Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
Parallel translations
- WEB No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
- KJV No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.
- NKJV No mention shall be made of coral or quartz, For the price of wisdom is above rubies.
- NASB “Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned; And the acquisition of wisdom is more valuable than pearls.
- NLT Coral and jasper are worthless in trying to get it. The price of wisdom is far above rubies.
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
Coral and crystal are not worth mentioning beside wisdom, whose price is above rubies.
Overview
Job dismisses even coral and crystal as unworthy of comparison, declaring wisdom more precious than rubies. The repeated emphasis underscores wisdom's incomparable worth. This echoes the wisdom literature's call to prize understanding above all riches (Proverbs 8:11), a value supremely fulfilled in knowing God through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Prov 3:15She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire compares with her.
- Prov 31:10A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than rubies.
- Lam 4:7Her dignitaries were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like sapphires.
- Ezek 27:16Aram was your customer because of your many products; they exchanged turquoise, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies for your wares.
- Rev 17:4The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.
- Rev 21:21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, with each gate consisting of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.
- Matt 13:45–46Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.
- Prov 8:11For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire compares with her.
- Rev 18:12cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; of all kinds of citron wood and every article of ivory, precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;
- Matt 7:6Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
- 1 Tim 2:9Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,
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 28:18 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.