The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.
Parallel translations
- WEB Sapphires come from its rocks. It has dust of gold.
- BSB Its rocks are the source of sapphires, containing flecks of gold.
- NKJV Its stones are the source of sapphires, And it contains gold dust.
- NASB “Its rocks are the source of sapphires, And its dust contains gold.
- NLT Here the rocks contain precious lapis lazuli, and the dust contains 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
From the earth's rocks come sapphires and dust of gold, treasures hidden in stone.
Overview
Job notes the precious gems and gold concealed within ordinary-looking rock, brought to light by human effort. The verse continues to build admiration for what man can find and obtain. Yet it sharpens the contrast at the heart of the chapter: even the rarest earthly treasures cannot compare with or purchase the wisdom that comes from God (verses 15-19).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Job 28:16It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
- Exod 24:10And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.
- Isa 54:11O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
- Song 5:14His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
- Rev 21:19And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 28:6 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.