Bible Commentaries

In a fine passage Job now discussed the question of wisdom. What was supremely lacking in his friends' dealing with him was wisdom to understand. As an introduction to the main statement of his argument, he described man's ability to obtain possession of the precious things of the earth. Silver, gold, and iron are mined, and -the description of how man does it is full of beauty. Man opens a shaft. In the midst of his operation he is forgotten by men who pass by. In a path that no bird knows the precious things are found. The beasts are unacquainted with it, but man, overturning the roots of the mountains, cuts out channels, and sees the precious things.

Having thus described man's marvelous ability to do the most difficult things, he then asks: But where shall wisdom be found?

The value of wisdom is beyond the power of computation; neither can man discover it. The precious things he can find are of no value in comparison with this precious thing he cannot discover. It must be admitted that wisdom is hid from life and from death. This admission prepares the way for the great declaration, "God understandeth." The evidences of the truth of this are to be found in the observation of the impossible things which God does. He "looketh to the ends of the earth*; He makes "a weight for the wind; He measures the water; He makes "a decree for the rain."

Finally, Job announced that wisdom in the case of man is "the fear of the Lord" and departure from evil. It is impossible to read this without being conscious that a self-satisfied interpretation of God may be less reverent than an honest expression of inability to explain the mystery of His government.