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Read the Bible

Contemporary English Version

Job 28:17

Nothing is its equal— not gold or costly glass.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Crystal;   Glass;   Readings, Select;   Wisdom;   Thompson Chain Reference - Call, Divine;   Crystal;   God's;   Precious Stones;   Stones, Precious;   Wisdom;   Wisdom-Folly;   The Topic Concordance - Wisdom;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Earth, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Crystal;   Glass;   Gold;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Glass;   Gold;   Wise, Wisdom;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Crystal;   Galilee;   Glass;   Gold;   Zebulun;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Coral;   Glass;   God;   Job, the Book of;   Minerals and Metals;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Jewels and Precious Stones;   Mining and Metals;   Wisdom;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Gold;   House;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Crystal;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Glass;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Crystal,;   Glass;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Crystal;   Gold;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Coral;   Crystal;   Fine;   Glass;   Gold;   Stones, Precious:;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Bottle;   Glass;   Gold;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Gold and glass do not compare with it,and articles of fine gold cannot be exchanged for it.
Hebrew Names Version
Gold and zekukeet can't equal it, Neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
King James Version
The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.
English Standard Version
Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
New Century Version
Gold and crystal are not as valuable as wisdom, and you cannot buy it with jewels of gold.
New English Translation
Neither gold nor crystal can be compared with it, nor can a vase of gold match its worth.
Amplified Bible
"Gold and glass cannot equal wisdom, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.
New American Standard Bible
"Gold or glass cannot equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of pure gold.
World English Bible
Gold and glass can't equal it, Neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
Geneva Bible (1587)
The golde nor the chrystall shall be equall vnto it, nor the exchange shalbe for plate of fine golde.
Legacy Standard Bible
Gold or glass cannot meet its worth,Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.
Berean Standard Bible
Neither gold nor crystal can compare, nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it.
Complete Jewish Bible
Neither gold nor glass can be compared with it; nor can it be exchanged for a bowl of fine gold,
Darby Translation
Gold and glass cannot be compared to it, nor vessels of fine gold be its exchange.
Easy-to-Read Version
Wisdom is worth more than gold or crystal. It cannot be bought with expensive jewels set in gold.
George Lamsa Translation
The gold and the crystal cannot equal it; nor can precious pearls, jewels, and emeralds equal it.
Good News Translation
It is worth more than gold, Than a gold vase or finest glass.
Lexham English Bible
Gold and glass cannot be compared with it, and its substitution cannot be an ornament of refined gold.
Literal Translation
gold and crystal cannot be ranked with it, nor its exchange a vessel of fine gold.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
No, nether golde ner Christall, nether swete odours ner golden plate.
American Standard Version
Gold and glass cannot equal it, Neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
Bible in Basic English
Gold and glass are not equal to it in price, and it may not be exchanged for jewels of the best gold.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Gold and glass cannot equal it; neither shall the exchange thereof be vessels of fine gold.
King James Version (1611)
The golde and the chrystall cannot equall it: and the exchange of it shall not be for iewels of fine golde.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
No, neither golde nor christall shall be equall vnto it, nor her exchaunge shalbe for the plate of fine golde.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Gold and crystal shall not be equalled to it, neither shall vessels of gold be its exchange.
English Revised Version
Gold and glass cannot equal it: neither shall the exchange thereof be jewels of fine gold.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Nether gold, nether glas schal be maad euene worth therto;
Update Bible Version
Gold and glass can't equal it, Neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
Webster's Bible Translation
The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it [shall not be for] jewels of fine gold.
New King James Version
Neither gold nor crystal can equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold.
New Living Translation
Wisdom is more valuable than gold and crystal. It cannot be purchased with jewels mounted in fine gold.
New Life Bible
Gold or glass cannot be compared to it in worth and it cannot be traded for objects of fine gold.
New Revised Standard
Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it, nor can, the exchange thereof, be a vessel of pure gold,
Douay-Rheims Bible
Gold or crystal cannot equal it, neither shall any vessels of gold be changed for it.
Revised Standard Version
Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
Young's Literal Translation
Not equal it do gold and crystal, Nor [is] its exchange a vessel of fine gold.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Gold or glass cannot equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.

Contextual Overview

14 Nor can it be discovered in the deepest sea. 15 It is worth much more than silver or pure gold 16 or precious stones. 17 Nothing is its equal— not gold or costly glass. 18 Wisdom is worth much more than coral, jasper, or rubies. 19 All the topaz of Ethiopia and the finest gold cannot compare with it.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

crystal: Ezekiel 1:22, Revelation 4:6, Revelation 21:11, Revelation 22:1

jewels: or, vessels

Cross-References

Genesis 28:1
Isaac called in Jacob, then gave him a blessing, and said: Don't marry any of those Canaanite women.
Genesis 28:13
The Lord was standing beside the ladder and said: I am the Lord God who was worshiped by Abraham and Isaac. I will give to you and your family the land on which you are now sleeping.
Genesis 28:22
This rock will be your house, and I will give back to you a tenth of everything you give me."
Exodus 3:6
I am the God who was worshiped by your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Moses was afraid to look at God, and so he hid his face.
Judges 13:22
Manoah said, "We have seen an angel. Now we're going to die."
2 Chronicles 5:14
The Lord 's glory was in that cloud, and the light from it was so bright that the priests could not stay inside to do their work.
Ecclesiastes 5:1
Be careful what you do when you enter the house of God. Some fools go there to offer sacrifices, even though they haven't sinned. But it's best just to listen when you go to worship.
Matthew 17:6
When the disciples heard the voice, they were so afraid that they fell flat on the ground.
Luke 2:9
All at once an angel came down to them from the Lord, and the brightness of the Lord's glory flashed around them. The shepherds were frightened.
Luke 8:35
The people went out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they also found the man. The demons had gone out of him, and he was sitting there at the feet of Jesus. He had clothes on and was in his right mind. But the people were terrified.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The gold and the crystal cannot equal it,.... Crystal was found in an island of the Red sea, situated before Arabia, called Neron, and in another, which from a gem found in it bears the name of Topazion, and may be thought therefore to be well known by Job; and though it is not now of so much account, it formerly was very valuable. Pliny a makes mention of a crystal vessel, sold for 150,000 sesterces, about 1250 pounds sterling; and of two crystal cups broke by Nero in his fury, on hearing of some losses, to punish the then present age, that no other men might drink out of them: some render it "amber", which is found in Prussia, and being at a great distance from Job's country, might be the more valuable there; and Pliny b speaks of it as had in as great esteem as gems: the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin versions, and others, translate it "glass" c which had its original from Phoenicia, near Judea; so Pliny says d from the lake Cendevia, within the roots of Mount Carmel, in Phoenicia, near Judea, springs the river Belus, from whence glass came first; and he speaks of Sidon (a city in Phoenicia) as famous for it; and Tacitus e observes, that the river Belus glides in the Jewish sea, and about the mouth of it sand is gathered and mixed with nitre, and boiled into glass; and this being near the country where Job dwelt, it is thought be had knowledge of it; and from this passage some f have concluded the great antiquity of glass; and if it is true what Aelianus g relates, that when the monument of the ancient Belus (the first king of Babylon) was dug up by Xerxes, the son of Darius, that there was found a glass urn, where lay a body in oil, it must be in use before the times of Job. An Arabic chronologer h affirms what be had from men conversant in history, that in Egypt, after the flood, there were men learned in various sciences, and among the rest in alchemy, and had knowledge of burning glasses; though the invention of these, and of a glass globe, is ascribed to Archimedes i, who lived somewhat later than two hundred years before Christ. There was great plenty of glass very early in Ethiopia, after mentioned, in which they enclosed their dead, that they might be seen through it k; and if it was in use in Job's time, and especially if it was then a late invention, it might be highly valued, and therefore placed here with things of the greatest worth. In the times of Nero, Pliny says l two small glass cups were sold for six thousand sesterces, or forty five pounds sterling, and according to others near fifty pounds; and the same writer relates, that in the times of Tiberias an art was found out to make glass flexible and malleable; but was ordered to be destroyed, lest the value of gold, silver, and brass, should be lessened by it. The Targum renders the word here used a looking glass; :-. Some think the diamond or adamant is meant, and others that it is a general name for all sorts of precious stones, they being clear, transparent, and lucid, as the word signifies:

and the exchange of it [shall not be for] jewels of fine gold; set in fine gold; or "vessels" of it, more valuable than gold itself, being made of gold, purified, refined, and wrought by art into curious forms; and yet wisdom is so valuable as not to be exchanged for these. Mr. Broughton takes this fine gold, or gold of Phaz, to be the same with Fess in Barbary, which had its name from a heap of gold there found when its foundation was laid; for "fess" with the Arabs signifies gold m.

a Ut supra, (Nat. Hist. l. 37.) c. 2. b Ib. c. 5. c זכוכית υαλος, Sept. "vitrum", V. L. Tigurine version, Cocceius. d Ut supra, (Nat. Hist.) l. 36. c. 26. Joseph. de Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 10. sect. 2. e Hist. l. 5. c. 7. f Neri Praefat. ad. lib. de re vitriaria. g Var. Hist. l. 12. c. 3. h Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. p. 33. i Vid. Fabritii Bibliothec. Gr. l. 3. c. 22. sect. 11. 15. k Diodor. Sic. l. 2. p. 102. Herodot. Thalia, sive, l. 3. c. 24. l Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 36. c. 26.) m Leo African. Descript. Africae, l. 3. p. 273.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The gold and the crystal - A crystal, in chemistry, is an inorganic body which, by the operation of affinity, has assumed the form of a regular solid, terminated by a number of plane and smooth surfaces. It is round in various forms and sizes, and is composed of a great variety of substances. The common “rock crystal” is a general name for all the transparent crystals of quartz, particularly of limpid or colorless quartz. “Webster.” The word used here (זכוּכית zekûkı̂yth) occurs nowhere else in the Bible. It is from זכה zâkâh, to be clean, pure; and is given to the crystal on account of its transparency. In Arabic the word means either glass or crystal. Jerome translates it, “vitrum” - glass; the Septuagint ὕαλος hualos - crystal, or the “lapis crystallinus.” Hesychius says that the crystal denotes λαμπρὸν κρύος lampron kruos - “clear ice” or, λίθον τίμιον lithon timion - “a precious stone.” There is no reason to suppose that “glass” was known so early as this, and the probability is that the word here denotes something like the rock crystal, having a strong resemblance to the diamond, and perhaps then regarded as nearly of equal value. It cannot be supposed that the relative value of gems was then understood as it is now.

Jewels of fine gold - Margin, “vessels.” The Hebrew word כלי kelı̂y properly means vessels, or instruments. It may refer here, however, to ornaments for the person, as it was in that way chiefly that gold was employed.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 28:17. Job 28:16; Job 28:16.


 
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