Matthew Henry on Job 28:12-19
Job, having spoken of the wealth of the world, which men put such a value upon and take so much pains for, here comes to speak of another more valuable jewel, and that is, wisdom and understanding, the knowing and enjoying of God and ourselves. Those that found out all those ways and means to enrich themselves thought themselves very wise; but Job will not own theirs to be wisdom. He supposes them to gain their point, and to bring to light what they sought for (Job 28:11), and yet asks, "Where is wisdom? for it is not here." This their way is their folly. We must therefore seek it somewhere else, and it will be found nowhere but in the principles and practices of religion. There is more true…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 28:13
Man can fix no price upon it, as it is nowhere to be found in man's abode (Isa 38:11). Job implies both its valuable worth, and the impossibility of buying it at any price.
John Gill on Job 28:13
Man knoweth not the price thereof,.... The worth and value of it, what price to set upon it, or offer and give for it; nor does he know where to find an equivalent to it, or what is a valuable consideration for it: as for the wisdom of God in his dealings with men, if a man was to give all the substance of his house to know the secret reasons of them, it would utterly be condemned; yea, if he had all the riches in the world in his possession, and would offer them on that consideration, he would not be able to attain the knowledge of them: or "the order thereof" (o); the order of divine Providence, the wise disposal of thing, and the reasons thereof. In the first sense it is applicable to all…
Read the whole note in the consoleKeil & Delitzsch on Job 28:13-16
13 A mortal knoweth not its price,
And it is not found in the land of the living.
14 The abyss saith: It is not in me,
And the sea saith: It is not with me.
15 Pure gold cannot be given for it,
And silver cannot be weighed as its price;
16 And it is not outweighed with fine gold of Ophir,
With the precious onyx and the sapphire.
It is self-evident that wisdom is found nowhere directly present and within a limited space, as at the bottom of the sea, and cannot be obtained by a direct exchange by means of earthly treasures. It is, moreover, not this self-evident fact that is denied here; but the meaning is, that even if a man should search in every direction through the land of the living, i.e…
