Passage
Job 28.12-28
Book: Job · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT
Immediate context (±2 verses)
ASV
10. He cutteth out channels among the rocks; And his eye seeth every precious thing. 11. He bindeth the streams that they trickle not; 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. 14. The deep saith, It is not in me; And the sea saith, It is not with me. 15. It cannot be gotten for gold, Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. 16. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, With the precious onyx, or the sapphire. 17. Gold and glass cannot equal it, Neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. 18. No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal: Yea, the price of wisdom is above rubies. 19. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold. 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 birds of the heavens. 22. Destruction and Death say, We have heard a rumor 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 a weight for the wind: Yea, he meteth out 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 established 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. (Job 28:10-28, ASV)
WEB
10. He cuts out channels among the rocks. His eye sees every precious thing. 11. He binds the streams that they don’t trickle. The thing that is hidden he brings out to light.
12. “But where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding? 13. Man doesn’t know its price; Neither is it found in the land of the living. 14. The deep says, ‘It isn’t in me.’ The sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.’ 15. It can’t be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for its price. 16. It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. 17. Gold and glass can’t equal it, neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. 18. No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies. 19. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold. 20. Where then does wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding? 21. Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky. 22. Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’ 23. “God understands its way, and he knows its place. 24. For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky. 25. He establishes the force of the wind. Yes, he measures out the waters by measure. 26. When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder; 27. then he saw it, and declared it. He established it, yes, and searched it out. 28. To man he said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.’” (Job 28:10-28, WEB)
KJV
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. overflowing: Heb. weeping
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. 14. The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me. 15. It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. It: Heb. Fine gold shall not be given for it 16. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. 17. The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. jewels: or, vessels of 18. No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies. coral: or, Ramoth 19. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold. 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. air: or, heaven 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. declare: or, number it 28. And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. (Job 28:10-28, KJV)
YLT
10. Among rocks, brooks he hath cleaved, And every precious thing hath his eye seen. 11. From overflowing floods he hath bound, And the hidden thing bringeth out [to] light.
12. And the wisdom, whence is it found? And where [is] this, the place of understanding? 13. Man hath not known its arrangement, Nor is it found in the land of the living. 14. The deep hath said, 'It [is] not in me,' And the sea hath said, 'It is not with me.' 15. Gold is not given for it, Nor is silver weighed, its price. 16. It is not valued with pure gold of Ophir, With precious onyx and sapphire, 17. Not equal it do gold and crystal, Nor [is] its exchange a vessel of fine gold. 18. Corals and pearl are not remembered, The acquisition of wisdom [is] above rubies. 19. Not equal it doth the topaz of Cush, With pure gold it is not valued. 20. And the wisdom, whence doth it come? And where [is] this, the place of understanding? 21. It hath been hid from the eyes of all living. And from the fowl of the heavens It hath been hidden. 22. Destruction and death have said: 'With our ears we have heard its fame.' 23. God hath understood its way, And He hath known its place. 24. For He to the ends of the earth doth look, Under the whole heavens He doth see, 25. To make for the wind a weight, And the waters He meted out in measure. 26. In His making for the rain a limit, And a way for the brightness of the voices, 27. Then He hath seen and declareth it, He hath prepared it, and also searched it out, 28. And He saith to man:, 'Lo, fear of the Lord, that [is] wisdom, And to turn from evil [is] understanding.' (Job 28:10-28, YLT)
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Setting
- Speaker: TBD
- Audience: TBD
- Location: TBD
- Time period: TBD
Theological reading
Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.
Key words
Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.
- H4194 - mavet, mavet, Strong's H4194
- H7307 - ruach, ruach, Strong's H7307
- H0136 - adonai, adonai, Strong's H0136
- H2416 - chay, chay, Strong's H2416
- H0120 - adam, adam, Strong's H0120
- H3045 - yada, yada, Strong's H3045
Quoted in
Lexicon:
Notes
Your annotations.
Why these four translations
ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.
The four:
- ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.
See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.