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Job 28:12

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

But where shall wisdom be found? - It is most evident that the terms wisdom and understanding are used here in a widely different sense from all those arts and sciences which have their relation to man in his animal and social state, and from all that reason and intellect by which man is distinguished from all other animals. Now as these terms חכמה chochmah, wisdom, and בינה binah, understanding or discernment, are often applied in the sacred writings in their common acceptations, we must have recourse to what Job says of them, to know their meaning in this place. In Job 28:28, he says, The fear of the Lord is Wisdom, and to depart from evil is Understanding. We know that the fear of the Lord is often taken for the whole of that religious reverence and holy obedience which God prescribes to man in his word, and which man owes to his Maker. Hence the Septuagint render חכמה chochmah, wisdom, by θεοσεβια, Divine worship; and as to a departure from evil, that is necessarily implied in a religious life, but it is here properly distinguished, that no man might suppose that a right faith, and a proper performance of the rites of religious worship, is the whole of religion. No. They must not only worship God in the letter, but also in the spirit; they must not only have the form, but also the power of godliness: and this will lead them to worship God in spirit and truth, to walk in his testimonies, and abstain from every appearance of evil; hence they will be truly happy: so that wisdom is another word for happiness. Now these are things which man by study and searching could never find out; they are not of an earthly origin. The spirit of a man, human understanding, may know the things of a man - those which concern him in his animal and social state: but the Spirit of God alone knows the things of God; and therefore Wisdom - all true religion - must come by Divine revelation, which is the mode of its attainment. Wisdom finds out the thing, and understanding uses and applies the means; and then the great end is obtained.

Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

But where shall wisdom be found? - That is, the full understanding of the plans of God - for this is the point of inquiry. The object of Job is to show that it is not to be found in the most profound science; by penetrating to the farthest extent of which man was capable in the earth, nor by any human investigations whatever. None of these things revealed the great plans of the Almighty in reference to his moral government, and particularly to the points which engrossed the attention of Job and his friends. Where true wisdom is to be found he proceeds to state in the subsequent verses.

Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary
Job here speaks of wisdom and understanding, the knowing and enjoying of God and ourselves. Its worth is infinitely more than all the riches in this world. It is a gift of the Holy Ghost which cannot be bought with money. Let that which is most precious in God's account, be so in ours. Job asks after it as one that truly desired to find it, and despaired of finding it any where but in God; any way but by Divine revelation.
Ellen G. White
The Ministry of Healing, 430

“Canst thou by searching find out God?<br/>Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?<br/>It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do?<br/>Deeper than hell; what canst thou know?<br/>The measure thereof is longer than the earth,<br/>And broader than the sea.”<br/>“Where shall wisdom be found?<br/>And where is the place of understanding?<br/>Man knoweth not the price thereof;<br/>Neither is it found in the land of the living.<br/>The depth saith, It is not in me:<br/>And the sea saith, It is not with me.<br/>It cannot be gotten for gold,<br/>Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.<br/>It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir,<br/>With the precious onyx, or the sapphire.<br/>The gold and the crystal cannot equal it:<br/>And the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of<br/>fine gold.<br/>No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls:<br/>For the price of wisdom is above rubies.<br/>The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it,<br/>Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.<br/>Whence then cometh wisdom?<br/>And where is the place of understanding? ...<br/>Destruction and death say,<br/>We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.<br/>God understandeth the way thereof,<br/>And He knoweth the place thereof.<br/>“For He looketh to the ends of the earth,<br/>And seeth under the whole heaven....<br/>When He made a decree for the rain,<br/>And a way for the lightning of the thunder:<br/>Then did He see it, and declare it;<br/>He prepared it, yea, and searched it out.<br/>And unto man He said,<br/>Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;<br/>And to depart from evil is understanding.” MH 430.1

Job 11:7-9; 28:12-28. MH 430

Neither by searching the recesses of the earth nor in vain endeavors to penetrate the mysteries of God's being, is wisdom found. It is found, rather, in humbly receiving the revelation that He has been pleased to give, and in conforming the life to His will. MH 431.1

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Ellen G. White
Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, 280

“Where shall wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
Man knoweth not the price thereof;
Neither is it found in the land of the living.
The depth saith, It is not in me:
And the sea saith, It is not with me.
It cannot be gotten for gold,
Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir,
With the precious onyx or the sapphire.
The gold and the crystal cannot equal it,
And the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.
No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls:
For the price of wisdom is above rubies.
The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it,
Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
Whence then cometh wisdom?
And where is the place of understanding? ...
Destruction and death say,
We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
God understandeth the way thereof,
And He knoweth the place thereof.
8T 280.1

“For He looketh to the ends of the earth,
And seeth under the whole heaven....
When He made a decree for the rain,
And a way for the lightning of the thunder:
Then did He see it, and declare it;
He prepared it, yea, and searched it out. And unto man He said,
Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.”
8T 280.2

Job 28:12-28. 8T 280

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