Job 28:21

"Where then does wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding?"

Key Reflection

Job 28:21 asks, "For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky." This verse prompts a deep reflection on the nature of wisdom, suggesting that it is beyond human comprehension and understanding. The imagery of searching for wisdom at the extremities of the earth and beneath the entire sky conveys the idea that true wisdom transcends physical boundaries and extends to the very limits of creation. This notion underscores the belief in a divine origin of wisdom, as such profound knowledge cannot be attained through mere human inquiry or exploration alone.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

It is hid from the eyes of all living -That is, of all people, and of all animals. Man has not found it by the most sagacious of all his discoveries, and the keenest vision of beasts and fowls has not traced it out. And kept close -Hebrew “concealed.” From the fowls of the air -Compare the notes atJob 28:7. Umbreit remarks, on this passage, that there is attributed to the fowls in Oriental countries a deep knowledge, and an extraordinary gift of divination, and that they appear as the interpreters and confidants of the gods.

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