It can’t be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for its price.
Parallel translations
- KJV It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
- BSB It cannot be bought with gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
- NKJV It cannot be purchased for gold, Nor can silver be weighed for its price.
- NASB “Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it, Nor can silver be weighed as its price.
- NLT It cannot be bought with gold. It cannot be purchased with silver.
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
Wisdom cannot be bought with gold or weighed out for in silver.
Overview
Job begins a series of comparisons showing that no price can purchase wisdom. The most valuable currency of the ancient world is worthless to obtain it. This underscores wisdom's transcendent value and prepares the way for the gospel truth that the greatest treasures are received not by purchase but as a gift of God's grace (Isaiah 55:1).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Prov 16:16How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! Yes, to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
- Prov 8:19My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold; my yield than choice silver.
- Prov 8:10–11Receive my instruction rather than silver; knowledge rather than choice gold.
- Prov 3:13–15Happy is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gets understanding.
- Job 28:18No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
- Prov 8:17I love those who love me. Those who seek me diligently will find me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 28:15 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.