Job 28:9
in Job 28The miner strikes the flint; he overturns mountains at their base.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He putteth forth his hand upon the flinty rock; He overturneth the mountains by the roots.
KJV
He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.
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This verse in Job 28
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
He putteth forth his hand - That is, the miner in securing the precious metals and gems. Upon the rock - Margin, “flint.” The word used here (חלמישׁ challâmı̂ysh) occurs also in Psa 104:8. Deu 8:15; Deu 32:13. It means “flint, silex;” and the idea is, that the miner approaches the hardest substances. He penetrates even the flint in searching for precious stones. Dr. Good renders it, “Sparry ore.” Michaelis renders the same word in Deu 7:15, porphyry, or red granite.
This site's exposition
No bird of prey knows that path
on Job 28:7-9
"No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it", so the shaft runs where the sharpest-eyed hunter has never looked. "Proud beasts have never trodden it; no lion has ever prowled over it", and the boldest predator of the region becomes a second witness.
This site's exposition
he overturns mountains at their base
Barnes notes that the Hebrew for flint is the word of Deuteronomy 8:15. Clarke still hears mining: the miner strikes the rock and overturns mountains to reach the metal and ore. Henry sees such labour as a check on pomp and luxury.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Although these places are hidden from men, they are still not hidden from God who exercises his power in both the mountains and the rivers, and so he says, "To the flinty rock," the mountains made of rock, "he extends his hand," his power. He …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII · Written before 604.
proposed
He stretcheth out his hand to the flint; He overturneth the mountains by the roots. For 'he stretched out his hand to the flint,' because He put forth the arm of His preaching to the hardness of the Gentiles. Hence the same blessed Job, forewarned of the history of his suffering being destined to be made known to the Gentiles, says, Let these things be graven with an iron pen in a plate of lead, or hewn in the flint.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He putteth forth his hand upon the rock,....
But the difficulty of gaining the riches of this earth may suggest to us what violence the kingdom of heaven suffers. (2.) For the checking and restraining of pomp and luxury. What is for necessity is had with a little labour from the surface of the earth; but what is for ornament must be dug with a great deal of pains out of the bowels of it.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
He putteth forth his hand upon the rock, - Still there appears to be a reference to mining. Man puts his hand upon the rock, he breaks that to pieces, in order to extract the metals which it contains. He overturneth the mountains - He excavates, undermines, or digs them away, when in search of the metals contained in them: this is not only poetically, but literally, the case in many instances.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
In the rocks, He split rivers He refers back to the beginning of his topic, that he said that everything has a source.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בַּֽ֭חַלָּמִישׁ | bachalamish | on the flint | H2496 → | |
| שָׁלַ֣ח | shalach | he stretches out | H7971 → | 845 times |
| יָד֑וֹ | yado | hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| הָפַ֖ךְ | hafakh | he overturns | H2015 → | 94 times |
| מִשֹּׁ֣רֶשׁ | mishoresh | from [the] root | H8328 → | 33 times |
| הָרִֽים׃ | harim | mountains | H2022 → | 546 times |
בַּֽ֭חַלָּמִישׁon the flint
bachalamishH2496 →
שָׁלַ֣חhe stretches out
shalachH7971 →845 times
יָד֑וֹhand his
yadoH3027 →1618 times
הָפַ֖ךְhe overturns
hafakhH2015 →94 times
מִשֹּׁ֣רֶשׁfrom [the] root
mishoreshH8328 →33 times
הָרִֽים׃mountains
harimH2022 →546 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.