Job Chapter 28 verse 9 Holy Bible
He putteth forth his hand upon the flinty rock; He overturneth the mountains by the roots.
read chapter 28 in ASV
Man puts out his hand on the hard rock, overturning mountains by the roots.
read chapter 28 in BBE
[Man] putteth forth his hand upon the flinty rock, he overturneth the mountains by the root.
read chapter 28 in DARBY
He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.
read chapter 28 in KJV
He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.
read chapter 28 in WBT
He puts forth his hand on the flinty rock, And he overturns the mountains by the roots.
read chapter 28 in WEB
Against the flint he sent forth his hand, He overturned from the root mountains.
read chapter 28 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 9. - He putteth forth his hand upon the rock. Our Revisers translate, upon the flinty rock; while Canon Cook maintains that "the word used means either granite or quartz." Probably Job meant no more than that man does not shrink from attacking any - even the hardest - rock; but will subdue it, and cut his way through it, if he has occasion so to do. He overturneth the mountains by the roots. Herodotus, in describing what he had seen of the Phoenician mining operations in the island of Thasos, observes, "a huge, mountain has been turned upside down in the search for ores" (Herod., 6:47). Pliny says of the process employed for detaching huge masses from the metalliferous hills in Spain, "They attack the rock with iron wedges and hammers. When this work is complete, they destroy the supports, and notify by signal that the fall is about to take place. A watchman, stationed on the mountain-top, alone understands the signal; and he proceeds at once to have all the workmen called in, and himself makes a hurried retreat. Then the mountain falls m upon itself with a crash that cannot be imagined, and an incredible concussion of the air. The successful engineers contemplate the ruin which they have achieved" ('Hist. Nat.,' 33:4. ยง 73).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(9) He putteth forth his hand upon the rock.--The process described is that of tunnelling and excavating, and that of making canals and lining them with stone; and in the course of such works many precious things would be discovered. The canals and cisterns were made so accurately that they retained the water, and did not even weep or trickle.