Deuteronomy 30:11-14

Exhortation to Covenant Obedience

30:11 “This commandment I am giving ¹  you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it too remote. 30:12 It is not in heaven, as though one must say, “Who will go up to heaven to get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 30:13 And it is not across the sea, as though one must say, “Who will cross over to the other side of the sea and get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 30:14 For the thing is very near you – it is in your mouth and in your mind ²  so that you can do it.

Job 11:7-8

11:7 “Can you discover ³  the essence ⁴  of God?

Can you find out ⁵ 

the perfection of the Almighty? ⁶ 

11:8 It is higher ⁷  than the heavens – what can you do?

It is deeper than Sheol ⁸  – what can you know?

Job 28:12-23

No Price Can Buy Wisdom

28:12 “But wisdom – where can it be found?

Where is the place of understanding?

28:13 Mankind does not know its place; ⁹ 

it cannot be found in the land of the living.

28:14 The deep ¹⁰  says, ‘It is not with ¹¹  me.’

And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

28:15 Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it,

nor can its price be weighed out in silver.

28:16 It cannot be measured out for purchase ¹²  with the gold of Ophir,

with precious onyx ¹³  or sapphires.

28:17 Neither gold nor crystal ¹⁴  can be compared with it,

nor can a vase ¹⁵  of gold match its worth.

28:18 Of coral and jasper no mention will be made;

the price ¹⁶  of wisdom is more than pearls. ¹⁷ 

28:19 The topaz of Cush ¹⁸  cannot be compared with it;

it cannot be purchased with pure gold.

God Alone Has Wisdom

28:20 “But wisdom – where does it come from? ¹⁹ 

Where is the place of understanding?

28:21 For ²⁰  it has been hidden

from the eyes of every living creature,

and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed.

28:22 Destruction ²¹  and Death say,

‘With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.’ ²² 

28:23 God understands the way to it,

and he alone knows its place.

Job 28:28

28:28 And he said to mankind,

‘The fear of the Lord ²³  – that is wisdom,

and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” ²⁴ 

Psalms 36:6

36:6 Your justice is like the highest mountains, ²⁵ 

your fairness like the deepest sea;

you preserve ²⁶  mankind and the animal kingdom. ²⁷ 

Psalms 139:6

139:6 Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension;

it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it. ²⁸ 

Isaiah 55:8-9

55:8 “Indeed, ²⁹  my plans ³⁰  are not like ³¹  your plans,

and my deeds ³²  are not like ³³  your deeds,

55:9 for just as the sky ³⁴  is higher than the earth,

so my deeds ³⁵  are superior to ³⁶  your deeds

and my plans ³⁷  superior to your plans.

Romans 11:33

11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how fathomless his ways!

Romans 11:1

Israel’s Rejection not Complete nor Final

11:1 So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

Romans 6:16

6:16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves ³⁸  as obedient slaves, ³⁹  you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or obedience resulting in righteousness? ⁴⁰ 

[30:11]  ¹ tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you.”

[30:14]  ² tn Heb “heart.”

[11:7]  ³ tn The verb is מָצָא (matsa’, “to find; to discover”). Here it should be given the nuance of potential imperfect. And, in the rhetorical question it is affirming that Job cannot find out the essence of God.

[11:7]  ⁴ tn The word means “search; investigation”; but it here means what is discovered in the search (so a metonymy of cause for the effect).

[11:7]  ⁵ tn The same verb is now found in the second half of the verse, with a slightly different sense – “attain, reach.” A. R. Ceresko notes this as an example of antanaclasis (repetition of a word with a lightly different sense – “find/attain”). See “The Function of Antanaclasis in Hebrew Poetry,” CBQ 44 (1982): 560-61.

[11:7]  ⁶ tn The abstract תַּכְלִית (takhlit) from כָּלָה (kalah, “to be complete; to be perfect”) may mean the end or limit of something, perhaps to perfection. So the NIV has “can you probe the limits of the Almighty?” The LXX has: “have you come to the end of that which the Almighty has made?”

[11:8]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew says “heights of heaven, what can you do?” A. B. Davidson suggested this was an exclamation and should be left that way. But most commentators will repoint גָּבְהֵי שָׁמַיִם (govhe shamayim, “heights of heaven”) to גְּבֹהָה מִשָּׁמַיִם (gÿvohah mishamayim, “higher than the heavens”) to match the parallel expression. The LXX may have rearranged the text: “heaven is high.”

[11:8]  ⁸ tn Or “deeper than hell.” The word “Sheol” always poses problems for translation. Here because it is the opposite of heaven in this merism, “hell” would be a legitimate translation. It refers to the realm of the dead – the grave and beyond. The language is excessive; but the point is that God’s wisdom is immeasurable – and Job is powerless before it.

[28:13]  ⁹ tc The LXX has “its way, apparently reading דַּרְכָה (darkhah) in place of עֶרְכָּהּ (’erkah, “place”). This is adopted by most modern commentators. But R. Gordis (Job, 308) shows that this change is not necessary, for עֶרֶךְ (’erekh) in the Bible means “order; row; disposition,” and here “place.” An alternate meaning would be “worth” (NIV, ESV).

[28:14]  ¹⁰ sn The תְּהוֹם (tÿhom) is the “deep” of Gen 1:2, the abyss or primordial sea. It was always understood to be a place of darkness and danger. As remote as it is, it asserts that wisdom is not found there (personification). So here we have the abyss and the sea, then death and destruction – but they are not the places that wisdom resides.

[28:14]  ¹¹ tn The בּ (bet) preposition is taken here to mean “with” in the light of the parallel preposition.

[28:16]  ¹² tn The word actually means “weighed,” that is, lifted up on the scale and weighed, in order to purchase.

[28:16]  ¹³ tn The exact identification of these stones is uncertain. Many recent English translations, however, have “onyx” and “sapphires.”

[28:17]  ¹⁴ tn The word is from זָכַךְ (zakhakh, “clear”). It describes a transparent substance, and so “glass” is an appropriate translation. In the ancient world it was precious and so expensive.

[28:17]  ¹⁵ tc The MT has “vase”; but the versions have a plural here, suggesting jewels of gold.

[28:18]  ¹⁶ tn The word מֶשֶׁךְ (meshekh) comes from a root meaning “to grasp; to seize; to hold,” and so the derived noun means “grasping; acquiring; taking possession,” and therefore, “price” (see the discussion in R. Gordis, Job, 309). Gray renders it “acquisition” (so A. Cohen, AJSL 40 [1923/24]: 175).

[28:18]  ¹⁷ tn In Lam 4:7 these are described as red, and so have been identified as rubies (so NIV) or corals.

[28:19]  ¹⁸ tn Or “Ethiopia.” In ancient times this referred to the region of the upper Nile, rather than modern Ethiopia (formerly known as Abyssinia).

[28:20]  ¹⁹ tn The refrain is repeated, except now the verb is תָּבוֹא (tavo’, “come”).

[28:21]  ²⁰ tn The vav on the verb is unexpressed in the LXX. It should not be overlooked, for it introduces a subordinate clause of condition (R. Gordis, Job, 310).

[28:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “Abaddon.”

[28:22]  ²² tn Heb “heard a report of it,” which means a report of its location, thus “where it can be found.”

[28:28]  ²³ tc A number of medieval Hebrew manuscripts have YHWH (“Lord”); BHS has אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”). As J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 383) points out, this is the only occurrence of אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”) in the book of Job, creating doubt for retaining it. Normally, YHWH is avoided in the book. “Fear of” (יִרְאַת, yir’at) is followed by שַׁדַּי (shadday, “Almighty”) in 6:14 – the only other occurrence of this term for “fear” in construct with a divine title.

[28:28]  ²⁴ tc Many commentators delete this verse because (1) many read the divine name Yahweh (translated “Lord”) here, and (2) it is not consistent with the argument that precedes it. But as H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 185) points out, there is inconsistency in this reasoning, for many of the critics have already said that this chapter is an interpolation. Following that line of thought, then, one would not expect it to conform to the rest of the book in this matter of the divine name. And concerning the second difficulty, the point of this chapter is that wisdom is beyond human comprehension and control. It belongs to God alone. So the conclusion that the fear of the Lord is wisdom is the necessary conclusion. Rowley concludes: “It is a pity to rob the poem of its climax and turn it into the expression of unrelieved agnosticism.”

[36:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “mountains of God.” The divine name אֵל (’el, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.

[36:6]  ²⁶ tn Or “deliver.”

[36:6]  ²⁷ sn God’s justice/fairness is firm and reliable like the highest mountains and as abundant as the water in the deepest sea. The psalmist uses a legal metaphor to describe God’s preservation of his creation. Like a just judge who vindicates the innocent, God protects his creation from destructive forces.

[139:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “too amazing [is this] knowledge for me, it is elevated, I cannot attain to it.”

[55:8]  ²⁹ tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV).

[55:8]  ³⁰ tn Or “thoughts” (so many English versions).

[55:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “are not.” “Like” is interpretive, but v. 9 indicates that a comparison is in view.

[55:8]  ³² tn Heb “ways” (so many English versions).

[55:8]  ³³ tn Heb “are not.” “Like” is interpretive, but v. 9 indicates that a comparison is in view.

[55:9]  ³⁴ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[55:9]  ³⁵ tn Heb “ways” (so many English versions).

[55:9]  ³⁶ tn Heb “are higher than.”

[55:9]  ³⁷ tn Or “thoughts” (so many English versions).

[6:16]  ³⁸ tn Grk “to whom you present yourselves.”

[6:16]  ³⁹ tn Grk “as slaves for obedience.” See the note on the word “slave” in 1:1.

[6:16]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “either of sin unto death, or obedience unto righteousness.”