Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire.
Parallel translations
- WEB As for the earth, out of it comes bread; Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
- KJV As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.
- NKJV As for the earth, from it comes bread, But underneath it is turned up as by fire;
- NASB “From the earth comes food, And underneath, it is turned over like fire.
- NLT Food is grown on the earth above, but down below, the earth is melted as by fire.
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 earth yields food on its surface, while beneath it is torn up as if by fire in the search for ore.
Overview
Job contrasts the earth's surface, which produces bread, with its depths, which men violently overturn to extract minerals. The 'fire' may refer to smelting or the upheaval of mining. The verse marvels at how thoroughly humanity exploits the earth, yet all this mastery over creation still leaves wisdom undiscovered apart from the Creator.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Isa 28:25–29When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots, and rye within its border.
- Ezek 28:13–14You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold, prepared on the day of your creation.
- Gen 1:29Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food.
- Gen 1:11–12Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind.” And it was so.
- Ps 104:14–15He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth:
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 28:5 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.