Job 28:2
in Job 28Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Iron is taken out of the earth, And copper is molten out of the stone.
KJV
Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.
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This verse in Job 28
Commentary
10 notes on this verseIron is taken out of the earth,.... Very easily, and in great plenty, and is more common, being in most countries, is nearer the surface of the earth, and here said to be taken "out of the dust" (x); which, being melted in a furnace, produces iron, a metal very serviceable for various rises, and without which there is scarce any thing to be done, and therefore was with brass of early invention.
This site's exposition
Surely there is a mine for silver
on Job 28:1-3
"Surely there is a mine for silver" opens the fullest account of mining in the ancient world. Delitzsch notes how advanced mining already was in the patriarchal world. Clarke reads the miner who "probes the farthest recesses" as reaching every corner of the working.
This site's exposition
Iron is taken from the earth
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the Hebrew rendered brass in older versions means copper, which man used long before iron. Henry calls iron a greater kindness to man than gold. The search for wisdom starts among the silver, gold, iron and copper man takes from the earth.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
He means that if God has established an order in the realities of nature, he did even more with regard to human realities. Indeed, he foresees and takes care of events, and nothing comes from him at random. Or, on the other hand, [he means] that the whole of realities is quite visible but the plans of God are invisible; in fact, silver and copper have a place, whereas nobody has ever known the "place" of wisdom. But God only knows wisdom, and he has said to mortals that "piety is wisdom," and knowledge means to do good.
The Medieval Church2 voices
As to iron he says, "Iron is taken from the earth," because it is found in the earth not yet refined, as it were. As to bronze he says, "and stone," with which one finds a gas proportioned to its nature is mixed, "released by …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII · Written before 604.
proposed
Iron is taken out of the earth. And the stone being melted with heat is turned into brass. Moreover, we are to consider that there are some whom Almighty God by His secret counsel preserving in innocency from their very beginnings promotes to the topmost heights of virtuous attainments, that, as their age increases, both numerousness of years and loftiness of merits should simultaneously advance in them. But others abandoning in their outset He suffers to go with bad habits fermenting by headlong ways.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
), and are there found in great abundance, which abates their price indeed, but is a great kindness to man, who could much better be without gold than without iron. Nay, out of the earth comes bread, that is, bread-corn, the necessary support of life,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Iron is taken out of the earth - This most useful metal is hidden under the earth, and men have found out the method of separating it from its ore. Brass is molten out of the stone - As brass is a factitious metal, copper must be the meaning of the Hebrew word נחושה nechusah: literally, the stone is poured out for brass.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
brass--that is, copper; for brass is a mixed metal of copper and zinc, of modern invention. Iron is less easily discovered, and wrought, than copper; therefore copper was in common use long before iron. Copper-stone is called "cadmium" by PLINY [Natural History, 34:1;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-brackets
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Iron - As has been remarked above, iron was early known, yet probably its common use indicates a more advanced state of civilization than that of gold and silver. The Mexicans were ignorant of the use of iron, though ornaments of gold and silver elegantly worked abounded among them. Iron is less easily discovered than copper, though more abundant, and is worked with more difficulty. Among the ancient nations, copper was in general use long before iron; and arms, vases, statues, and implements of every kind were made of this metal alloyed and hardened with tin, before iron came into general use. Tubal Cain is indeed mentioned Gen 4:22 as the “instructor of every artificer in brass and iron,” but no direct mention is made of iron arms Num 35:16 or tools Deu 27:5, until after the departure from Egypt. According to the Arundelian Marbles, iron was known one hundred and eighty-eight years before the Trojan war, about 1370 years B.C.; but Hesiod, Plutarch, and others, limit its discovery to a much later period. Homer, however, distinctly mentions its use, Iliad xxiii. 262: Η δε γυνᾶικα ὲΰζώνα;, πολιον τε σίδηρον. Hē de gunaikas euzōnas, polion te sidēron. That by the “sideros” of the poet is meant iron, is clear, from a simile which he uses in the Odyssey, derived from the quenching of iron in water, by which he illustrates the hissing produced in the eye of Polyphemus by piercing it with the burning stake: “And as when armorers temper in the ford The keen edged pole-axe or the shining sword, The red-hot metal hisses in the lake, Thus in the eye-ball hissed the plunging stake.” Odyssey ix. 391; Pope Iron is mentioned in the time of Og king of Bashan, 1450 B.C. It was at first, however, regarded as of great value, and its use was very limited. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
For silver has a mine This, too, is another reason for his first statement that he said (27:6), “I have maintained my righteousness,” for why should I be wicked? If for silver or gold, each one has a source and an end, but from where does wisdom come?
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
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בַּ֭רְזֶל | barzel | iron | H1270 → | 76 times |
| מֵעָפָ֣ר | meafar | from [the] dust | H6083 → | 110 times |
| יֻקָּ֑ח | yukach | it is taken | H3947 → | 966 times |
| וְ֝אֶ֗בֶן | veeven | and stone | H68 → | 273 times |
| יָצ֥וּק | yatzuk | someone pours out | H6694 → | |
| נְחוּשָֽׁה׃ | nechushah | copper | H5154 → | 10 times |
בַּ֭רְזֶלiron
barzelH1270 →76 times
מֵעָפָ֣רfrom [the] dust
meafarH6083 →110 times
יֻקָּ֑חit is taken
yukachH3947 →966 times
וְ֝אֶ֗בֶןand stone
veevenH68 →273 times
יָצ֥וּקsomeone pours out
yatzukH6694 →
נְחוּשָֽׁה׃copper
nechushahH5154 →10 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
Deuteronomy 8:9a land where you will eat food without scarcity, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and whose hills are ready to be mined for copper.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 33:25
May the bolts of your gate be iron and bronze, and may your strength match your days.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Chronicles 22:14
Now behold, I have taken great pains to provide for the house of the LORD—100,000 talents of gold, 1,000,000 talents of silver, and bronze and iron too great to be weighed. I have also…
- Joshua 22:8
saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth, with immense herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and very many clothes. Divide with your brothers the spoil of your enemies.”
- Deuteronomy 33:25
Through
1 Chronicles 22:14Now behold, I have taken great pains to provide for the house of the LORD—100,000 talents of gold, 1,000,000 talents of silver, and bronze and iron too great to be weighed. I have also…
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 22:3
David provided a large quantity of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, together with more bronze than could be weighed
- 2 Kings 25:16
As for the two pillars, the Sea, and the movable stands that Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the weight of the bronze from all these articles was beyond measure.
- 1 Chronicles 29:4–7
three thousand talents of gold (the gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the buildings,
- 1 Kings 10:14
The weight of gold that came to Solomon each year was 666 talents,
- 2 Corinthians 8:2
In the terrible ordeal they suffered, their abundant joy and deep poverty overflowed into rich generosity.
- 1 Chronicles 22:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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 Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 27:14-28:3; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.