Job 28 · Verse 22

Job 28:22

Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.

Job 28:22, King James Version

Job 28:22 in other translations

BSB	Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor about it.’
WEB	Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’
ASV	Destruction and Death say, We have heard a rumor thereof with our ears.
YLT	Destruction and death have said: ‘With our ears we have heard its fame.'
DARBY	Destruction and death say, We have heard its report with our ears.
BBE	Destruction and Death say, We have only had word of it with our ears.
Webster	Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame of it with our ears.

What does Job 28:22 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

22. That is, the abodes of destruction and of the dead. "Death" put for Sheol (Job 30:23; 26:6; Psa 9:13). We have [only] heard--the report of her. We have not seen her. In the land of the living (Job 28:13) the workings of Wisdom are seen, though not herself. In the regions of the dead she is only heard of, her actings on nature not being seen (Ec 9:10).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 22 Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof - אבדון ומות Abaddon vamaveth, the destroyer, and his offspring death. This is the very name that is given to the devil in Greek letters Αβαδδων, Rev 9:11, and is rendered by the Greek word Απολλυων, Apollyon, a word exactly of the same meaning. No wonder death and the devil are brought in here as saying they had heard the fame of wisdom, seeing Job 28:28 defines it to be the fear of the Lord, and a departure from evil; things point blank contrary to the interests of Satan, and the extension of the empire of death.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 28:20-28

There is a two-fold wisdom; one hid in God, which is secret, and belongs not to us; the other made known by him, and revealed to man. One day's events, and one man's affairs, have such reference to, and so hang one upon another, that He only, to whom all is open, and who sees the whole at one view, can rightly judge of every part. But the knowledge of God's revealed will is within our reach, and will do us good. Let…

Read the full comment on Job 28:20-28 →

Job 28:22 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אֲבַדּ֣וֹן'a.va.DonAbaddonH11

וָ֭מָוֶתVa.ma.vetand deathH4194

אָ֣מְר֑וּ'a.me.Ruthey sayH559

בְּ֝אָזְנֵ֗ינוּbe.'a.ze.Nei.nuwith ears ourH241

שָׁמַ֥עְנוּsha.Ma'.nuwe have heardH8085

שִׁמְעָֽהּ\׃shim.'Ahreport itsH8088

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 28:22

Job 26:6
Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.
Psalms 83:10-12
Which perished at En–dor: they became as dung for the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna: Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.
Job 28:14
The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Destruction.
14; Ps 83:10-12

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Job 28:21
Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.
Job 28:22
Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
Job 28:23
God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.

Read all of Job 28

Job 28:22 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	El infierno y la muerte dijeron: Su fama hemos oído con nuestros oídos.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	La destruction et la mort disent: De nos oreilles nous en avons entendu la rumeur.
German Elberfelder 1871	Der Abgrund und der Tod sagen: Mit unseren Ohren haben wir ein Gerücht von ihr gehört.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Perditio et mors dixerunt: Auribus nostris audivimus famam ejus.