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NOTES for Job 28:27-28

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27 Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared 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.
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Where can wisdom be found? Persistent labor can find practical knowledge, but not yet wisdom. The point is not even that the results of discoveries and inventions are often used for evil, though that is true too, but still more that even when their fruits are used for people's good and make life much easier, in themselves they do not add happiness to the world. For centuries people have mistaken scientific and technical knowledge and practical information for wisdom, but the accumulation of information about how the universe is arranged proves unable to answer questions about the meaning of our existence in the world.

And here we are given another definition, one that comes from God, the only One to whom wisdom is accessible in its fullness: the fear of the Lord is true wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding. This sounds too simple for people accustomed to seeking wisdom in complex formulas. But long searches in other directions will not give an answer.

Other notes

 
For Job 28:1-28
1 Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.
2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.
3 He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.
4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.
5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.
6 The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.
7 There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen:
8 The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.
9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.
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.
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.
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.
18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for 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 fowls of the air.
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.
28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
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Continuing his speech, Job composes a true hymn to wisdom, which, however...  Read more

Continuing his speech, Job composes a true hymn to wisdom, which, however, cannot be acquired by human effort. He speaks of the capacities of the human mind, which penetrates the mysteries of nature (vv. 1-11). But Job, as we can see, understands perfectly well that even after knowing everything that is open to a person in the world created by God, the one who knows will not acquire wisdom (vv. 12-19). For him, wisdom is not reduced simply to the sum of knowledge about the world, even if that sum embraces everything accessible to reason. True wisdom, as we can see, is known to God alone; only He is its source and keeper (vv. 23-28). Clearly, Job here returns once again to what his friends have already spoken of more than once: to what later theologians will call natural revelation, the revelation of God's power and wisdom manifested in creation. Job neither before nor now denies natural revelation. But he understands that, if it is possible to see wisdom through creation, it is not because this wisdom is part of creation. There is no wisdom in the world; it is with God. And if it is revealed through creation, it is only because creation itself bears the imprint of the wisdom of its Creator.

But such wisdom turns out to be foreign to the human being, to whom God has given another path of knowledge: the fear of God and the right spiritual and moral choice (v. 28). As we can see, Job has become finally convinced that natural revelation is not enough, that what matters is God's relationship with humanity, without which knowledge of wisdom is impossible. This is not surprising if we remember that in post-exilic Judaism wisdom was understood primarily as the art of righteousness, a kind of skill in righteous living. And here, in questions concerning the Torah, spiritual life, and the choice between good and evil, nature, even bearing the Creator's seal, turned out to be a poor adviser for a person. Nature is nonmoral; in essence, it knows neither good nor evil. That is why Job says that no scientific knowledge or technical achievements in themselves bring a person closer to the knowledge of wisdom. Relations with God are another matter: the holy awe that seizes a person in God's presence, and the experience of following God's commandment spiritually, give a person more than any scientific knowledge. And this is not surprising: for in this case we are speaking of relations with God, which can be established only by standing face to face with Him. This is precisely the meeting Job seeks.

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