Job 22:24
in Job 22and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And lay thou thy treasure in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks;
KJV
Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
⋯
This verse in Job 22
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThis is what he means, in my opinion: "Confess your sins; receive from God's mouth his support after your confession; and take his words into your heart." Certainly Eliphaz said these things, as he believed, by making himself equal to Job.… However, he pronounces a correct dogma here. He, in fact, thinks that Job suffers his adversities because of his sins but also so that he will be purified through the endurance of his afflictions. Once he is purified, he will be delivered from any extraneous element and freed from any involvement with iniquity.
This site's exposition
consign your gold to the dust
on Job 22:24-25
Eliphaz attaches a promise to the call: "consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines". The promise that follows is "then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you".
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
To be sure when he says, "He will give flint in place of earth," "flint" refers to what he had said, "you will be rebuilt," to indicate that there will be a restoration, but to something greater, so he can receive greater things in place …
He shall give the flint for earth, and for the flint golden torrents. ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION What is denoted by 'earth' but weakness in conduct, what by the hardness of the flint but strength, what do we understand by 'the golden torrents,' but the instruction of interior brightness? Now to those that turn themselves to Him Almighty God 'gives for earth the flint,' in that for weak conduct He bestows the strength of vigorous practice.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
) for gold, but it signifies also a strong-hold, because money is a defence, Eccl. vii. Worldlings make gold their god, saints make God their gold; and those that are enriched with his favour and grace may truly be said to have abundance of the best gold, and best laid up.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? 3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect? 4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust - The original is not fairly rendered in this translation, ושית על עפר בצר veshith al aphar batser, which Montanus renders: Et pone super pulverem munitionem, “And fix a tower upon the dust;” ובצור נחלים אופיר ubetsur nechalim Ophir, et in petra torrentes Ophir, “and in the rock, the torrents of Ophir.” The Vulgate is widely different: Dabit pro terra silicem, et pro silice torrentes aureos, “He will give thee flint for earth: and torrents of gold for flint;” which Calmet thus paraphrases: “Instead of brick thou shalt build with solid stone; and for ornaments, instead of stone as formerly, thou shalt have massive gold!” All the versions are different.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Ophir--derived from a Hebrew word "dust," namely, gold dust. HEEREN thinks it a general name for the rich countries of the South, on the African, Indian, and especially the Arabian coast (where was the port Aphar. El Ophir, too, a city of Oman, was formerly the center of Arabian commerce).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust - Margin, or, “on the dust.” Dr. Good renders this, “Thou shalt then count thy treasure as dust” - implying that he would have much of it. Noyes, “Cast to the dust thy gold” - implying that he would throw his gold away as of no account, and put his dependence on God alone. Kim-chi, and, after him, Grotius, suppose that it means, “Thy gold thou shalt regard no more than dust, and gold of Ophir no more than the stones of the brook; God shall be to thee better than gold and silver.” The editor of the Pictorial Bible supposes that there is here a distinct reference to the sources from which gold was for merly obtained, as being washed down among the stones of the brooks. The word rendered “gold” here בצר betser is from בצר bâtsar - to cut off, Psa 76:12, and was properly applied to the ore of precious metals in the rude state, as cut or dug out of mines. Hence, it properly refers to the metals in their crude state, and before they were subjected to the fire. Then it comes to mean precious metals, and is parallel with gold of Ophir in the other hemistich. […]
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשִׁית־ | veshit- | and put | H7896 → | 83 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עָפָ֥ר | ʾafar | [the] dust | H6083 → | 110 times |
| בָּ֑צֶר | batzer | gold | H1220 → | |
| וּבְצ֖וּר | uvetzur | and among [the] rock[s] of | H6697 → | 78 times |
| נְחָלִ֣ים | nechalim | wadis | H5158 → | 141 times |
| אוֹפִֽיר׃ | ʾofir | gold of Ophir | H211 → |
וְשִׁית־and put
veshit-H7896 →83 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
עָפָ֥ר[the] dust
ʾafarH6083 →110 times
בָּ֑צֶרgold
batzerH1220 →
וּבְצ֖וּרand among [the] rock[s] of
uvetzurH6697 →78 times
נְחָלִ֣יםwadis
nechalimH5158 →141 times
אוֹפִֽיר׃gold of Ophir
ʾofirH211 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Kings 9:28They sailed to Ophir and imported gold from there—420 talents—and delivered it to Solomon.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 8:18
So Hiram sent him ships captained by his servants, along with crews of experienced sailors. They went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir and acquired from there 450 talents of gold, which they delivered to…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 28:16
It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Chronicles 8:18
Through
Psalms 45:9The daughters of kings are among your honored women; the queen stands at your right hand, adorned with the gold of Ophir.
it leads to
- Revelation 21:9
Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
- 1 Kings 2:19
So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. The king stood up to greet her, bowed to her, and sat down on his throne. Then the king had a throne…
- Ephesians 5:26–27
to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
- Revelation 19:7
Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.
- Revelation 21:2
I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
- Revelation 21:9
Through
Isaiah 13:12I will make man scarcer than pure gold, and mankind rarer than the gold of Ophir.
it leads to
- Isaiah 4:1
In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, “We will eat our own bread and provide our own clothes. Just let us be called by your name. Take away…
- Isaiah 4:1
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XVI; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, FRAGMENTS ON JOB 16.61, 69 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.