“Iron is taken from the dust, And copper is smelted from rock.
Parallel translations
- WEB Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted out of the ore.
- KJV Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.
- BSB Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.
- NKJV Iron is taken from the earth, And copper is smelted from ore.
- NLT They know where to dig iron from the earth and how to smelt copper from rock.
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
Iron is dug from the ground and copper smelted from rock, showing human mastery over the earth's resources.
Overview
Job continues cataloguing humanity's remarkable ability to draw metals out of the earth. This celebration of human skill and industry sets up the central question of the chapter. Man can transform raw ore into useful metal, yet such cleverness cannot manufacture or purchase the wisdom that comes only from the fear of the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Deut 8:9a land in which you shall eat bread without scarceness, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper.
- Gen 4:22Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron. Tubal Cain’s sister was Naamah.
- Num 31:22however the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
- 1 Chr 22:14Now, behold, in my affliction I have prepared for Yahweh’s house one hundred thousand talents of gold, one million talents of silver, and brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance. I have also prepared timber and stone; and you may add to 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 28:2 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.