Job 28:5
in Job 28Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As for the earth, out of it cometh bread; And underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
KJV
As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.
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This verse in Job 28
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
As for the earth, out of it cometh bread - That is, it produces food, or the materials for bread. The idea of Job seems to be, that it was proof of great wisdom and skill on the part of man that he had carried the arts of agriculture so far. The earth in producing grain, and the arts of husbandry, were illustrative of wisdom and skill, but they did not impart the wisdom about the government of God which was desired. That was reserved to be imparted more directly by God himself, Job 28:23 ff.
This site's exposition
Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft
on Job 28:4-6
The miner cuts a shaft "in places forgotten by the foot of man", far from where people live, and "he dangles and sways". "Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire", the miner's world hidden under the field's ordinary produce.
This site's exposition
Food may come from the earth
The earth grows bread on its surface while its depths are turned over as by fire. Umbreit, cited by Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, takes the fire as the miner's fire, and they prefer precious stones that glow like fire. Henry reminds man that he is of the earth.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
"They have uncovered the earth, from which nourishment comes," through the art of agriculture, [the author] says; [humans] produce what is necessary for nourishment which the earth offers according to the divine precept by which it received. Therefore, as the fire takes hold of the …
There are also some places which are inaccessible, not because of their location, but because of something extraordinary happening, for example, because they are ruined by some physical change, like Sodom and Gomorrah, (Gen. 19:24) and so he says, "The earth from which bread arose …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII · Written before 604.
proposed
The earth from which bread arose, is overturned in its place by fire. But this Judaea which grows thus hardened, whether what she was for long, or what she underwent afterwards, let us listen to. Judaea was wont to give bread, in that she used to set before men the words of the Law.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
As for the earth, out of it cometh bread,.... That is, bread corn, or corn of which bread is made particularly wheat; which falling, or being cast into the earth, rises up and brings forth fruit, and, when ground into flour, makes fine bread; and to this same original the psalmist ascribes bread, which strengthens man's heart, Psa 104:
Thence man's maintenance is fetched, to remind him of his own original; he is of the earth, and is hastening to the earth. Under it is turned up as it were fire, precious stones, that sparkle as fire--brimstone, that is apt to take fire--coal, that is proper to feed fire.
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)
"Fire" was used in mining [UMBREIT]. English Version is simpler, which means precious stones which glow like fire; and so Job 28:6 follows naturally (Eze 28:14).
The earth, out of it cometh bread - Or the earth, ממנה mimmennah, from itself, by its own vegetative power, it sends out bread, or the corn of which bread is made. And under it is turned up as it were fire - It seems as if this referred to some combustible fossil, similar to our stone coal, which was dug up out of the earth in some places of Arabia. The Chaldee gives a translation, conformable to a very ancient opinion, which supposed the center of the earth to be a vast fire, and the place called hell. “The earth from which food proceeds, and under which is gehenna, whose cold snow is converted into the likeness of fire; and the garden of Eden, which is the place whose stones are sapphires,” etc. The Vulgate has, “The land from which bread has been produced has been destroyed by fire.” If this be the meaning of the original, there is probably an allusion to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; and the seventh and eighth verses may be supposed to refer to that catastrophe, there being no place left tangible or visible where those cities once stood: neither fowl nor beast could discern a path there, the whole land being covered with the lake Asphaltites.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֶ֗רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִמֶּ֥נָּה | mimenah | from it | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| יֵֽצֵא־ | yetze'- | it comes forth | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| לָ֑חֶם | lachem | food | H3899 → | 298 times |
| וְ֝תַחְתֶּ֗יהָ | vetachteiha | and under it | H8478 → | 505 times |
| נֶהְפַּ֥ךְ | nehpakh | it is turned over | H2015 → | 94 times |
| כְּמוֹ־ | kemov- | like | H3644 → | 143 times |
| אֵֽשׁ׃ | ʾesh | fire | H784 → | 378 times |
אֶ֗רֶץ[the] earth
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
מִמֶּ֥נָּהfrom it
mimenahH4480 →1188 times
יֵֽצֵא־it comes forth
yetze'-H3318 →1067 times
לָ֑חֶםfood
lachemH3899 →298 times
וְ֝תַחְתֶּ֗יהָand under it
vetachteihaH8478 →505 times
נֶהְפַּ֥ךְit is turned over
nehpakhH2015 →94 times
כְּמוֹ־like
kemov-H3644 →143 times
אֵֽשׁ׃fire
ʾeshH784 →378 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Genesis 1:29Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food.
it leads to
- Genesis 9:3
Everything that lives and moves will be food for you; just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you all things.
- Psalms 104:14–15
He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth:
- Psalms 145:15–16
The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in season.
- Psalms 104:27–28
All creatures look to You to give them their food in due season.
- Psalms 147:9
He provides food for the animals, and for the young ravens when they call.
- Genesis 9:3
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); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII; Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON JOB 28:5; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.