Глава 28

Job's speech continues. 1–11. A manifestation of human wisdom in the extraction of precious metals and stones. 12–28. True wisdom is not accessible to man. Having finished his previous speech with a description of the death of the sinner, Job proceeds to explain its causes. The wicked perish because his wealth is not secure in its foundation. It is created on the basis of wealth, the possession of gold and silver, and these latter are of earthly origin, perishable and unstable. That wisdom, which is capable of ensuring the existence of man and lies in the fear of God, is inaccessible to the sinner, since it is known only to God and is revealed to those who listen to His teaching, therefore, not to sinners. In view of such considerations, Job proceeds to describe the mining of precious metals as a manifestation of human wisdom. Job 28:1. So! Silver has a source, and gold has a place where it is melted. “Silver has a source” – Heb. “Motzah” is a place from which something comes naturally (Job 38.27; 1 Kings 10.28), and “gold has a place where it is melted” – Heb. “yazoku” - cleansed from impurities (1 Chr. 28.18; Ps. 11.7; Mal. 3.3). Job 28:2. Iron comes from the earth; Copper is smelted from stone. Iron is mined from the bowels of the earth, and “copper is smelted from stone,” and copper mass is smelted from metal blocks thrown into a smelting furnace by the power of fire. Job 28:3. Man sets a limit to darkness and carefully searches for a stone in the darkness and shadow of death. Metals are hidden in the earth, but man knows how to find them. To do this, he penetrates into the bowels of the earth, bringing the light necessary for the extraction of metals to where darkness previously reigned. Job 28:4. They dig a mining well in places forgotten by foot, descend into the depths, hang and sway away from people. Shafts or wells are dug far from inhabited areas, and workers, descending into them with the help of ropes or other devices, must inevitably hang in the air. Job 28:5. The soil on which bread grows is pitted inside as if by fire. Job 28:6. Its stones are the place of sapphire, and in it are grains of gold. Since the shafts are dug not only in a vertical direction relative to the ground, but also horizontally, its interior turns out to be dug up, as if burned by fire. Here, inside the earth, transparent bluish sapphire and golden grains of sand are found in its rocks. Job 28:7. The bird of prey does not know the path there, and the eye of the kite has not seen it; Job 28:8. the skinns did not trample it, and the jackal did not walk on it. They are hidden in such depths that the far-sighted eagle (synodal: “bird of prey”) and the kite cannot see it; jackals and lions prowling everywhere have not been to these remote areas. Job 28:9. He lays his hand on granite, overturns mountains by the roots; Job 28:10. he cuts channels in the rocks, and his eye sees everything precious; Job 28:11. stops the flow of streams and brings the hidden into the light. When mining metals and precious stones, a person is not constrained by spatial distances (vv. 7–8); other difficulties and obstacles do not matter to him. He breaks granite stones, makes landslides where necessary, “cuts channels in the rocks” (Heb. “jeorim”) - galleries, so that it is possible to monitor the ore veins of the metal, and divert water that interferes with the work. Job 28:12. But where is wisdom found? and where is the place of reason? Earth and earthly things give knowledge about earthly things; but what is above the earth is not given by the earth. It cannot communicate wisdom (Hebrew “chokmah”), knowledge of things in their essence, the ultimate foundations, and that highest religious and moral vision that indicates the norms of human existence. Job 28:13. Man does not know its value, and it is not found in the land of the living. Job 28:14. The Abyss says: it is not in me; and the sea says: not with me. Man will not find wisdom on earth, even if he offered all his treasures for the possession of it and explored the globe in all directions: the surface of the earth (“land of the living” cf. Ps 26.13; Is 38.11), underground waters (Hebrew “tegom”, cf. Gen. 49.25) and the ocean washing the earth. Job 28:15. It is not given for gold and it is not purchased for the weight of silver; Job 28:16. it is not valued with Ophir gold, nor with precious onyx, nor with sapphire; Job 28:17. Gold and crystal are not equal to it, and you cannot exchange it for vessels of pure gold. Job 28:18. And there is nothing to mention about corals and pearls, and the acquisition of wisdom is higher than rubies. Job 28:19. Ethiopian topaz is not equal to it; It is not valued in pure gold. As its value exceeds everything earthly (v. 13; cf. Proverbs 3.14–15), wisdom cannot be acquired for riches and jewelry: for the purest gold (Heb. “degor” v. 15, cf. 1 Kings 6:20, 10:21), for onyxes (Heb. “togam” - beryl, emerald), for crystals (Hebrew “zekukit” - glasses, considered in ancient times to be precious objects; crystals - Hebrew “gabish” are mentioned below, in v. 18), for pearls (Hebrew “ramot”, cf. Ezekiel 27.16), for crystals (synodal - “pearls”) and red coral (Hebrew “peninim”, Russian ruby) and for Ethiopian topaz (Heb. “tedat” - Ex. 28.17; Ezek. 28.13), a yellow-orange diamond, found, according to Pliny, in Ethiopia and on the islands of the Red Sea (hence its Indian name, “pita”, consonant with the Hebrew “pitedat”). Job 28:20. Where does wisdom come from? and where is the place of reason? If a person is not able to find wisdom on his own on earth, in the abyss and the sea (vv. 13-14), cannot acquire it with earthly treasures (vv. 14-19), then how can one comprehend it, to whom should one turn for this? Job 28:21. It is hidden from the eyes of all living things and hidden from the birds of the air. Job 28:22. Abaddon and death say: With our ears we have heard the rumor about her. Preparing an answer to this question, Job once again declares that not a single living creature, even birds that fly everywhere and have a more vigilant gaze than humans, can convey anything about wisdom. But while visible nature still testifies to wisdom, only one rumor reaches the underground darkness about it (v. 22). Job 28:23. God knows her way, and He knows her place. Job 28:24. For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees under the whole heaven. The fullness of knowledge of wisdom belongs only to one omnipresent (Bar. 3.31–32) and omniscient God. Job 28:25. When He gave weight to the wind and arranged the water according to measure, Job 28:26. when he appointed a rule for the rain and a path for the thunderous lightning, Job 28:27. then He saw her and revealed her, prepared her and tested her again It has been known to Him since the creation of the world. When the Lord “put weight on the wind,” that is, determined the degree of its strength and weakness, distributed the water mass over the earth, established the laws of the phenomenon of rain, then He “saw wisdom” (v. 27) - contemplated it as an ideal, a prototype of what was being created; “revealed” - manifested, realized in created nature, the latter became its revelation; “prepared” - established it as an unshakable law, thereby determining the nature of the further existence of all created things, and, finally, “tested” the abilities for further self-development (cf. Proverbs 8.22–30; Wisdom 9.9). Job 28:28. and he said to the man, Behold, the fear of the Lord is true wisdom, and shunning evil is understanding. Having realized the content of wisdom - the totality of His ideas about it - during the creation of the world, the Lord indicated what the norm of human life consists of. By corresponding to it, a person corresponds to his idea and takes part in universal wisdom. - “Behold, the fear of the Lord...” see interpretation of Job 1.1. You might be interested in: