> As a YEC sympathizer, here's one for your consideration: "Far from where
> people dwell he cuts a shaft, in places forgotten by the foot of
> man;...." (Job 28:4) Now, if the places in the heart of a mountain are
> forgotten by the foot of man, then must we not conclude that man once
> walked on the land that was later pushed up into the heart of the
> mountain?
Since feet don't literally forget, a somewhat less than literal
interpretation of this phrase is required, and so it is not surprising
that great liberties have been taken with its interpretation.
Gesenius rephrases `forgotten by man' as `void of the aid of the feet'.
Since Hebrew poetry makes considerable use of parallelism, in which the
same or a similar thought is stated in different words, it seems
reasonable to look at the context. This suggests to me that Job is saying
that men dig mines far off the beaten path.
Gordon Brown
Department of Mathematics
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0395