Bible Strands
Job 28:17
Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it, nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses listeners within a poetic discourse on wisdom, positioned between verses that catalog the failure of precious metals and stones to measure its worth.
The words — יַעַרְכֶ֣/נָּה (ya'ar.Khe./nah) means it will be comparable to it, and תְּמ֖וּרָתָ֣/הּ (te.Mu.ra.Ta/h) denotes its exchange, establishing that no material equivalent suffices.
The thread — This valuation theme appears in Proverbs 16:16, which ranks understanding above silver, while the crystal imagery recurs in Ezekiel 1:22 and Revelation 22:1 to describe divine manifestations.
Why it lands — The text demands a reader to acknowledge that wisdom cannot be purchased or matched by any earthly treasure, requiring a shift in what is pursued and valued.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.
Cross-references
- Revelation 22:1 Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
- Proverbs 16:16 How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.
- Ezekiel 1:22 Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was the likeness of an awesome expanse, gleaming like crystal.
- Revelation 4:6 And before the throne was something like a sea of glass, as clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, covered with eyes in front and back.
- Revelation 21:11 shining with the glory of God. Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, as clear as crystal.