Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
Parallel translations
- WEB Lay your treasure in the dust, the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.
- BSB and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,
- NKJV Then you will lay your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.
- NASB And put your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,
- NLT If you give up your lust for money and throw your precious gold into the river,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Eliphaz tells Job to treat gold as worthless as dust and stones in a streambed. He urges Job to value God above all earthly riches.
Overview
Eliphaz counsels a right ordering of treasure, holding wealth loosely as dust. This anticipates Christ's teaching to lay up treasure in heaven rather than on earth (Matt 6:19-21). The advice itself is wise and godly. Its flaw lies only in the implication that Job's troubles stem from a covetous heart that needs reforming.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Isa 13:12I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
- 1 Kgs 9:28And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.
- Gen 10:29And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.
- 1 Kgs 22:48Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.
- 2 Chr 9:10And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.
- Job 31:25If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;
- 2 Chr 9:27And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance.
- 2 Chr 1:5Moreover the brasen altar, that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, he put before the tabernacle of the LORD: and Solomon and the congregation sought unto it.
- Ps 45:9Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
- 1 Kgs 10:21And all king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 22:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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