The Meaning of Job 28:12 Explained

Job 28:12

KJV: But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?

YLT: And the wisdom -- whence is it found? And where is this, the place of understanding?

Darby: But wisdom, where shall it be found? and where is the place of understanding?

ASV: But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But where  shall wisdom  be found?  and where [is] the place  of understanding? 

What does Job 28:12 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 28:1-28 - The Pearl Of Great Price
A search for this pearl of great price has occupied men in every age. Job compares it with the search of the miner for the hidden treasures of the earth, Job 28:1-12. This paragraph should be read in the r.v. The shaft into the earth, the miner's exile from the cheerful haunts of human life, his exposure to dangers from foul air, water, and the falling-in of the mine, the binding up of the streams, are vividly portrayed. But the miner perseveres through all till he obtains his golden spoil. Would that we were as persistent in our quest for the knowledge of God! Paul was a great miner; he went down into caverns of pain and sorrow, that he might bring to light the treasures of God's wisdom and love.
Only God knows God, Job 28:23. In the depths of His nature, dark with excess of light but hidden from the falcon's eye of human genius, are both knowledge and understanding. He waits to reveal these things to babes, saying, "Fear God, and you will be wise. Depart from evil, and you will understand," Job 28:28. Christ is the Word and the Wisdom of God, 1 Corinthians 1:24. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 28

1  There is a knowledge of natural things
12  But wisdom is an excellent gift of God

What do the individual words in Job 28:12 mean?

But wisdom where can be found and where [is] the place of understanding
וְֽ֭הַחָכְמָה מֵאַ֣יִן ؟ תִּמָּצֵ֑א וְאֵ֥י זֶ֝ה מְק֣וֹם ؟ בִּינָֽה

וְֽ֭הַחָכְמָה  But  wisdom 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: חָכְמָה  
Sense: wisdom.
מֵאַ֣יִן  where 
Parse: Preposition-m, Adverb
Root: אַיִן  
Sense: where?, whence?.
؟ תִּמָּצֵ֑א  can  be  found 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: מָצָא  
Sense: to find, attain to.
וְאֵ֥י  and  where 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Interrogative
Root: אֵי  
Sense: where?, whence?.
מְק֣וֹם  the  place 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מָקֹום  
Sense: standing place, place.
؟ בִּינָֽה  of  understanding 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: בִּינָה  
Sense: understanding, discernment.