Job 28:13
in Job 28No man can know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Man knoweth not the price thereof; Neither is it found in the land of the living.
KJV
Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.
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This verse in Job 28
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Man can fix no price upon it, as it is nowhere to be found in man's abode (Isa 38:11). Job implies both its valuable worth, and the impossibility of buying it at any price.
This site's exposition
No man can know its value
on Job 28:13-14
"No man can know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living", which rules out every human market. Barnes notes the poem building its case by elimination, each place man has searched for buried treasure now speaking for itself.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 7 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Job raises the question of where wisdom may be found; and he answers negatively, that it is not found by a man living in a merely human manner, saying: 'Man does not know its price, nor is it found in the land of those who …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII · Written before 604.
proposed
But 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 them that live pleasantly. But because the declarations of God are, without His wisdom, never fathomed at all, (for except him who hath received His Spirit, none knoweth in any sort His words,) the holy man adds words touching the subject of searching out that same Wisdom of God. It is first to be noted, that two points be proposed to himself, and two he adds making answer.
Second, he shows the dignity of wisdom, because the price of wisdom cannot be reckoned, and so he says, "No man knows its price," for there is no thing known to man which is a sufficient price for wisdom. He clearly shows the consequence of …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The cock in the fable knew not the value of the precious stone he found in the dunghill, and therefore would rather have lighted on a barley-corn. Men know not the worth of grace, and therefore will take no pains to get it.
Man knoweth not the price thereof,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
We cannot attain to a right understanding of God and his will, of ourselves and our duty and interest, by reading any books or men, but by reading God's book and the men of God. Such is the degeneracy of human nature that there is no true wisdom to be found with any but those who are born again, and who, through grace, partake of the divine nature.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Man knoweth not the price thereof - It is of infinite value; and is the only science which concerns both worlds. Without it, the wisest man is but a beast; with it, the simplest man is next to an angel. Neither is it found in the land of the living - The world by wisdom, its wisdom, never knew God. True religion came by Divine revelation: that alone gives the true notion of God, his attributes, ways, designs, judgments, providences, etc., whence man came, what is his duty, his nature, and his end. Literature, science, arts, etc., etc., can only avail man for the present life, nor can they contribute to his true happiness, unless tempered and directed by genuine religion.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Man knoweth not the price thereof - The word rendered “price” (ערך ‛êrek) means properly that which is set in a pile or row, or which is arranged in order. Here it means preparation, equipment - that is, anything put in order, or ready, Jdg 17:10. It is also used in the sense of estimation or valuation, Lev 5:15, Lev 5:
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and it will not be found in the land of the living with one who enlivens himself, but with one who “puts himself to death” with toil and hunger.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָדַ֣ע | yada' | he knows | H3045 → | 945 times |
| אֱנ֣וֹשׁ | ʾenoosh | humankind | H582 → | 566 times |
| עֶרְכָּ֑הּ | ʾerkah | valuation its | H6187 → | |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִ֝מָּצֵ֗א | timatze' | it is found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| בְּאֶ֣רֶץ | beeretz | in [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| הַֽחַיִּֽים׃ | hachaiyim | the living [ones] | H2416 → | 498 times |
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָדַ֣עhe knows
yada'H3045 →945 times
אֱנ֣וֹשׁhumankind
ʾenooshH582 →566 times
עֶרְכָּ֑הּvaluation its
ʾerkahH6187 →
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תִ֝מָּצֵ֗אit is found
timatze'H4672 →455 times
בְּאֶ֣רֶץin [the] land of
beeretzH776 →2504 times
הַֽחַיִּֽים׃the living [ones]
hachaiyimH2416 →498 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 8:11For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire compares with her.
it leads to
- Proverbs 4:5–7
Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn from them.
- Proverbs 3:14–15
for she is more profitable than silver, and her gain is better than fine gold.
- Psalms 19:10
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
- Proverbs 16:16
How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.
- Psalms 119:127
Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, even the purest gold.
- Proverbs 4:5–7
Through
Psalms 52:5Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent; He will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
it leads to
- Proverbs 2:22
but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be uprooted.
- Psalms 27:13
Still I am certain to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
- Revelation 21:8
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…
- Proverbs 2:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 7; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.