He dams up the streams from trickling; What is hidden he brings forth to light.
Parallel translations
- WEB He binds the streams that they don’t trickle. The thing that is hidden he brings out to light.
- KJV He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.
- BSB He stops up the sources of the streams to bring what is hidden to light.
- NASB “He dams up the streams from flowing, And brings to light what is hidden.
- NLT They dam up the trickling streams and bring to light the hidden treasures.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Man dams up underground streams and brings hidden things into the light.
Overview
Job concludes his portrait of mining by noting how men control the flow of subterranean waters and bring concealed treasures to light. It is a fitting summary of human mastery over the hidden parts of the earth. The verse forms the hinge of the chapter: man brings hidden treasure to light, yet the most precious thing of all, wisdom, remains hidden until God reveals it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Isa 45:2–3“I will go before you, and make the rough places smooth. I will break the doors of brass in pieces, and cut apart the bars of iron.
- 1 Cor 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.
- Isa 37:25I have dug and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt.”
- Isa 44:27who says to the deep, ‘Be dry,’ and ‘I will dry up your rivers;’
- Job 26:8He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not burst under them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 28:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.