to hang up · verb, pual imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
gold
בְּכֶ֣תֶםbe.Khe.tem
H3800
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Ophir
אוֹפִ֑יר'o.Fir
H211
Ophir · proper noun, a place name
precious
יָקָ֣רya.Kar
H3368
valuable (objectively or subjectively) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
onyx
בְּשֹׁ֖הַםbe.Sho.ham
H7718
a gem · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
sapphire
וְסַפִּֽירve.sa.Pir
H5601
a gem (perhaps used for scratching other substances) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 45:9 Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
Isaiah 13:12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
Ezekiel 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, a…
Exodus 28:20 And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings.
1 Chronicles 29:4 Even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 28:12-19
Job, having spoken of the wealth of the world, which men put such a value upon and take so much pains for, here comes to speak of another more valuable jewel, and that is, wisdom and understanding, the knowing and enjoying of God and ourselves. Those that found out all those ways and means to enrich themselves thought themselves very wise; but Job will not own theirs to be wisdom. He supposes them to gain their point, and to bring to light what they sought for (Job 28:11), and yet asks, "Where is wisdom? for it is not here." This their way is their folly. We must therefore seek it somewhere else, and it will be found nowhere but in the principles and practices of religion. There is more true…
gold of Ophir--the most precious (See on Job 22:24 and Psa 45:9).
onyx-- (Gen 2:12). More valued formerly than now. The term is Greek, meaning "thumb nail," from some resemblance in color. The Arabic denotes, of two colors, white preponderating.
John Gill on Job 28:16
It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir,.... Which is often spoken of in Scripture as choice gold, if not the best; See Gill on Job 22:24; the sense is, that the gold of Ophir is not of the value of wisdom, or of the same worth with that, and so not sufficient to purchase it: with the precious onyx and sapphire: two precious stones that were in the breastplate of the high priest, of which See Gill on Exodus 28:9; see Gill on Exodus 28:18, and See Gill on Exodus 28:20; but not so precious, or of such value as wisdom. Pliny (y) speaks of the onyx stone as in Arabia, near which Job 54ed, and who doubtless was acquainted with it and its worth, and also with the sapphire he makes mention of be…
13 A mortal knoweth not its price,
And it is not found in the land of the living.
14 The abyss saith: It is not in me,
And the sea saith: It is not with me.
15 Pure gold cannot be given for it,
And silver cannot be weighed as its price;
16 And it is not outweighed with fine gold of Ophir,
With the precious onyx and the sapphire.
It is self-evident that wisdom is found nowhere directly present and within a limited space, as at the bottom of the sea, and cannot be obtained by a direct exchange by means of earthly treasures. It is, moreover, not this self-evident fact that is denied here; but the meaning is, that even if a man should search in every direction through the land of the living, i.e…
The Church Fathers
"It is not inferior to the gold of Ophir. As if he were saying, Seek her as the gold of Ophir, since she is not inferior to him.
Nor shall it be compared to the dyed colours of India. Nor to the most precious sardonyx stone, nor to the sapphire. For what is meant by India, which furnishes a black people, saving this world, wherein the life of man is engendered dark in respect of sin? Now 'the dyed colours of India' are the wise ones of this world, who though in respect of infidelity, and oftentimes in respect of behaviour, they be foul, yet before the eyes of men are stained with the hue of overlaid honourableness. But the coeternal Wisdom of God is not 'compared to the dyed colours of India,' in that he, who really takes It in, discovers how widely it differs from those human beings whom the world has worshipped for wise ones. And the very words of His precepts differ from the wise ones of this world, in that while they strain after eloquence, their sayings appear as if fair in shew and in the staining of the dye, and while they lack the power of realities, feign themselves to be something else than what they are by combination of words as by overcoated colours. But on the other hand the instruction of Wisdom is at once fair by preaching and shining by unadulterated truth, nor does it by deceit set itself forth one thing outwardly, and retain another thing inwardly, nor in its sayings aim to appear fair by brilliancy of speech, but by uncorruptness of truth. Therefore in its precepts the Wisdom of God is not 'compared to the dyed colours of India,' since whereas it has not the stained adornments of eloquence, it pleases like a robe without dye. Which staining of the dye Paul rightly despised, when he said, Which things also we speak not in the words that man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth. For he chose rather to display this 'Wisdom' by the simple transparency of truth alone, but not to stain it with the dyeing of speech. That the sardonyx and sapphire are not precious stones, who would be ignorant? And whereas there be many other precious stones, which immeasurably exceed these in the account of greatness, why is the sapphire or the sardonyx especially called precious, when either stone by comparison with other stones is most contemptible? except that those stones which are described as precious, when we know not to be precious, we look out for some other thing in the meaning of them. For the sardonyx bears the likeness of red earth, but the sapphire has an…
Dictionary and topics
Brass — Which is an alloy of copper and zinc, was not known till the thirteenth century. What is designated by this word in Scripture is properly copper (Deut. 8:9). It was used for fetters (Judg. 16:21; 2…
Gold — (1.) Heb. zahab, so called from its yellow colour (Ex. 25:11; 1 Chr. 28:18; 2 Chr. 3:5). (2.) Heb. segor, from its compactness, or as being enclosed or treasured up; thus precious or “fine gold” (1…
Onyx — A hail; claw; hoof, (Heb. shoham), a precious stone adorning the breast-plate of the high priest and the shoulders of the ephod (Ex. 28:9-12, 20; 35:27; Job 28:16; Ezek. 28:13). It was found in the…
Ophir — (1.) One of the sons of Joktan (Gen. 10:29). (2.) Some region famous for its gold (1 Kings 9:28; 10:11; 22:48; Job 22:24; 28:16; Isa. 13:12). In the LXX. this word is rendered “Sophir,” and “Sofir”…
Sapphire — Associated with diamonds (Ex. 28:18) and emeralds (Ezek. 28:13); one of the stones in the high priest’s breastplate. It is a precious stone of a sky-blue colour, probably the lapis lazuli, brought…
Wise, wisdom — A moral rather than an intellectual quality. To be “foolish” is to be godless (Ps. 14:1; comp. Judg. 19:23; 2 Sam. 13:13). True wisdom is a gift from God to those who ask it (Job 28:12-28; Prov.…
Gold · Described as: Valuable — Described as: Valuable
Onyx · Precious stone — Precious stone
Ophir · .Gold of, proverbial for its fineness — .Gold of, proverbial for its fineness
Precious Stones · Mentioned in scripture: Onyx — Mentioned in scripture: Onyx
Readings, Select · NATURE’ S TESTIMONY — NATURE’ S TESTIMONY
The metals, gemstones, and glass listed here were precious in the ancient world, but the speaker says that wisdom is much more precious than wealth.
Rashi on Job 28:16
It cannot be praised Heb. תסלה, an expression of (Ps. 68:5), “Extol Him (סלו) Who rides in Aravoth.” He who praises it saying, “It is as esteemed as the gold of Ophir and as precious onyx,”—this is no praise for it. Similar to this is (Lam. 4:2), “praised (המסלאים) with fine gold.”
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Sapphire · A precious stone — A precious stone
Wisdom · .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
