Job 28:19
in Job 28Topaz from Cush cannot compare to it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
KJV
The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
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This verse in Job 28
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThe topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it,.... Not Ethiopia Abyssinia, or that which lies beyond Egypt in Africa; for, as Ludolphus (x) says, there are no gems found there, or very rarely; but Cush, as the word is, or Arabia Chusaea, the same with the country of Midian, and the parts adjacent; see Hab 3:7; hence Zipporah, the wife of Moses, who was of that country, is called an Ethiopian woman, Num 12:1; and this was near Job's country, who knew the produce of it; and here the topaz is found, as many writers observe.
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.
This site's exposition
Topaz from Cush cannot compare to it
Gill and Clarke place Cush in Arabia near the Red Sea, where Diodorus Siculus reports the topaz in abundance. Barnes describes the stone's colours of yellow, green, blue and red. The list of treasures ends with pure gold.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Thus he concludes that nothing can be compared to wisdom either by reason of value or by reason of concealment not even in the case of precious stones, and so he then says, "The topaz of Ethiopia will not equal it," which "takes its name …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII · Written before 604.
proposed
The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it. Neither shall the purest dyes be brought into comparison. What do we take 'Ethiopia' for, save the present world, which same by darkness of hue denotes a sinning people in the foulness of its merits. But sometimes by the name of Ethiopia the Gentile world in a special manner is used to be denoted, as being before black by the sins of unbelief.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The topaz - The topaz is a precious stone, whose colors are yellow, green, blue, and red. Its natural place is in various primitive rocks, such as the topaz-rock, gneiss, and clay-slate. It is found in the granite and gneiss districts of Mar and Cairnaorta, in Cornwall, in Brazil, and in various other places. The most valuable stones of this kind now known are those which are found in Brazil. This gem is much prized by jewelers, and is considered as one of the more beautiful ornamental stones.
The topaz of Ethiopia - The country called Cush, which we call Ethiopia, is supposed to be that which extends from the eastern coast of the Red Sea, and stretches towards Lower Egypt. Diodorus Siculus says that the topaz was found in great abundance, as his description intimates, in an island in the Red Sea called Ophiodes, or the isle of serpents, Hist. lib. iii., p. 121. His account is curious, but I greatly doubt its correctness; it seems too much in the form of a legend: yet the reader may consult the place. See also Clarke on Job 28:16 (note).
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַ֭עַרְכֶנָּה | yaarkhenah | it will be comparable to it | H6186 → | 74 times |
| פִּטְדַת־ | pitdat- | <the> topaz of | H6357 → | |
| כּ֑וּשׁ | kush | Cush | H3568 → | |
| בְּכֶ֥תֶם | bekhetem | in gold | H3800 → | 9 times |
| טָ֝ה֗וֹר | tahor | pure | H2889 → | 94 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תְסֻלֶּֽה׃ פ | tesuleh | it will be paid | H5541 → |
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יַ֭עַרְכֶנָּהit will be comparable to it
yaarkhenahH6186 →74 times
פִּטְדַת־<the> topaz of
pitdat-H6357 →
כּ֑וּשׁCush
kushH3568 →
בְּכֶ֥תֶםin gold
bekhetemH3800 →9 times
טָ֝ה֗וֹרpure
tahorH2889 →94 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תְסֻלֶּֽה׃ פit will be paid
tesulehH5541 →
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
Ezekiel 28:13You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 28:15
From the day you were created you were blameless in your ways—until wickedness was found in you.
- Ezekiel 27:16
Aram was your customer because of your many products; they exchanged turquoise, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies for your wares.
- Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
- Isaiah 54:11–12
“O afflicted city, lashed by storms, without solace, surely I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires.
- Ezekiel 28:15
Through
Exodus 39:10And they mounted on it four rows of gemstones: The first row had a ruby, a topaz, and an emerald;
it leads to
- Revelation 21:19–21
The foundations of the city walls were adorned with every kind of precious stone: The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 21:19–21
Through
Proverbs 8:19My fruit is better than gold, pure gold, and my harvest surpasses choice silver.
it leads to
- Proverbs 3:14
for she is more profitable than silver, and her gain is better than fine gold.
- Proverbs 10:20
The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked has little worth.
- Proverbs 3:14
Through
Exodus 28:17And mount on it a setting of gemstones, four rows of stones: In the first row there shall be a ruby, a topaz, and an emerald;
it leads to
- Ezekiel 28:13
You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in…
- Ezekiel 28:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
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About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.