Bible Strands
Job 28:20
From where, then, does wisdom come, and where does understanding dwell?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses humanity at a moment of reflection on the unsearchable depths of creation, following a description of mining and preceding a statement about wisdom’s concealment.
The words — מֵאַיִן (me-'ayin) = from where? and זֶה מְקוֹם (zeh mekom) = this [is the] place of, framing wisdom and understanding as objects of a geographical search that the text immediately negates.
The thread — The same question appears in Job 28:12, is answered in Job 28:28 as the fear of the Lord, and is redirected in James 1:5 toward asking God directly.
Why it lands — It forces the reader to abandon the search for wisdom in material wealth or human observation and to accept that its source lies outside earthly discovery.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
Cross-references
- Job 28:12 But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell?
- James 1:5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
- Job 28:28 And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
- James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- Job 28:23 But God understands its way, and He knows its place.
- Proverbs 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
- Ecclesiastes 7:23 All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me.
- 1 Corinthians 2:6 Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.