These are treasures no bird of prey can see, no falcon’s eye observe.
Parallel translations
- WEB That path no bird of prey knows, neither has the falcon’s eye seen it.
- KJV There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen:
- BSB No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it.
- NKJV That path no bird knows, Nor has the falcon’s eye seen it.
- NASB “No bird of prey knows the path, Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of 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
The hidden path to these treasures is unknown even to the sharp-eyed birds of prey.
Overview
Job emphasizes the secrecy of the miner's path by noting that not even the keen-sighted falcon has seen it. Human ingenuity uncovers what is hidden from the swiftest and most observant creatures. This prepares for the central point: if man can find what is hidden from the birds, how much more is wisdom hidden from man himself, found only in God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Job 11:6that he would show you the secrets of wisdom! For true wisdom has two sides. Know therefore that God exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves.
- Job 28:21–23Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky.
- Job 38:19“What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is its place,
- Job 38:24By what way is the lightning distributed, or the east wind scattered on the earth?
- Rom 11:33Oh 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 28:7 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.