‘It is not here,’ says the ocean. ‘Nor is it here,’ says the sea.
Parallel translations
- WEB The deep says, ‘It isn’t in me.’ The sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.’
- KJV The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.
- BSB The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’ while the sea declares, ‘It is not with me.’
- NKJV The deep says, ‘It is not in me’; And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
- NASB “The ocean depth says, ‘It is not in me’; And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
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
The deep and the sea both confess that wisdom is not found within them.
Overview
Personifying the ocean depths and the sea, Job has them disclaim any possession of wisdom. The vast and mysterious waters, like the deep earth, do not contain it. The verse reinforces that wisdom is not a hidden feature of creation to be located, but belongs to the Creator alone, who must give it to man (James 1:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Rom 11:33–34Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
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 28:14 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.