No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal; the price of wisdom is above pearls.
Job has just described the mines: deep shafts, rock turned over, rivers dammed, all to bring hidden treasure into the light. Now he weighs the best of that treasure against wisdom, and nothing comes close.
Wisdom weighed against the world's best
The verse belongs to a list that runs from silver and gold through onyx, sapphire, crystal, coral, topaz. One writer treats the list as a test that every earthly treasure fails.
Samuel RidoutA thing of such priceless value is now tested by everything man counts as treasure. Pure gold and silver, weighed out without limit, cannot buy it... corals, pearls, rubies — wisdom's price is greater than them all. The topaz of far-off Ethiopia looks dull beside this bright jewel of God's glory. Men search all of nature in vain for anything to compare with what is worth more than every earthly treasure.
The stones themselves
Commentators differ over the exact stones. Older translations read "rubies" where the ESV reads "pearls," and no one is sure which stone the word names. Its use in Scripture is clearer than its identity.
Morrish Bible DictionaryNo one knows for certain which precious stone this word means. Scripture uses it as a symbol of great worth: "the price of wisdom is above rubies"; the value of a virtuous woman is far above rubies. Job 28:18; Prov. 3:15; Prov. 8:11; Prov. 20:15; Prov. 31:10.
Older versions also put "pearls" in the middle of the verse, where the ESV reads "crystal." One writer traces that difference to the Hebrew word itself.
No price a man can pay
Notice that Job does not say wisdom is expensive. He says nobody knows what it costs, and it is not on sale anywhere in the land of the living.
William KellyNo one on earth knows its price, and in fact it is not found in the land of the living. The deep says wisdom is not in it, and the sea says so even more strongly. There is no hope of trading anything of equal value for it. Weighing out gold or silver is useless. So is the gem of Ophir, or onyx, or sapphire, or golden glass, or fine work in gold, or coral or pearl, or topaz, or the jewel of clearest shine.
The search men will not make
The mining picture is not decoration. It sets up an accusation: men will move a mountain for gold and will not lift a finger for something worth more.
Samuel RidoutWhy will men not work like this for the "hidden wisdom"? Why will they not sift it out when it lies so close by, or, if they must, remove the very mountains of difficulty by faith?... "The one who seeks finds" is still true, though the seeking and the finding are not what the toil for gold would suggest. The wisdom is hidden and the way to it unknown, because men do not know God and will not listen to Him.
Why nothing in creation can match it
No jewel comes close because the difference is one of kind, not of amount. Wisdom belongs to another order of things, and it reaches a person another way.
Leslie M. GrantCoral and quartz are not worth mentioning when we weigh the value of wisdom, and neither are rubies... In other words, nothing in nature can come near the value of true wisdom, for this is spiritual, not natural... 1 Corinthians 2:7 tells us, "But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory." We receive this wisdom only through faith in the Lord Jesus, as the Spirit of God reveals it.
The answer God gives
The end of the chapter answers Job's question. The answer is not something a man can mine or buy.
W. W. FeredayThe depths of the earth will not reveal it, and its value is far above gold and rubies. God alone can declare its true nature and value: "And He said to man, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'"... So until God has His rightful place in a man's mind and heart, he cannot view anything wisely. His thoughts are off centre. His beginning is all wrong.
Summary
- Unpriced — Job does not set a high price on wisdom. He says no one knows its price, and it is not for sale in the land of the living.
- Unmatched — Scripture names coral, crystal and rubies as the top of the scale. Wisdom stands above the whole scale.
- Uncertain — the stones are hard to identify, and commentators differ over whether the verse names pearl or crystal. The point of the list never rested on which stone is which.
- Unbought — nothing in nature comes near wisdom's value, because wisdom is spiritual, not natural. It comes through faith in Christ, by the Spirit.
- Unsought — men will overturn mountains for gold and will not work for wisdom. They do not know God, and wisdom starts with the fear of the Lord.