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No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.
Job 28:18 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
  • BSB Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond 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: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
  • Prov 31:10Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
  • Lam 4:7Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:
  • Ezek 27:16Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate.
  • Rev 17:4And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
  • Rev 21:21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
  • Matt 13:45–46Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
  • Prov 8:11For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
  • Rev 18:12The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
  • Matt 7:6Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
  • 1 Tim 2:9In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 28:18YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 28:18 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.