Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.
Parallel translations
- WEB Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky.
- BSB It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and concealed from the birds of the air.
- NKJV It is hidden from the eyes of all living, And concealed from the birds of the air.
- NASB “It is hidden from the eyes of every living creature, And concealed from the birds of the sky.
- NLT It is hidden from the eyes of all humanity. Even the sharp-eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it.
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
Wisdom is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, even concealed from the birds of the sky.
Overview
Job declares that wisdom is invisible to all creatures, including the far-sighted birds mentioned earlier. No living being can locate it by natural sight or searching. This emphasizes that wisdom must be revealed from above rather than discovered below, pointing to God as its sole giver (verse 23).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Ps 49:3–4My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
- Col 2:3In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
- 1 Cor 2:7–10But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
- Matt 11:25At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
- Matt 13:35That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
- Matt 13:17For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard 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 28:21 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.