Job 28:12-19 New English Translation
No Price Can Buy Wisdom
12 “But wisdom—where can it be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
13 Mankind does not know its place;[a]
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
14 The deep[b] says, ‘It is not with[c] me.’
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
16 It cannot be measured out for purchase[d] with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx[e] or sapphires.
17 Neither gold nor crystal[f] can be compared with it,
nor can a vase[g] of gold match its worth.
18 Of coral and jasper no mention will be made;
the price[h] of wisdom is more than pearls.[i]
19 The topaz of Cush[j] cannot be compared with it;
it cannot be purchased with pure gold.
Footnotes
- Job 28:13 tc The LXX has “its way,” apparently reading דַּרְכָּה (darkah) in place of עֶרְכָּהּ (ʿerkah, “place”). This is adopted by most modern commentators. But R. Gordis (Job, 308) shows that this change is not necessary, for עֶרֶךְ (ʿerekh) in the Bible means “order; row; disposition,” and here “place.” An alternate meaning would be “worth” (NIV, ESV).
- Job 28:14 sn The תְּהוֹם (tehom) is the “deep” of Gen 1:2, the abyss or primordial sea. It was always understood to be a place of darkness and danger. As remote as it is, it asserts that wisdom is not found there (personification). So here we have the abyss and the sea, then death and destruction—but they are not the places that wisdom resides.
- Job 28:14 tn The ב (bet) preposition is taken here to mean “with” in the light of the parallel preposition.
- Job 28:16 tn The word actually means “weighed,” that is, lifted up on the scale and weighed, in order to purchase.
- Job 28:16 tn The exact identification of these stones is uncertain. Many recent English translations, however, have “onyx” and “sapphires.”
- Job 28:17 tn The word is from זָכַךְ (zakhakh, “clear”). It describes a transparent substance, and so “glass” is an appropriate translation. In the ancient world it was precious and so expensive.
- Job 28:17 tc The MT has “vase,” but the versions have a plural here, suggesting jewels of gold.
- Job 28:18 tn The word מֶשֶׁךְ (meshekh) comes from a root meaning “to grasp; to seize; to hold,” and so the derived noun means “grasping; acquiring; taking possession,” and therefore, “price” (see the discussion in R. Gordis, Job, 309). Gray renders it “acquisition” (so A. Cohen, AJSL 40 [1923/24]: 175).
- Job 28:18 tn In Lam 4:7 these are described as red, and so have been identified as rubies (so NIV) or corals.
- Job 28:19 tn Or “Ethiopia.” In ancient times this referred to the region of the upper Nile, rather than modern Ethiopia (formerly known as Abyssinia).
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