Matthew Henry Commentary Job 28
Matthew Henry Commentary
Job 28
Matthew Henry Commentary
Job 28
"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 searcheth out, to the furthest bound, The stones of obscurity and of 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 bringeth he forth to light." — Job 28:1-11 (ASV)
Job maintained that the arrangements of Providence are regulated by the highest wisdom. To confirm this, he showed how much knowledge and wealth people can master.
The caverns of the earth may be discovered, but not the counsels of Heaven. Go to the miners, you sluggard in religion; consider their ways, and be wise.
Let their courage and diligence in seeking the wealth that perishes shame us out of laziness and faint-heartedness in working for the true riches.
How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! How much easier and safer it is! Yet gold is sought after, but grace is neglected.
Will the hope of precious things from the earth (as people call them, though they are truly insignificant and perishable) be such an incentive to hard work, and should not the certain prospect of truly precious things in heaven be a much greater incentive?
"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 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." — Job 28:12-19 (ASV)
Job here speaks of wisdom and understanding, the knowing and enjoying of God and ourselves. Its worth is infinitely more than all the riches in this world. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit which cannot be bought with money. Let that which is most precious in God's account be so in ours. Job asks after it as one who truly desired to find it, and despaired of finding it anywhere except in God; by any means other than divine revelation. (Job 28:20–28)
"Whence then cometh wisdom? And where is the place of understanding? Seeing it is hid 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. 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 is understanding." — Job 28:20-28 (ASV)
There is a twofold wisdom: one hidden in God, which is secret and does not belong to us; the other made known by him and revealed to man. One day's events and one person's affairs are so interconnected and depend so much on one another, that He only, to whom all is open and who sees the whole in one view, can rightly judge every part.
But the knowledge of God's revealed will is within our reach and will do us good. Let man look upon this as his wisdom: To fear the Lord, and to depart from evil. Let him learn that, and he is learned enough.
Where is this wisdom to be found? The treasures of it are hidden in Christ, revealed by the word, received by faith, through the Holy Spirit. It will not feed pride or vanity, or amuse our vain curiosity. It teaches and encourages sinners to fear the Lord and to depart from evil, in the exercise of repentance and faith, without desiring to solve all difficulties about the events of this life.
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