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Friday, August 29th, 2025
the Week of Proper 16 / Ordinary 21
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Read the Bible

Green's Literal Translation

Job 28:2

Iron is taken out of the earth, and bronze is smelted from stone.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Art;   Brass;   Iron;   Molding;   Readings, Select;   Thompson Chain Reference - Arts and Crafts;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Arts of the;   Brass, or Copper;   Earth, the;   Iron;   Metals;  

Dictionaries:

- Easton Bible Dictionary - Mine;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Brass;   Mines;   Holman Bible Dictionary - God;   Job, the Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Brass;   Mining and Metals;   Wisdom;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Iron;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Brass;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Metals;   Mines, Mining;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Mine;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Iron is taken from the ground,and copper is smelted from ore.
Hebrew Names Version
Iron is taken out of the eretz, And copper is smelted out of the ore.
King James Version
Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.
English Standard Version
Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the ore.
New Century Version
Iron is taken from the ground, and copper is melted out of rocks.
New English Translation
Iron is taken from the ground, and rock is poured out as copper.
Amplified Bible
"Iron is taken out of the earth, And copper is smelted from the stone ore.
New American Standard Bible
"Iron is taken from the dust, And copper is smelted from rock.
World English Bible
Iron is taken out of the earth, And copper is smelted out of the ore.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Yron is taken out of the dust, and brasse is molten out of the stone.
Legacy Standard Bible
Iron is taken from the dust,And copper is smelted from rock.
Berean Standard Bible
Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.
Contemporary English Version
the same is done with iron and copper.
Complete Jewish Bible
iron is extracted from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.
Darby Translation
Iron is taken out of the dust, and copper is molten out of the stone.
Easy-to-Read Version
Iron is dug out of the ground, and copper is melted out of the rocks.
George Lamsa Translation
Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is smelted out of the stone.
Good News Translation
We dig iron out of the ground And melt copper out of the stones.
Lexham English Bible
Iron is taken from dust, and he pours out copper from ore.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
where yron is dygged out of the grounde, & stones resolued to metall.
American Standard Version
Iron is taken out of the earth, And copper is molten out of the stone.
Bible in Basic English
Iron is taken out of the earth, and stone is changed into brass by the fire.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Iron is taken out of the dust, and brass is molten out of the stone.
King James Version (1611)
Iron is taken out of the earth, and brasse is molten out of the stone.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Where yron is digged out of the grounde, & stones resolued to metall.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For iron comes out of the earth, and brass is hewn out like stone.
English Revised Version
Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Irun is takun fro erthe, and a stoon resolued, `ethir meltid, bi heete, is turned in to money.
Update Bible Version
Iron is taken out of the earth, And copper is molten out of the stone.
Webster's Bible Translation
Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass [is] melted [out of] the stone.
New King James Version
Iron is taken from the earth, And copper is smelted from ore.
New Living Translation
They know where to dig iron from the earth and how to smelt copper from rock.
New Life Bible
Iron is taken out of the earth. And copper is melted from the rock.
New Revised Standard
Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Iron, out of the ore, is taken, and, stone, poureth out copper;
Douay-Rheims Bible
Iron is taken out of the earth, and stone melted with heat is turned into brass.
Revised Standard Version
Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the ore.
Young's Literal Translation
Iron from the dust is taken, And [from] the firm stone brass.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Iron is taken from the dust, And copper is smelted from rock.

Contextual Overview

1 Surely there is a mine for the silver, and a place where they refine gold. 2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and bronze is smelted from stone. 3 He sets an end to darkness, and to every extremity He searches out a stone of darkness and death-shade. 4 He opens a shaft far from the visitor; they are forgotten by man's foot; they hang far from men; they swing to and fro. 5 As to the earth, out of it comes bread; and underneath it, it is turned up like fire. 6 The place of sapphires is in its stones, and it has dust of gold. 7 There is a path not known to birds of prey, nor has a falcon's eye caught sight of it; 8 the sons of pride have not trodden on it; the lion has not passed by it. 9 He places his hand on the flint places; He overturns mountains by the roots. 10 He cuts out rivers among the rocks, and His eye sees every precious thing.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Iron: Genesis 4:22, Numbers 31:22, Deuteronomy 8:9, 1 Chronicles 22:14

earth: or, dust

Reciprocal: Exodus 25:3 - brass

Cross-References

Genesis 24:10
And the slave took ten camels from his master's camels and left. And all his master's goods were in his hand. And he rose up and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.
Genesis 24:29
And Rebekah had a brother, his name being Laban. And Laban ran out to the man, to the fountain.
Genesis 24:50
And Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing has come from Jehovah; we are not able to speak to you good or evil.
Genesis 25:20
And Isaac was a son of forty years when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Padan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to him for a wife.
Genesis 28:5
And Isaac sent away Jacob. And he went to Padan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Genesis 28:15
And, behold, I will be with you and will guard you in every place in which you may go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not forsake you until I have surely done that which I have spoken to you.
Genesis 28:20
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God is with me and keeps me in this way which I am going, and gives to me bread to eat and clothing to wear,
Genesis 29:1
And Jacob lifted his feet and went to the land of the sons of the east.
Genesis 31:18
And he drove all the livestock, and he took all his goods which he had gotten, livestock of his property which he had gotten in Padan-aram, to come to his father Isaac, to the land of Canaan.
Genesis 32:10
I am not worthy of all the mercies and all the truth which You have done for Your servant, for I passed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Iron is taken out of the earth,.... Very easily, and in great plenty, and is more common, being in most countries, is nearer the surface of the earth, and here said to be taken "out of the dust" x; which, being melted in a furnace, produces iron, a metal very serviceable for various rises, and without which there is scarce any thing to be done, and therefore was with brass of early invention. Tubalcain, son of Lamech, supposed to be the Vulcan of the Heathens, a worker in iron, is said to be the instructor of every artificer in brass and iron, Genesis 4:22;

and brass [is] molten [out of] the stone; out of a brassy stone, called "cadmai", as Pliny says, and also out of another, as he observes y, called "chalcites", found in Cyprus, where was the first invention of brass, according to him, and hence perhaps copper had its name; but it is plain from Scripture, the places before referred to, that it was invented elsewhere, and long before Cyprus was known; or a "stone melted becomes brass", see Deuteronomy 8:9; of these four metals was the image in Nebuchadnezzar's vision, which represented the four monarchies of the world, Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman, Daniel 2:30; and to them are compared, and by them are represented many things in Scripture.

x מעפר "e pulvere", V. L. Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Michaelis, Schultens. y Nat. Hist. l. 34. c. 1, 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Iron - As has been remarked above, iron was early known, yet probably its common use indicates a more advanced state of civilization than that of gold and silver. The Mexicans were ignorant of the use of iron, though ornaments of gold and silver elegantly worked abounded among them. Iron is less easily discovered than copper, though more abundant, and is worked with more difficulty. Among the ancient nations, copper was in general use long before iron; and arms, vases, statues, and implements of every kind were made of this metal alloyed and hardened with tin, before iron came into general use. Tubal Cain is indeed mentioned Genesis 4:22 as the “instructor of every artificer in brass and iron,” but no direct mention is made of iron arms Numbers 35:16 or tools Deuteronomy 27:5, until after the departure from Egypt. According to the Arundelian Marbles, iron was known one hundred and eighty-eight years before the Trojan war, about 1370 years B.C.; but Hesiod, Plutarch, and others, limit its discovery to a much later period. Homer, however, distinctly mentions its use, Iliad xxiii. 262:

Η δε γυνᾶικα ὲΰζώνα;, πολιον τε σίδηρον.

Hē de gunaikas euzōnas, polion te sidēron.

That by the “sideros” of the poet is meant iron, is clear, from a simile which he uses in the Odyssey, derived from the quenching of iron in water, by which he illustrates the hissing produced in the eye of Polyphemus by piercing it with the burning stake:

“And as when armorers temper in the ford

The keen edged pole-axe or the shining sword,

The red-hot metal hisses in the lake,

Thus in the eye-ball hissed the plunging stake.”

Odyssey ix. 391; Pope

Iron is mentioned in the time of Og king of Bashan, 1450 B.C. It was at first, however, regarded as of great value, and its use was very limited. It was presented in the temples of Greece as among the most valuable offerings, and rings of iron have been found in the tombs of Egypt that had been worn as ornaments, showing the value of the metal. One of the reasons why this metal comes so slowly into use, and why it was so rare in early times, was the difficulty of smelting the ore, and reducing it to a malleable state “Its gross and stubborn ore,” says Dr. Robertson (America, B. iv.) “must feel twice the force of fire, and go through two laborious pocesses, before it becomes fit for use.” It was this fact which made it to Job such a proof of the wisdom of man that he had invented the process of making iron, or of separating it from the earthy portions in which it is found.

Is taken out of the earth - Margin, “dust.” The form in which iron is found is too well known to need description. It is seldom, if ever, found in its purity, and the ore generally has so much the appearance of mere earth, that it requires some skill to distinguish them.

And brass - נחוּשׁה nechûshâh. Brass is early and frequently mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 4:22; Exodus 25:3; Exodus 26:11, et al.), but there is little doubt that copper is meant in these places. Brass is a compound metal, made of copper and zinc - containing usually about one third of the weight in zinc - and it is hardly probable that the art of compounding this was early known; compare the notes at Job 20:24. Dr. Good renders this, “And the rock poureth forth copper.” Coverdale, “The stones resolved to metal.” Noyes, “The stone is melted into copper.” Prof. Lee, “Also the stone (is taken from the earth) from which one fuseth copper.” The Hebrew is, literally,” And stone is poured out יציק copper.” The Septuagint renders it, “And brass is cut like stones;” that is, is cut from the quarry. The word “stone” here in the Hebrew (אבן 'eben) means, doubtless, “ore” in the form of stone; and the fact mentioned here, that such ore is fused into the נחוּשׁה eht nechûshâh, is clear proof that copper is intended. Brass is never found in ore, and is never compounded in the earth. A similar idea is found in Pliny, who probably uses the word “aes” to denote copper, as it is commonly employed in the ancient writings. Aes fit ex lapide aeroso, quem vocant Cadmiam; et igne lapides in nes solvantur. Nat. Hist. xxxiv. i. 22. On the general subject of ancient metallurgy, see Wilkinsoh’s Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. chapter ix.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 28:2. Iron is taken out of the earth — This most useful metal is hidden under the earth, and men have found out the method of separating it from its ore.

Brass is molten out of the stone. — As brass is a factitious metal, copper must be the meaning of the Hebrew word נחושה nechusah: literally, the stone is poured out for brass. If we retain the common translation, perhaps the process of making brass may be that to which Job refers; for this metal is formed from copper melted with the stone calamine; and thus the stone is poured out to make brass.


 
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