where? (only in connection with prepositional prefix · preposition + interrogative particle
cometh
תָּב֑וֹאta.Vo'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
wisdom
וְֽ֭הַחָכְמָהVe.ha.cha.khe.mah
H2451
wisdom (in a good sense) · conjunction + definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
place
מְק֣וֹםme.Kom
H4725
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
understanding
בִּינָֽהbi.Nah
H998
understanding · noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Job 28:12 But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shado…
Job 28:23 God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.
Proverbs 2:6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
Ecclesiastes 7:23-24 All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.
1 Corinthians 2:6-15 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 28:20–end
The question which Job had asked (Job 28:12) he asks again here; for it is too worthy, too weighty, to be let fall, until we speed in the enquiry. Concerning this we must seek till we find, till we get some satisfactory account of it. By a diligent prosecution of this enquiry he brings it, at length, to this issue, that there is a twofold wisdom, one hidden in God, which is secret and belongs not to us, the other made known by him and revealed to man, which belongs to us and to our children.
I. The knowledge of God's secret will, the will of his providence, is out of our reach, and what God has reserved to himself. It belongs to the Lord our God. To know the particulars of what God will do h…
Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? The same questions as in Job 28:12; repeated to set forth the superior excellency of wisdom, and to carry on the discourse, and lead on to other things concerning it. See Gill on Job 28:12.
Keil & Delitzsch on Job 28:17-20
17 Gold and glass are not equal to it,
Nor is it exchanged for jewels of gold.
18 Pearls and crystal are not to be mentioned,
And the acquisition of wisdom is beyond corals.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia is not equal to it,
It is not outweighed by pure fine gold.
20 Whence, then, cometh wisdom,
And which is the place of understanding?
Among the separate חפצים, Pro 3:15, which are here detailed, apart from זהב, glass has the transparent name זכוּכית, or, as it is pointed in Codd., in old editions, and by Kimchi, זכוכית, with Cholem (in the dialects with ג instead of )כ. Symm. indeed translates crystal, and in fact the ancient languages have common names for glass and crystal; but the crystal is he…
"Where does wisdom come from? Man can only find it with the help of grace, so his heart must turn to God.
These words suggest that even though Christ is presented through a simile, he is, however, above any simile or figure or type and is by no means comparable to the saints. He is said to be similar to the hidden and superior powers, but it is well known that they cannot even direct their looks to him.
Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? Seeing that it is hid from the eyes of all living. It deserves to be especially considered, that it is asked by the holy man, whence Wisdom cometh. For It 'comes' from Him from Whom It sprung. Now because It is born of the Invisible and Coeternal Father, the way thereof is hidden. Whence too it is said by the Prophet, And who shall declare His generations? Now 'the place of the understanding of her' is the mind of man, which mind the Wisdom of God when it has filled makes holy. And so because both He is invisible, from Whom It came forth, and it is doubtful to us in whose mind It rests as being understood, it is rightly said now, Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? But this is very wonderful that it is directly brought in; seeing that it is hidden from the eyes of all living. For if the Wisdom, which is God, had been 'hidden from the eyes of all living,' then surely this Wisdom no one of the Saints would have seen. But see, I hear John agreeing with this sentence, who says, No man hath seen God at any time. And again, when I look at the Fathers of the Old Testament, I learn that many of those, as the very history of the Sacred Reading is witness, did see God. Thus Jacob saw the Lord, who says, For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. Moses likewise saw God, of whom it is written, And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. This very Job saw the Lord, who says, I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee. Isaiah saw the Lord, who saith, In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up. Michaiah saw the Lord, who saith, I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on His left. What does it mean then that so many Fathers of the Old Testament have witnessed that they have seen God, and yet concerning this Wisdom, which is God, it is said, Seeing that it is hid from the eyes of all living? And John saith, No man hath seen God at any time. Seeing this, which is plainly given us to understand, that so long as we live here a mortal life, God may be seen by certain semblances, but by the actual appearance of His Nature He cannot be seen, so that the soul being inspired with the grace of…
Dictionary and topics
Brass — Which is an alloy of copper and zinc, was not known till the thirteenth century. What is designated by this word in Scripture is properly copper (Deut. 8:9). It was used for fetters (Judg. 16:21; 2…
Wise, wisdom — A moral rather than an intellectual quality. To be “foolish” is to be godless (Ps. 14:1; comp. Judg. 19:23; 2 Sam. 13:13). True wisdom is a gift from God to those who ask it (Job 28:12-28; Prov.…
Ignorance · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Readings, Select · NATURE’ S TESTIMONY — NATURE’ S TESTIMONY
Wisdom · .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Job 28:16-19
The metals, gemstones, and glass listed here were precious in the ancient world, but the speaker says that wisdom is much more precious than wealth.
Rashi on Job 28:19
The topaz of Kush It is a precious stone, as in (Exod. 28:17), “ruby, topaz (פטדה).” with...jewelry Heb. בכתם. That is a collection of jewelry for women’s adornments, and this collection is called כֶּתֶם in Hebrew, and “al halls” in Arabic. That is (Prov. 25:12) “Like a golden earring and jewelry of the finest gold (וחלי כתם),” and similarly (Hosea 2:15), “and adorned herself with her earrings and her jewelry (וחליתה).” Others interpret כֶּתֶם like כֶּתֶר, a crown, but it is incorrect because we do not find a verb with this root, as we find with כֶּתֶר. מַכְתִּיר, to crown or surround, כותרות capitals.
