“Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine.
Parallel translations
- KJV Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.
- BSB “Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.
- ESV “Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold that they refine.
- NKJV “Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place where gold is refined.
- NASB “Certainly there is a mine for silver And a place for refining gold.
- NLT “People know where to mine silver and how to refine gold.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
Job opens his great poem on wisdom by noting that men know where to mine silver and refine gold.
Overview
This chapter is a meditation on where true wisdom is found. Job begins by praising human ingenuity in locating and extracting precious metals from the earth. The point builds toward a contrast: man can find hidden treasures by skill, yet wisdom itself lies beyond his reach and must be sought from God alone (verse 28).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Pet 1:7that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ —
- Prov 17:3The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but Yahweh tests the hearts.
- Mal 3:2–3“But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap;
- Isa 48:10Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver. I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
- Gen 24:22As the camels had done drinking, the man took a golden ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold,
- Gen 23:15“My lord, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead.”
- Ps 12:6Yahweh’s words are flawless words, as silver refined in a clay furnace, purified seven times.
- Zech 13:9I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, ‘It is my people;’ and they will say, ‘Yahweh is my God.’”
- Gen 2:11–12The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
- 1 Kgs 10:21All 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, because it was considered of little value in the days of Solomon.
- 1 Kgs 7:48–50Solomon made all the vessels that were in Yahweh’s house: the golden altar and the table that the show bread was on, of gold;
- 1 Chr 29:2–5Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, the brass for the things of brass, iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood; also onyx stones, stones to be set, stones for inlaid work, of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.
- Prov 27:21The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but man is refined by his praise.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 28:1 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.