Job 28:6
in Job 28Its rocks are the source of sapphires, containing flecks of gold.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The stones thereof are the place of sapphires, And it hath dust of gold.
KJV
The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.
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This verse in Job 28
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The real, of transparent blue: 2. That improperly so called, opaque, with gold spots; that is, lapis lazuli. To the latter, looking like gold dust, UMBREIT refers "dust of gold." English Version better, "The stones of the earth are, &c., and the clods of it (Vulgate) are gold"; the parallel clauses are thus neater.
This site's exposition
Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft
on Job 28:4-6
The miner cuts a shaft "in places forgotten by the foot of man", far from where people live, and "he dangles and sways". "Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire", the miner's world hidden under the field's ordinary produce.
This site's exposition
Its rocks are the source of sapphires
Wesley takes the sapphire as standing for all precious stones. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown distinguish the clear blue sapphire from lapis lazuli, whose flecks look like gold. Henry reads such treasure under the foot of man as a warning against setting the heart on it.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
When there is a great abundance of heat, the resolutions both of the dry and wet attain a great degree of integration, which generates certain precious things like rocks or metals from them. So as to the precious stones which are formed from dry evaporation, …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII · Written before 604.
proposed
The stones of it are the place of sapphire, and her clods gold. The proclaim of the glory going before adds to the guilt of the sin following after. For the fall of every individual is of worse criminality, in proportion as before he fell he had the power to be of greater excellency. Thus let it be told of Judaea, let it be told what she was, and let the greatness of the excellencies going before grow into the heightening of the delinquencies succeeding afterwards. Her stones were the place of sapphires, and her clods of gold.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Under our feet, to teach us not to lay them in our bosoms, nor to set our hearts upon them, but to trample upon them with a holy contempt. See how full the earth is of God's riches ( Ps. civ. 24 ) and infer thence, not only how great a God he is whose the earth is and the fulness thereof ( Ps. xxiv.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Sapphires - Of precious stones; the sapphire, is one of the most eminent, being put for all the rest. In some parts of the earth, the sapphires are mixed with stones, and cut out of them and polished.
The stones of it are the place of sapphires,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The stones - the place of sapphires - In the language of mineralogists, the gangue, matrix, or bed in which the sapphire is found. For a description of this stone, see on Job 28:16 (note). Dust of gold - Or rather, gold dust.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The stones of it are the place - Among the stones of the earth sapphires are found. “The situation of the sapphire is in alluvial soil, in the vicinity of rocks, belonging to the secondary floetz trap formation, and imbedded in gneiss.” Jameson. “The sapphire occurs in considerable abundance in the granitic alluvion of Matura and Saffragam, in Ceylon.” Davy. Sapphires - Compare the note at Isa 54:11. The sapphire is a precious stone, usually of a blue color, though it is sometimes yellow, red, violet. green, or white. In hardness it is inferior to the diamond only: “In unroll’d tufts, flowers purpled, blue and white, Like sapphire, pearl, in rich embroidery.” Shakespeare “He tinctures rubies with their rosy hue, And on the sapphire spreads a heavenly blue.” Blackmore The mineral is, next to the diamond, the most valuable of the precious stones. The most highly prized varieties are the crimson and carmine red; these are the “Oriental ruby” of the traveler, and next to the diamond are the most valuable jewels hitherto discovered. The blue varieties - the sapphire of the jeweler - are next in value to the red. The yellow varieties - the “Oriental Topaz” of the jeweler - are of less value than the blue or true sapphire. Edinburgh Encyclopedia, article “Mineralogy.” And it hath dust of gold - Margin, or “gold ore.” Literally, “The dusts of gold are in it.” Gold is often found in the form of dust. It is obtained by washing it from the sand, and passing it over a fleece of wool, to which the gold adheres.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מְקוֹם־ | mekom- | [are] a place of | H4725 → | 401 times |
| סַפִּ֥יר | sapir | sapphire | H5601 → | |
| אֲבָנֶ֑יהָ | ʾavaneiha | stones its | H68 → | 273 times |
| וְעַפְרֹ֖ת | veafrot | and dust<s> of | H6083 → | 110 times |
| זָהָ֣ב | zahav | gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| לֽוֹ׃ | lo | [belong] to it |
מְקוֹם־[are] a place of
mekom-H4725 →401 times
סַפִּ֥ירsapphire
sapirH5601 →
אֲבָנֶ֑יהָstones its
ʾavaneihaH68 →273 times
וְעַפְרֹ֖תand dust<s> of
veafrotH6083 →110 times
זָהָ֣בgold
zahavH2091 →389 times
לֽוֹ׃[belong] to it
lo
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
Isaiah 54:11“O afflicted city, lashed by storms, without solace, surely I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:4–6
As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,
- Acts 14:22
strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.
- Jeremiah 30:17
But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.”
- Isaiah 54:6
For the LORD has called you back, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, like the rejected wife of one’s youth,” says your God.
- Psalms 34:19
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all.
- 1 Peter 2:4–6
Through
Exodus 24:10and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was a work like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.
it leads to
- John 1:18
No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.
- Ezekiel 10:1
And I looked and saw above the expanse, above the heads of the cherubim, the likeness of a throne of sapphire.
- John 1:18
Through
Revelation 21:19The 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,
it leads to
- 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.
- Isaiah 54:11–12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Job
This page draws on 9 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); 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.