Job 11:8

8 It is higher than the heavens; what canst thou do? It is deeper than Sheol; how canst thou know it?

Job 11:8 Meaning and Commentary

Job 11:8

[It is] as high as heaven; what canst thou do?
&c.] Or, "is higher than the heavens" F9; either the wisdom of God and the secrets of it; the perfection of his wisdom, by which he has made the heavens; or evangelical wisdom, hid in his heart, and which the highest of creatures, the angels, come at the knowledge of only by revelation; and therefore, what can man do to find it out, unless God reveals it? or wisdom displayed in dark providences, which can never be accounted for until the judgments of God are made manifest: or else, "he [that is] God", as the Vulgate Latin version, is "higher than the heavens"; the heaven is his throne on which he sits, and therefore he must be higher than that; the heavens, and heaven of heavens, cannot contain him; he fills up the infinite space beyond them; how is it possible therefore to find him out, to comprehend him?

deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
meaning, neither the grave nor the place of the damned, for both which "Sheol" is sometimes used, but the centre or lowest part of the earth; there is a depth in God, in his essence, in his thoughts, in his wisdom, displayed in nature, providence, and grace, that is unfathomable; we can know nothing of it but what he is pleased to make known; see ( Psalms 92:5 ) ( Romans 11:33 ) ; the Targum of the verse is,

``in the height of heaven, what canst thou do? in the law, which is deeper than hell, what canst thou know?''


FOOTNOTES:

F9 (Mymv yhbg) "altior est altissimis coelis", Junius & Tremellius.

Job 11:8 In-Context

6 and that he would show thee the secrets of wisdom! For thou dost deserve double according to sound wisdom; and thou dost know that God has forgotten thee because of thine iniquity.
7 Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou come unto the perfection of the Almighty?
8 It is higher than the heavens; what canst thou do? It is deeper than Sheol; how canst thou know it?
9 The measure of it is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.
10 If he cuts off, or shuts up, or gathers together, then who can hinder him?
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010