No mention shall be made of coral or quartz, For the price of wisdom is above 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.
- BSB Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond 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. None of the things you can desire are to be compared to her.
- Prov 31:10Who can find a worthy woman? For her price is far above rubies.
- Lam 4:7Her nobles were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was as of sapphire.
- Ezek 27:16Syria was your merchant by reason of the multitude of your handiworks: they traded for your wares with emeralds, purple, and embroidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and rubies.
- Rev 17:4The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of the sexual immorality of the earth.
- Rev 21:21The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was made of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
- Matt 13:45–46“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls,
- Prov 8:11For wisdom is better than rubies. All the things that may be desired can’t be compared to it.
- Rev 18:12merchandise of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet, all expensive wood, every vessel of ivory, every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble;
- Matt 7:6“Don’t give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
- 1 Tim 2:9In the same way, that women also adorn themselves in decent clothing, with modesty and propriety; not just with braided hair, gold, pearls, or expensive clothing;
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.