Job 28:2

Douay-Rheims Bible

Iron is taken out of the earth, and stone melted with heat is turned into brass.

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.

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

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;

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 Silver hath beginnings of its veins, and gold hath a place wherein it is melted. ² Iron is taken out of the earth, and stone melted with heat is turned into brass. ³ He hath set a time for darkness, and the end of all things he considereth, the stone also that is in the dark and the shadow of death. ⁴ The flood divideth from the people that are on their journey, those whom the food of the needy man hath forgotten, and who cannot be come at. ⁵ The land, out of which bread grew in its place, hath been overturned with fire. ⁶ The stones of it are the place of sapphires, and the clods of it are gold. ⁷ The bird hath not known the path, neither hath the eye of the vulture beheld it. ⁸ The children of the merchants have not trodden it, neither hath the lioness passed by it. ⁹ He hath stretched forth his hand to the flint, he hath overturned mountains from the roots. ¹⁰ In the rocks he hath cut out rivers, and his eye hath seen 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 he took ten camels of his master’s herd, and departed, carrying something of all his goods with him, and he set forward and went on to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nachor.

Genesis 24:29
And Rebecca had a brother, named Laban, who went out in haste to the man, to the well.

Genesis 24:50
And Laban and Bathuel answered: The word hath proceeded from the Lord: we cannot speak any other thing to thee but his pleasure.

Genesis 25:20
Who when he was forty years old, took to wife Rebecca the daughter of Bathuel the Syrian of Mesopotamia, sister to Laban.

Genesis 28:5
And when Isaac had sent him away, he took his journey and went to Mesopotamia of Syria, to Laban, the son of Bathuel, the Syrian, brother to Rebecca, his mother.

Genesis 28:15
And I will be thy keeper whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land: neither will I leave thee, till I shall have accomplished all that I have said.

Genesis 28:20
And he made a vow, saying: If God shall be with me, and shall keep me in the way, by which I walk, and shall give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,

Genesis 29:1
Then Jacob went on in his journey, and came into the east country.

Genesis 31:18
And he took all his substance, and flocks, and whatsoever he had gotten in Mesopotamia, and went forward to Isaac, his father, to the land of Chanaan.

Genesis 32:10
I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of thy truth which thou hast fulfilled to thy servant. With my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I return with 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 n^echûshâh. 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 n^echûshâh, 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.