders it, “The channels of brooks are choked up with sand; when to such as do not know the right way strength is unavailing, and they are removed from among men.” The difficulty of interpreting the passage has been felt by every expositor to be great; and there are scarcely two expositions alike. There can be no doubt that Job refers to mining operations, and the whole passage should be explained with reference to such works.

But the obscurity may possibly arise from the fact that mining operations were then conducted in a manner different from what they are now, and the allusion may be to some custom which was then well understood, but of which we now know nothing. A plausible interpretation, at least, has been furnished by Gesenius, and one which seems to me to be more satisfactory than any other. An explanation of the words in the passage will bring out this view.

The word rendered “breaketh out” (פרץ pârats) means to break, rend, tear through—and here refers to the act of breaking through the earth for the purpose of sinking a shaft or pit in a mine. The word rendered “flood” (נחל nachal) means properly a stream or brook; then a valley in which a brook runs along; and here Gesenius supposes it means a shaft or pit of a mine. It may be called a נחל (nachal)—or valley, from the resemblance to a gully which the water has washed away by a mountain-torrent.

From the inhabitant—This conveys evidently no idea as it now stands. The Hebrew is מעם־גר (mē‛ı̂m-gār). The word גוּר (gûr)—from which גר (gār) is derived—means to sojourn for a time, to dwell, as a stranger or guest. The phrase here means, “away from any dweller or inhabitant;” that is, from where people dwell, or from the surface of the ground as the home of men; that is, underground. Or the idea is, that it is done where no one could dwell. It could not be the abode of man.

Even the waters forgotten of the foot—The words “even the waters” are supplied by the translators. The Hebrew is מני־רגל (mı̂nı̂y-regel) הנשׁכחים (hanı̂śkâchı̂ym), and refers to being unsupported by the foot. They go into a place where the foot yields no support, and they are obliged to suspend themselves in order to be sustained.

They are dried up—דלו (dâlû). The word דלל (dâlal)—from which this is derived—means to hang down, to be pendulous, as boughs are on a tree, or as a bucket is in a well. According to this interpretation, the meaning is, that they “hang down” far from men in their mines, and swing to and fro like the branches of a tree in the wind.

They are gone away from men—The word נעו (nā‛û)—from נוּע (nûa‛)—means to move to and fro, to waver, to vacillate. Greek νεύω (neuō) and Latin nuo, German nicken, to nod backward and forward. The sense here is, that, far from the dwellings of people, they “wave to and fro” in their deep mines, suspended by cords.

They descend by the aid of cords, and not by a firm foothold, until they penetrate the deep darkness of the earth. Other interpretations may be seen, however, defended at length in Schultens, and in Rosenmuller—who has adopted substantially that of Schultens—in Dr. Good, and in other commentaries. Few passages in the Bible are more obscure.

As for the earth, out of it cometh bread - That is, it produces food, or the materials for bread. Job's idea seems to be that it was proof of great wisdom and skill on man's part that he had advanced the arts of agriculture so far. The earth producing grain, and the skills of farming, were illustrative of wisdom and skill, but they did not impart the wisdom about God's government that was desired. That was reserved to be imparted more directly by God Himself (Job 28:23 and following).

And under it is turned up as it were fire - That is, when turned up, it discloses precious stones that seem to glow like coals of fire. This is the obvious sense of this passage, although a different interpretation has been given by most expositors.

Job is speaking of mining. He describes the search for gold, silver, and precious stones. He says that one of the wonders of wisdom in the earth is that it produces nutritious grain; another is that when the same earth is turned up, it seems to rest on a bed of fire. The dark ground is made to glow by the quantity of jewels that are disclosed, and its deep recesses seem to be on fire.

Therefore, it seems to me, there is no reference here to any volcanic agency or to any belief that the earth rests on a sea of fire. The idea has been expressed in Sergeant’s “Mine:”

“Wherever our footsteps turn,
Rubies blush and diamonds burn.”

Luther has given the passage a different meaning. Man bringet auch Feuer unten aus der Eerie, da oben Speise auf wachst - “They bring fire from the earth beneath, where food grows up above.” Coverdale: “He bringeth food out of the earth; that which is under he consumeth with fire.” Herder: “And underneath it is changed as by fire.” Dr. Good: “Below it (the earth) windeth a fiery region.”