If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as (for) hid treasures - not content with merely one look, or an ordinary searching, but again and again seeking by every means. Treasures anciently, when there were no banks, were often hidden in the earth. True knowledge lies deep as in a mine; and they alone will get the precious ore who dig down into it, not grudging time, delays, pains, expense. The same image occurs John 5:39, "Search х ereunate (G2045)] the Scriptures." Not merely scrape the surface, and get a few superficial scraps of knowledge, but dig deep, and far, and wide. The "treasures" are 'hidden' by God, not in order to keep them back from us, but to stimulate our faith and patient perseverance in searching for them. The merchant was "seeking goodly pearls" when he "found one pearl of great price." And the man who (by God's special grace), though not seeking, yet found the "treasure hid in a field," when he had found it, spared no cost or pains to make it his (Matthew 13:44-45). It is Heavenly Wisdom that first "seeks diligently until she finds" the sinner (Luke 15:8). before that he seeks her.