Job 28:18
in Job 28Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal: Yea, 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.
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This verse in Job 28
Commentary
6 notes on this verseNo mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls,.... Coral is a marine plant, is as hard as a stone, and of such value as to be reckoned among precious stones; See Gill on Eze 27:16. In Arabia Felix, on the shore of the Red sea, is a place called Coralia (n); it may be from coral found there.
This site's exposition
Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention
on Job 28:18-19
"Topaz from Cush cannot compare to it", a gem from the farthest source of precious stone the ancient trade routes named, beyond Egypt's own borders. The list ranges from Ophir to Cush, and so exhausts the known world's wealth before the question of verse 12 is answered.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Just as they cannot be exchanged for wisdom, so also all these things are accounted as nothing in comparison to wisdom, and so he then says, "none are thought anything in comparison to her," because they are not even worth remembering when one mentions the …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII · Written before 604.
proposed
Nor shall they be mentioned in comparison with her. For wisdom is drawn from out of sight. For all the Elect of the Country Above are indeed holy and righteous, but by a participation of Wisdom, not by comparison therewith. For what are men compared with God? Now 'Light' Wisdom is used to be called, 'light' also the servants of Wisdom are wont to be called; but She as light lighting up, they as light lighted up; as it was written; That was the true Light, Which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
No mention shall be made of coral - That is, as a price by which to purchase wisdom, or in comparison with wisdom. The margin here is, “Ramoth” - retaining the Hebrew word ראמה râ'mâh. Jerome renders it, “excelsa” - exalted or valuable things. So the Septuagint, Μετέωρα Meteōra - exalted or sublime things; as if the word were from רום, to be exalted.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The Urim and Thummim, the means of consulting God by the twelve stones on the high priest's breastplate, "the stones of the sanctuary" (La 4:1), have their counterpart in this chapter; the precious stones symbolizing the "light" and "perfection" of the divine wisdom.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רָאמ֣וֹת | ramot | corals | H7215 → | |
| וְ֭גָבִישׁ | vegavish | and crystal | H1378 → | |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִזָּכֵ֑ר | yizakher | it is remembered | H2142 → | 230 times |
| וּמֶ֥שֶׁךְ | umeshekh | and [the] price of | H4901 → | |
| חָ֝כְמָ֗ה | chokhmah | wisdom | H2451 → | 153 times |
| מִפְּנִינִֽים׃ | mipeninim | [is] more than pearls | H6443 → |
רָאמ֣וֹתcorals
ramotH7215 →
וְ֭גָבִישׁand crystal
vegavishH1378 →
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִזָּכֵ֑רit is remembered
yizakherH2142 →230 times
וּמֶ֥שֶׁךְand [the] price of
umeshekhH4901 →
חָ֝כְמָ֗הwisdom
chokhmahH2451 →153 times
מִפְּנִינִֽים׃[is] more than pearls
mipeninimH6443 →
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
Proverbs 31:10A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than rubies.
it leads to
- Proverbs 19:14
Houses and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.
- Proverbs 12:4
A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.
- Proverbs 18:22
He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.
- Ephesians 5:25–33
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her
- Proverbs 3:15
She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire compares with her.
- Proverbs 19:14
Through
Lamentations 4:7Her dignitaries were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like sapphires.
it leads to
- Psalms 51:7
Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
- Psalms 51:7
Through
Proverbs 3:15She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire compares with her.
it leads to
- Proverbs 8:11
For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire compares with her.
- Proverbs 31:10
A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than rubies.
- Proverbs 8:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Job
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 XVIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.