Job 28 and Modern Theories of Knowledge

This article offers an interpretation of Job 28 in terms of modern theological discourse, with a focus on epistemology. The poem sets two ancient models of wisdom and knowledge in opposition: wisdom through individual exploration and wisdom through revelation. The first model finds its contemporary analogue in the Cartesian quest by a rational mind to possess objective knowledge. The second model, which the poem commends as its solution, is analogous to Michael Polanyi’s articulation of personal knowledge as submission to and embodiment of the superior knowledge of another.