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Job 28:22

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof - ומות אבדון Abaddon vamaveth, the destroyer, and his offspring death. This is the very name that is given to the devil in Greek letters Αβαδδων, Revelation 9:11, and is rendered by the Greek word Απολλυων, Apollyon, a word exactly of the same meaning. No wonder death and the devil are brought in here as saying they had heard the fame of wisdom, seeing Job 28:28; defines it to be the fear of the Lord, and a departure from evil; things point blank contrary to the interests of Satan, and the extension of the empire of death.

Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

Destruction - This is a personification which is exceedingly sublime. Job had spoken of the wonderful discoveries made by science, but none of them had disclosed true wisdom. It had not been discovered in the shaft which the miner sank deep in the earth; in the hidden regions which he laid open to day, nor by the birds that saw to the farthest distance, or that were regarded as the interpreters of the will of the gods. It was natural to ask whether it might not have been discovered in the vast profound of the nether world - the regions of death and of night; and whether by making a bold appeal to the king that reigned there, a response might not be heard that would be more satisfactory. In Job 28:14, the appeal had been made to the sea - with all its vast stores; here the appeal is to far deeper regions - to the nether world of darkness and of death. On the word used here (אבדון 'ăbaddôn ), “destruction,” see the notes at Job 26:6. It is employed here, as in that place, to denote the nether world - the abode of departed spirits - the world where those are who have been destroyed by death, and to which the destruction of the grave is the entrance.

And death - Death is used here to denote “Sheol,” or the abode of the spirits of the dead. The sense is, that those deep and dark regions had simply heard the distant report of wisdom but they did not understand it, and that if one went down there it would not be fully revealed to him. Perhaps there is an allusion to the natural expectation that, if one could go down and converse with the dead, he could find out much more than can be known on earth. It was to be presumed that they would understand much more about the unseen and future world, and about the plans and government of God, than man can know here. It was on this belief, and on the hope that some league or alliance could be made with the dead, inducing them to communicate what they knew, that the science of necromancy was founded; see the notes at Isaiah 8:19.

We have heard the fame thereof - We have heard the report of it, or a rumor of it. The meaning is, that they did not understand it fully, and that if man could penetrate to those dark regions, he could not get the information which he desired. Wisdom is still at such an immense distance that it is only a report, or rumor of it, which has reached us.

Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary
There is a two-fold wisdom; one hid in God, which is secret, and belongs not to us; the other made known by him, and revealed to man. One day's events, and one man's affairs, have such reference to, and so hang one upon another, that He only, to whom all is open, and who sees the whole at one view, can rightly judge of every part. But the knowledge of God's revealed will is within our reach, and will do us good. Let man look upon this as his wisdom, To fear the Lord, and to depart from evil. Let him learn that, and he is learned enough. Where is this wisdom to be found? The treasures of it are hid in Christ, revealed by the word, received by faith, through the Holy Ghost. It will not feed pride or vanity, or amuse our vain curiosity. It teaches and encourages sinners to fear the Lord, and to depart from evil, in the exercise of repentance and faith, without desiring to solve all difficulties about the events of this life.
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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Cross References