“Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine.
- KJV Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.
- NKJV “Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place where gold is refined.
- NASB “Certainly there is a mine for silver And a place for refining gold.
- NLT “People know where to mine silver and how to refine gold.
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
Job opens his great poem on wisdom by noting that men know where to mine silver and refine gold.
Overview
This chapter is a meditation on where true wisdom is found. Job begins by praising human ingenuity in locating and extracting precious metals from the earth. The point builds toward a contrast: man can find hidden treasures by skill, yet wisdom itself lies beyond his reach and must be sought from God alone (verse 28).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Pet 1:7so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
- Prov 17:3A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but the LORD is the tester of hearts.
- Mal 3:2–3But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
- Isa 48:10See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
- Gen 24:22And after the camels had finished drinking, he took out a gold ring weighing a beka, and two gold bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels.
- Gen 23:15“Listen to me, my lord. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
- Ps 12:6The words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace, like gold purified sevenfold.
- Zech 13:9This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”
- Gen 2:11–12The name of the first river is Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
- 1 Kgs 10:21All King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.
- 1 Kgs 7:48–50Solomon also made all the furnishings for the house of the LORD: the golden altar; the golden table on which was placed the Bread of the Presence;
- 1 Chr 29:2–5Now with all my ability I have made provision for the house of my God—gold for the gold articles, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron, and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and slabs of marble—all in abundance.
- Prov 27:21A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but a man is tested by the praise accorded him.
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 28:1 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.