Commentary for Job 28:29

For silver has a mine This, too, is another reason for his first statement that he said (27:6), “I have maintained my righteousness,” for why should I be wicked? If for silver or gold, each one has a source and an end, but from where does wisdom come? This is the end of the chapter; that is the most precious of all. Therefore, all my life, I set my heart on studying it.

Job now summarizes his complaint. Taking the mining and extraction of metals and precious stones as his metaphor,¹⁵Malbim lists five different ways of prospecting for precious metals and gems: (i) by means of a magic stone which 'according to the Ancients attracts metals towards it as a magnet attracts iron;' (ii) by searching in dried-up stream and river courses; (iii) in the outcrops of volcanic eruptions; (iv) by probing in the clefts and passages left by subterranean water flows and (v) in river banks and canyon walls. In an endnote to his commentary, Malbim explains how subterranean water can move mountains in terms of Pascal's Law of fluid pressures. he argues that God has designed Nature such that man can discover everything there is to know except for the wisdom needed to comprehend individual fate and fortune. Where this is concerned, he is required to believe blindly that God does govern justly. In order to rationalize this belief and compensate for his ignorance, he has been forced to dream up notions of recompense and retribution after death.

and...a place Gold has [a place] whence they refine and smelt it.

and copper is smelted from stone From the mountain the smith smelts the copper. Hence, everything has a beginning and an end, for the whole world will end with all that is therein.

He made an end The Omnipresent [made an end] when there will be darkness, for the heavens shall vanish and the earth shall rot away, and He fathoms the end of everything.

An end is made to darkness and every limit is explored by the diviner’s black stone.¹⁶A stone which detects the presence of metals. Malbim adds:
It is a stone of which the ancients said that whoever possesses it can divine where various metals can be found in the bowels of the earth. It is a stone which attracts metals just as magnetic stone [lodestone] attracts iron.

a stone A stone whence darkness and the shadow of death emanate. A stone is the place of the source of trouble. For this reason, a place of trouble is called a stone, like a man who dashes his foot against a stone, who suffers pain. So I heard. This is like (Isa. 34:11), “a line of waste and stones of destruction”; (Dan. 2:45), “that from the mountain a stone was cut.”

A stream burst forth on Sodom and Gemorrah, streams of fire and brimstone.

from the place of its flow Heb. מעם גר, from the place from which it gushes and flows (נוגר).

those who cause the foot to be forgotten These are the people of Sodom, who caused the feet of wayfarers to be forgotten from their land, for they would lay the wayfarer in a bed. If he was too long, they would cut off his feet, and if he was too short, they would stretch him. In this manner it is explained in the Aggadah.

they are lifted up through the bursting forth of the stream, and they are moved away from man.

A land—that from [it] bread emerged its place was as though turned into fire.

And in accordingly with we may find in the service of God that "the word of the Lord is rare" and its impossible to settle for anything else. For all who are greater than his friend perceive a great depth which is concealed from his friend, and his friends perceptions are as nothing in his view, and as it says "wisdom, from nothing is found", for the Blessed one is without end and so all his perceptions are without end. But the core of service is connecting to Him in each and every attribute and in every way which Man is overcome, for the Inclination of Man overcomes him daily. And if yesterday Man knocked him (the Inclination) down and overcame him, and then the spirit of God rested on him in order to connect to him through that attribute, nevertheless the inclination will attack him tomorrow in a different and more harsh manner. And even if he is successful everyday 'in the shade of God' and 'the cover of the Supernal', nevertheless the Inclination will forever strengthen itself against him in order to make him fall into his trap, unless the Man strengthens himself greatly to the point that he liberates and frees that attribute from the the any selfish use whatsoever - and he shall not derive any pleasure from its use except if used in the service of his blessed Creator. As King David of blessed memory said "and my heart is void within me" and thus the Inclination withdraws from him, for what would be captured if the Man receives no pleasure at all from using the attribute for his own selfish purpose, and on the contrary, the Man would feel sorrow! As our Rabbis said "The good of the Evil Doers is evil to the Righteous"

a place of sapphire its stones were.

A path unknown to brigands Heb. עיט. A band of robbers never passed by them.

and which the eye of a vulture did not see Since it sees more than other birds, and is therefore called רָאָה, because it stands in Babylon and sees a carcass in Eretz Israel. That is how it is explained in the Aggadah of Hullin (632); i.e., spies never discerned it.

neither did... pass by it Heb. עדה, passed, as we translate (Gen. 15 17), “which passed between these parts,” דִּעֲדָה.

Proud beasts Heb. (שַחַץ) and lion (שַחַל) are some of the seven names of the lion (Sanh. 95a: The lion has seven names.) Now what did the Holy One, blessed be He, do?...

upon the flinty rock and turned over the roots of the mountains from top to bottom.

In the rocks, He split rivers He refers back to the beginning of his topic, that he said that everything has a source. He split the rocks for the source of the rivers, and so, “His eye saw every precious thing,” whence it would emerge for the creatures, [as He did for Israel; He struck a rock and its water flowed.]

He bound up the depths of the rivers Heb. מבכי. In the Creation of the world, when the lower waters wept (בכו). the depths Heb. מבכי, like (below 38:16), “the depths of (נבכי) the sea.”

bound up Heb. חבש, like (Gen. 22:3), “and saddled (ויחבש) his donkey.” I did not hear this. [Other editions: Because of the weeping etc. Because of the weeping of Israel, who were weeping, saying, “What will we drink,” He bound up and fixed for them water from the rock. (Lev. 8:13),”And he fixed hats (ויחבש) for them,” is translated into Aramaic as ואתקין.]

and [from] Taalumah He brings out light There is a window in the firmament, named Taalumah, from which the sun develops in its orbit [in Pirke d’Rabbi Eliezer] (ch. 6). That is to say that everything has a source and an end; only wisdom has no source except from His mouth, and never an end.

But wisdom i.e., Torah.

and it will not be found in the land of the living with one who enlivens himself, but with one who “puts himself to death” with toil and hunger.

The deep says, “It is not in me,” If you ask those who dive into the deep, who deal with pearls, with the source of pearls and with gold and silver mines from the place of the depths of the earth, they will tell you, “It is not in me.” I am not well-versed in halachic instruction.

and the sea says And those who go down to the sea for business will say to you, “Wisdom is not with me.” Why? Because they cannot purchase it like other merchandise, to give of their wealth for its price. And in the Aggadah (see Shabbath 89a), it is stated that at the time of the giving of the Torah, Satan came before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said to Him, “Where is the Torah?” He replied, “With the son of Amram.” He came to Moses, and said to him, “Where is the Torah?” “With the sea.” He came to the sea and asked it, “Where is the Torah?” “It is not in me. Go to the son of Amram.” He came to the son of Amram and said to him, “Where is the Torah?” “With the deep.” He came to the deep and asked, “Where is the Torah?” It replied, “It is not with me. Go to the son of Amram.” He came to the son of Amram and asked, “Where is the Torah?” “With the Holy One, blessed be He.” This is what the deep says, “It is not in me,” and the sea says, “It is not with me.”

Fine gold cannot be given Heb. סְגוּר. This is synonymous with זהב סגוּר, lit. closed gold. This is fine gold, for when it is open, all gold establishments close.

It cannot be praised Heb. תסלה, an expression of (Ps. 68:5), “Extol Him (סלו) Who rides in Aravoth.” He who praises it saying, “It is as esteemed as the gold of Ophir and as precious onyx,”—this is no praise for it. Similar to this is (Lam. 4:2), “praised (המסלאים) with fine gold.”

gold Pure gold that shines like pearls.

its exchange is not a pure golden vessel.

Coral and crystal They are names of precious stones in the sea.

cannot be mentioned in comparison to it.

The topaz of Kush It is a precious stone, as in (Exod. 28:17), “ruby, topaz (פטדה).” with...jewelry Heb. בכתם. That is a collection of jewelry for women’s adornments, and this collection is called כֶּתֶם in Hebrew, and “al halls” in Arabic. That is (Prov. 25:12) “Like a golden earring and jewelry of the finest gold (וחלי כתם),” and similarly (Hosea 2:15), “and adorned herself with her earrings and her jewelry (וחליתה).” Others interpret כֶּתֶם like כֶּתֶר, a crown, but it is incorrect because we do not find a verb with this root, as we find with כֶּתֶר. מַכְתִּיר, to crown or surround, כותרות capitals.

and from the winged creatures of the heavens The angels who fly.

Destruction and death said Those who destroy themselves and kill themselves over it said, “With our ears we heard its report that if one toils with it, it endures with him.” And others say as in the Aggadah that I explained above, that Satan came before the Omnipresent and asked Him, “Where is the Torah?” He said to him etc. That is what is written, “Destruction and death said, ‘With our ears we heard its report that it was given to Israel.’ But...”

"In our ears we have heard report of it."¹⁷A reference to the companions' assertion that moral errors and omissions in this world are adjusted for after death.

God understood its way, and He knew its place For He knows where it is situated, and they will also praise it and say of it that God understood its way; He looked at it and created the world with its letters in their order and according to their weight. He created all creatures as it is written in the secret of Sefer Yetzirah.

For He looks to the ends of the earth how He should build them and create them, and under all the heavens He saw in it the needs of their creation.

To make with it a weight for the wind, for each land according to its strength, and so the water according to its measure, according to what each land required to water it. There is an arid land which requires much rain, and there is a land that does not require so much.

As when He gave weight to the wind.¹⁸Elsewhere (glosses on Genesis 1:6), Malbim writes: The ancients did not know that air has weight and used to laugh at statements like 'He gave weight to the wind' until the scientist Galileo came and found a device for measuring air and showed that it has weight.

a decree A set decree according to all the lands, and a spring and rivulet to water each land by His making a way for all the clouds, so that two thunders do not emerge through one hole, lest it destroy the world.

Then He saw He saw it, looked at it, and with its counsel made everything.

and counted it He counted its letters, the double ones [such as בּב] and the simple ones, the first one (א), middle one (מ), and the final one (ת). אֶמֶת, is the seal of the Holy One, blessed be He. And so with the remaining orders He created everything with these letters. Everything is explained in the secret of Sefer Yetzirah.

prepared it He prepared it [wisdom] for the Creation.

Behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom One requires the other, and wisdom is unseemly without [the] fear [of the Lord].