job 28 and 29

Read Job 28 and 29 at Bible Gateway.

Job 28 and 29 outline according to the Hebrew paragraph divisions:

Job 28:1-11 {p} Man has found the hidden riches of the earth and brought them to light;
Job 28:12-29:25 {s} Division at the end of each numbered line.

The Hebrew paragraph divisions for Job 28:12-29:25 are like the divisions in the Psalms that we studied in 2014. There is an understood {s} division at the end of each numbered line, with an {n} marking where a new line begins within a numbered line:

Job 29:25a I chose the way for them, and sat as chief; {n}
Job 29:25b So I dwelt as a king in the army, As one who comforts mourners.

My outline:

Job 28:1-11 {p} Man has found the hidden riches of the earth and brought them to light
Job 28:12-28, But where can the treasure of wisdom be found? In the fear of the Lord
Job 29:1-6, Job continues his discourse: Job’s former prosperity
Job 29:7-25, Job held in reverence because of his righteousness and wisdom

That there is a strong paragraph division at the end of Job 28:11, I believe, marks the turning point of the book, as far as its chiastic structure is concerned:

Job 1:1-5 {p} Job, the greatest man of the East
Job 1:6-22 {p} Job loses his possessions and children, but does not curse God
Job 2:1-10 {p} Job loses his health, but does not curse God
Job 2:11-3:1 {p} The coming of Job’s three friends

Job 3:2-26, Job’s lament

Job 4:1-26:14, Job’s three friends present their arguments/ Job replies to them

Job 27:1-23, Job continues his discourse

 Job 28:1-11 {p} Man has found gold and precious stones

This {p} division is at the turning point of the book

Job 28:12-28, Where can wisdom be found? With God, he has revealed it (chiasm)

Job 29:1 and following … Job continues his discourse

Here is the repeating structure from Job 28:12-28:

Job 28:12-19, Where can wisdom be found? Not with men:

1) Job 28:12, But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?;

2) Job 28:13, Man does not know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living;

3) Job 28:14, The deep says, ‘It is not in me’; and the sea says, ‘It is not with me;’

4) Job 28:15-19, It cannot be purchased with gold or fine jewels;

1a) Job 28:15a, It cannot be purchased for gold;

1b) Job 28:15b, Nor can silver be weighed for its price;

1c) Job 28:16a, It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir;

1d) Job 28:16b, In precious onyx or sapphire;

central axis) Job 28:17, Neither gold nor crystal can equal it, nor can it be exchanged for vessels of fine gold;

2d) Job 28:18a, No mention shall be made of coral or quartz;

2c) Job 28:18b, For the price of wisdom is above rubies;

2b) Job 28:19a, The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it;

2a) Job 28:19b, Nor can it be valued in pure gold.

Job 28:20-28, Where then can wisdom be found? Only with God:

1) Job 28:20, From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?;

2) Job 28:21, It is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the air;

3) Job 28:22, Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard a report about it with our ears;’

4) Job 28:23-28, Only God knows where it is found, and He has revealed it to men;

1a) Job 28:23, God understands its way, and He knows its place;

1b) Job 28:24, For He looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole heavens;

1c) Job 28:25, To establish a weight for the wind, and apportion the waters by measure;

2c) Job 28:26, When He made a law for the rain, and a path for the thunderbolt;

2b) Job 28:27, Then He saw wisdom and declared it; He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out;

2a) Job 28:28, And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.’”

And the Lord bears an interesting testimony about Job later on:

The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: “Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says the Lord God. Eze 14:12-14

To the time of Ezekiel, the three most righteous men who had lived on the earth, were Noah, Daniel, and Job! David, Solomon, no, not even Abraham or Joseph made that list.