What Does Job 28:20 Mean in the King James?
Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
You can uncover what lies deep in the earth, yet wisdom’s source and understanding’s dwelling remain beyond your reach.
THE MEANING
You can bring hidden things into view and still find that wisdom’s origin remains a question. Understanding has a place, but it is not simply a store of facts you can point to and claim. This verse meets you at the edge of what searching can reveal.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It unsettles the belief that enough searching can make wisdom a possession with a known address.
THE ROOT
בִּינָה
bīnāh
GROWS FROM
בין
Discern, distinguish between.
The root carries the sense of discerning what lies between things. So the question about understanding’s “place” reaches beyond where information sits: it asks where the power to discern takes its stand.
ALSO GROWS
bēn: Between, among.
בֵּין
The shared root links understanding with the act of discerning distinctions between things.
mēbîn: One who understands or discerns.
מֵבִין
This form names the one exercising the discernment that the verse asks about.
חָכְמָה
ḥokhmāh
GROWS FROM
חכם
Be wise or skillful.
The Hebrew word can carry practical skill as well as wisdom. Its root connects insight with the ability to do or shape something skillfully, while the verse asks where that capacity comes from.
ALSO GROWS
ḥākām: Wise, skillful; a wise person.
חָכָם
The same word family describes the person who carries wisdom and skill.
ḥăkam-lēb: Wise-hearted; skillful in craft.
חֲכַם־לֵב
This biblical expression uses the same root for skilled craftsmanship, showing wisdom as a practiced capacity as well as understanding.
מָקוֹם
maqōm
GROWS FROM
קום
Stand, arise.
The word for “place” comes from a root meaning to stand or arise. The question about understanding’s place can therefore also be heard as a question about where discernment stands.
ALSO GROWS
qūm: Rise, stand.
קוּם
This is the root action underlying the word for place.
hēqîm: Raise up, establish.
הֵקִים
This form shows the same root in the sense of giving something a standing.
THE PATTERN
Wisdom’s source is disclosed as a gift from God, even when human searching reaches its limit.
For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.THE THREAD
For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.The same Hebrew word, חָכְמָה (ḥokhmāh, wisdom), appears in both verses. Job asks where wisdom comes from; Proverbs names the LORD as its giver.
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