Job 11:8

8 Heaven high; and what wilt thou do? and there are deeper things than those in hell; what dost thou know?

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 Then shall he declare to thee the power of wisdom; for it shall be double of that which is with thee: and then shalt thou know, that a just recompence of thy sins has come to thee from the Lord.
7 Wilt thou find out the traces of the Lord? or hast thou come to the end which the Almighty has made?
8 Heaven high; and what wilt thou do? and there are deeper things than those in hell; what dost thou know?
9 Or longer than the measure of the earth, or the breadth of the sea.
10 And if he should overthrow all things, who will say to him, What hast thou done?

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.