Job 28 · a question people ask
"The fear of the Lord" and departing from evil (28:28): is that a description of Job?
28:28 itself names no one: "To man he said" (28:28). Words like it are used of Job at the start: he "feared God, and turned away from evil" (1:1), and the LORD says to Satan that Job is "one who fears God, and turns away from evil" (1:8, 2:3). Eliphaz uses 28:28's word for fear when he speaks to Job: "Isn’t your piety your confidence?" (4:6), and later, "Yes, you do away with fear" (15:4); in Hebrew piety in 4:6 and fear in 15:4 are the word of 28:28's fear (tap fear). When the LORD answers Job, he asks, "Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" (38:2), and afterwards he says to Eliphaz, "you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has" (42:7). The book doesn't say which words either verse has in view, and it doesn't say whether 28:28 describes Job. These notes set the verses side by side and don't decide.
The verses
“To man he said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.’””
“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God, and turned away from evil.”
“The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant, Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil.””
“The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause.””