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Sunday, September 21st, 2025
the Week of Proper 20 / Ordinary 25
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Read the Bible

Updated Bible Version

Job 28:13

Common man doesn't know its price; Neither is it found in the land of the living.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Ignorance;   Readings, Select;   Wisdom;   Thompson Chain Reference - Call, Divine;   God's;   Wisdom;   Wisdom-Folly;   The Topic Concordance - Wisdom;  

Dictionaries:

- Easton Bible Dictionary - Wise, Wisdom;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Coral;   God;   Job, the Book of;   Silver;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Mining and Metals;   Wisdom;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Winter ;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Coral;   Death;   Lively;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
No one can know its value,since it cannot be found in the land of the living.
Hebrew Names Version
Man doesn't know its price; Neither is it found in the land of the living.
King James Version
Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.
English Standard Version
Man does not know its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living.
New Century Version
People do not understand the value of wisdom; it cannot be found among those who are alive.
New English Translation
Mankind does not know its place; it cannot be found in the land of the living.
Amplified Bible
"Man does not know the value of it; Nor is it found in the land of the living.
New American Standard Bible
"Mankind does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living.
World English Bible
Man doesn't know its price; Neither is it found in the land of the living.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Man knoweth not the price thereof: for it is not found in the land of the liuing.
Legacy Standard Bible
Man does not know its worth,And it is not found in the land of the living.
Berean Standard Bible
No man can know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living.
Contemporary English Version
No human knows the way.
Complete Jewish Bible
No one knows its value, and it can't be found in the land of the living.
Darby Translation
Man knoweth not the value thereof; and it is not found in the land of the living.
Easy-to-Read Version
People don't know where wisdom is. It cannot be found by anyone on earth.
George Lamsa Translation
No man knows the treasure thereof; neither is it found except in the land of the living.
Good News Translation
Wisdom is not to be found among mortals; No one knows its true value.
Lexham English Bible
A human being does not know its proper value, and it is not found in the land of the living.
Literal Translation
Man does not know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Verely no man can tell how worthy a thinge she is, nether is she foude in the lode of the lyuynge.
American Standard Version
Man knoweth not the price thereof; Neither is it found in the land of the living.
Bible in Basic English
Man has not seen the way to it, and it is not in the land of the living.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.
King James Version (1611)
Man knoweth not the price thereof neither is it found in the land of the liuing.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Ueryly no man can tell howe worthy a thing she is, neither is she found in the lande of them that lyue.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
A mortal has not known its way, neither indeed has it been discovered among men.
English Revised Version
Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
A man noot the prijs therof, nether it is foundun in the lond of men lyuynge swetli, `ether delicatli.
Webster's Bible Translation
Man knoweth not the price of it; neither is it found in the land of the living.
New King James Version
Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living.
New Living Translation
No one knows where to find it, for it is not found among the living.
New Life Bible
Man does not know its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living.
New Revised Standard
Mortals do not know the way to it, and it is not found in the land of the living.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Mortal knoweth not the way thereof, neither can it be found in the land of the living;
Douay-Rheims Bible
Man knoweth not the price thereof, neither is it found in the land of them that live in delights.
Revised Standard Version
Man does not know the way to it, and it is not found in the land of the living.
Young's Literal Translation
Man hath not known its arrangement, Nor is it found in the land of the living.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living.

Contextual Overview

1 Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place for gold which they refine. 2 Iron is taken out of the earth, And copper is molten out of the stone. 3 [Man] sets an end to darkness, And searches out, to the furthest bound, The stones of obscurity and of thick darkness. 4 He breaks open a shaft away from where men sojourn; They are forgotten of the foot; They hang far from common man, they swing to and fro. 5 As for the earth, out of it comes bread; And underneath it is turned up as it were by fire. 6 The stones thereof are the place of sapphires, And it has dust of gold. 7 That path no bird of prey knows, Neither has the falcon's eye seen it: 8 The proud beasts haven't trodden it, Nor has the fierce lion passed thereby. 9 He puts forth his hand on the flinty rock; He overturns the mountains by the roots. 10 He cuts out channels among the rocks; And his eye sees every precious thing.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

knoweth: Job 28:15-19, Psalms 19:10, Psalms 119:72, Proverbs 3:14, Proverbs 3:15, Proverbs 8:11, Proverbs 8:18, Proverbs 8:19, Proverbs 16:16, Proverbs 23:23, Ecclesiastes 8:16, Ecclesiastes 8:17

in the land: Job 28:21, Job 28:22, Psalms 52:5, Isaiah 38:11, Isaiah 53:8

Reciprocal: Job 36:3 - fetch Jeremiah 11:19 - from Ezekiel 32:23 - the land

Cross-References

Genesis 12:7
And Yahweh appeared to Abram, and said, To your seed I will give this land: and there he built an altar to Yahweh, who appeared to him.
Genesis 13:15
for all the land which you see, to you I will give it, and to your seed forever.
Genesis 15:1
After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, Don't be afraid, Abram: I am your shield, [and] your exceeding great reward.
Genesis 26:3
Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For to you, and to your seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
Genesis 26:24
And Yahweh appeared to him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham your father. Don't be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your seed for my slave Abraham's sake.
Genesis 28:4
And give you the blessing of Abraham, to you, and to your seed with you. That you may inherit the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.
Genesis 28:6
Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram, to take him a wife from there. And that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
Genesis 28:7
And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and had gone to Paddan-aram.
Genesis 28:15
And, look, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken to you of.
Genesis 28:16
And Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, Surely Yahweh is in this place. And I didn't know it.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Man knoweth not the price thereof,.... The worth and value of it, what price to set upon it, or offer and give for it; nor does he know where to find an equivalent to it, or what is a valuable consideration for it: as for the wisdom of God in his dealings with men, if a man was to give all the substance of his house to know the secret reasons of them, it would utterly be condemned; yea, if he had all the riches in the world in his possession, and would offer them on that consideration, he would not be able to attain the knowledge of them: or "the order thereof" o; the order of divine Providence, the wise disposal of thing, and the reasons thereof. In the first sense it is applicable to all the things before mentioned; to spiritual wisdom in men, supernatural grace, experimental religion, and real godliness; the worth of which is not known by carnal men, they despise it, and scoff at it; and to the Gospel, which is reckoned foolishness by them, and is of no account; and so is Christ himself rejected and disallowed of men, though chosen of God, and precious both to him and them that believe, who only know the price and value of him:

neither is it found in the land of the living; meaning not wisdom, though that in every sense is not from below, or earthly, but from above, and heavenly, but the price of it; and the sense is, that there is nothing in the whole globe that is equal to its worth, or can be proposed as a valuable consideration for it.

o ערכה "ordinem ejus", Montanus, Bolducius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Man knoweth not the price thereof - The word rendered “price” (ערך êrek) means properly that which is set in a pile or row, or which is arranged in order. Here it means preparation, equipment - that is, anything put in order, or ready, Judges 17:10. It is also used in the sense of estimation or valuation, Leviticus 5:15, Leviticus 5:18. The word “price” here, however, seems to form no proper answer to the question in the previous verse, as the question is, “where” wisdom is to be found, not what is its “value.” Many expositors have, therefore, introduced a different idea in their interpretation. Dr. Good renders it, “Man knoweth not its source.” Prof. Lee, “Man knoweth not its equal.” Herder, “Man knoweth not the seat thereof.” Coverdale, “No man can tell how worthy a thing she is.” The Septuagint renders it, “Man knoweth not - όδὸν άυτῆς hodon autēs - her way.” But the word used here is not employed to denote a “place” or “way,” and the true interpretation doubtless is, that Job does not confine himself to a strict answer of the question proposed in Job 28:12, but goes on to say that man could not buy it; he could neither find it, nor had he the means of purchasing it with all the wealth of which he was the owner.

Neither is it found in the land of the living - That is, it is not found among human beings. We must look to a higher source than man for true wisdom; compare Isaiah 38:11; Isaiah 53:8.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 28:13. Man knoweth not the price thereof — It is of infinite value; and is the only science which concerns both worlds. Without it, the wisest man is but a beast; with it, the simplest man is next to an angel.

Neither is it found in the land of the living. — The world by wisdom, its wisdom, never knew God. True religion came by Divine revelation: that alone gives the true notion of God, his attributes, ways, designs, judgments, providences, &c., whence man came, what is his duty, his nature, and his end. Literature, science, arts, &c., &c., can only avail man for the present life, nor can they contribute to his true happiness, unless tempered and directed by genuine religion.


 
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