Job 28:28
New International Version
And he said to the human race, “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.”

New Living Translation
And this is what he says to all humanity: ‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.’”

English Standard Version
And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

Berean Standard Bible
And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’ ”

King James Bible
And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

New King James Version
And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”

New American Standard Bible
“And to mankind He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

NASB 1995
“And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

NASB 1977
“And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

Legacy Standard Bible
So He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

Amplified Bible
“But to man He said, ‘Behold, the reverential and worshipful fear of the Lord—that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

Christian Standard Bible
He said to mankind, “The fear of the Lord —that is wisdom. And to turn from evil is understanding.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He said to mankind, “The fear of the Lord is this: wisdom. And to turn from evil is understanding.”

American Standard Version
And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he said to a son of man: ‘the awe of God is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding’”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And he said to man, Behold, godliness is wisdom: and to abstain from evil is understanding.

Contemporary English Version
God told us, "Wisdom means that you respect me, the Lord, and turn from sin."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said to man: Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil, is understanding.

English Revised Version
And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
So he told humans, 'The fear of the Lord is wisdom! To stay away from evil is understanding.'"

Good News Translation
God said to us humans, "To be wise, you must have reverence for the Lord. To understand, you must turn from evil."

International Standard Version
He has commanded mankind: 'To fear the Lord—that is wisdom; to move away from evil—that is understanding.'"

JPS Tanakh 1917
And unto man He said: 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'

Literal Standard Version
And He says to man: Behold, fear of the Lord, that [is] wisdom, | And to turn from evil [is] understanding.”

Majority Standard Bible
And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

New American Bible
And to mortals he said: See: the fear of the Lord is wisdom; and avoiding evil is understanding.

NET Bible
And he said to mankind, 'The fear of the LORD--that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'"

New Revised Standard Version
And he said to humankind, ‘Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.’”

New Heart English Bible
To man he said, 'Look, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.'"

Webster's Bible Translation
And to man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

World English Bible
To man he said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.’”

Young's Literal Translation
And He saith to man: -- 'Lo, fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to turn from evil is understanding.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Where Can Wisdom Be Found?
27then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; He established it and searched it out. 28And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

Cross References
Deuteronomy 4:6
Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."

1 Kings 18:3
and Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Now Obadiah greatly feared the LORD,

Job 1:1
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.

Job 28:12
But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell?

Job 28:20
From where then does wisdom come, and where does understanding dwell?

Job 28:27
then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; He established it and searched it out.

Psalm 111:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding. His praise endures forever!


Treasury of Scripture

And to man he said, Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

unto man

Deuteronomy 29:29
The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Proverbs 8:4,5,26-32
Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man…

fear

Deuteronomy 4:6
Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

Psalm 111:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

to depart

Psalm 34:14
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

Proverbs 3:7
Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

Proverbs 13:14
The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

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Job 28
1. There is a knowledge of natural things
12. But wisdom is an excellent gift of God














(28) And unto man he said.--No one can for a moment suppose that this is an historical statement, or is to be treated as being one; but it is nevertheless profoundly and universally true. It is the wisdom of man as man to fear the Lord and to depart from evil; and this is God's primary revelation to man, which virtually underlies and is involved in all others. When we are told, as we are elsewhere, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, this implies that the fear of the Lord does not supersede, though it may be essential to, any other revelation, or any other development of wisdom, or any other manifestation of it. It is to be observed that the word rendered "the Lord" here is not the four-lettered name Jehovah which was used by Job in Job 12:9, but the other name for the Divine Being (Adonai), which was in later times universally substituted for the name Jehovah by the Jews in reading.

Verse 28. - And unto man he said. Not in so many words, not by any written or spoken revelation; but by the nature which he implanted in man, and especially by the conscience wherewith he endowed him. Man feels in his heart of hearts that whatever wisdom may be in the abstract, his true wisdom is "the fear of God," his true understanding "to depart from evil." No amount of intelligence, no amount of cleverness, or of information, or of knowledge, or of worldly or scientific wisdom, will be of any avail to him, unless he starts with this "beginning" (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7), and builds on this foundation. This foundation, at any rate, Job had. since God bore him witness that he had it (Job 2:3).



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And He said
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר ׀ (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to man,
לָֽאָדָ֗ם (lā·’ā·ḏām)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

‘Behold,
הֵ֤ן (hên)
Interjection
Strong's 2005: Lo! behold!

the fear
יִרְאַ֣ת (yir·’aṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 3374: Fear, reverence

of the Lord,
אֲ֭דֹנָי (’ă·ḏō·nāy)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 136: The Lord

that [is]
הִ֣יא (hî)
Pronoun - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

wisdom,
חָכְמָ֑ה (ḥāḵ·māh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2451: Wisdom

and to turn away
וְס֖וּר (wə·sūr)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 5493: To turn aside

from evil
מֵרָ֣ע (mê·rā‘)
Preposition-m | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 7451: Bad, evil

[is] understanding.’”
בִּינָֽה׃ (bî·nāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 998: An understanding


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OT Poetry: Job 28:28 To man he said 'Behold the fear (Jb)
Job 28:27
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