“It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx, or sapphire.
Parallel translations
- WEB It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
- KJV It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
- BSB It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.
- NKJV It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx or sapphire.
- NLT It’s worth more than all the gold of Ophir, greater than precious onyx or lapis lazuli.
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 valued against the finest gold of Ophir or precious onyx and sapphire.
Overview
Job names some of the most prized materials of his world, including gold from Ophir famed for its purity, to show they cannot measure wisdom's worth. No earthly treasure is its equal. The point exalts wisdom above all material wealth and anticipates Proverbs' counsel to seek wisdom as the supreme treasure (Proverbs 3:13-15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Isa 13:12I will make people more rare than fine gold, even a person than the pure gold of Ophir.
- Ezek 28:13You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and beryl. Gold work of tambourines and of pipes was in you. In the day that you were created they were prepared.
- Ps 45:9Kings’ daughters are among your honorable women. At your right hand the queen stands in gold of Ophir.
- Exod 28:20and the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be enclosed in gold in their settings.
- 1 Chr 29:4even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, with which to overlay the walls of the houses;
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 28:16 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.