Bible Strands
Job 28:18
Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses the audience within a discourse on the hidden nature of wisdom, contrasting it with mined treasures to emphasize its inaccessibility through human effort.
The words — The Hebrew יִזָּכֵ֑ר (yi.za.Kher) literally means "is remembered" but functions contextually as "is mentioned," while מֶ֥שֶׁךְ (Me.shekh) denotes "price" or "value."
The thread — The comparison of wisdom to pearls or rubies appears in Proverbs 3:15 and Proverbs 31:10, while Lamentations 4:7 uses rubies to describe the ruddy complexion of nobles.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that wisdom cannot be acquired through wealth or excavation, demanding a shift from material valuation to spiritual pursuit.
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
No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 3:15 She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire compares with her.
- Proverbs 31:10 A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than rubies.
- Lamentations 4:7 Her dignitaries were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like sapphires.
- Ezekiel 27:16 Aram was your customer because of your many products; they exchanged turquoise, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies for your wares.
- Proverbs 8:11 For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire compares with her.
- Matthew 7:6 Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
- Matthew 13:45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.
- 1 Timothy 2:9 Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,
- Revelation 17:4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.
- Revelation 18:12 cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; of all kinds of citron wood and every article of ivory, precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;