22:1 There was no war between Syria and Israel for three years. 4
9:10 After twenty years, during which Solomon built the Lord’s temple and the royal palace, 6
22:24 and throw 10 your gold 11 in the dust –
your gold 12 of Ophir
among the rocks in the ravines –
28:16 It cannot be measured out for purchase 13 with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx 14 or sapphires.
45:9 Princesses 15 are among your honored guests, 16
your bride 17 stands at your right hand, wearing jewelry made with gold from Ophir. 18
13:12 I will make human beings more scarce than pure gold,
and people more scarce 19 than gold from Ophir.
1 tn Heb “went.”
2 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 31,500 pounds of gold (cf. NCV); CEV, NLT “sixteen tons”; TEV “more than 14,000 kilogrammes.”
3 tn Heb “a fleet of Tarshish [ships].” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.
4 tn Heb “and they lived three years without war between Aram and Israel.”
5 tn Heb “Because it was with your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was with your heart.”
6 tn Heb “the two houses, the house of the
7 tn Heb “and he said.”
8 tn Heb “my brother.” Kings allied through a parity treaty would sometimes address each other as “my brother.” See 1 Kgs 20:32-33.
9 tn Heb “he called them the land of Cabul to this day.” The significance of the name is unclear, though it appears to be disparaging. The name may be derived from a root, attested in Akkadian and Arabic, meaning “bound” or “restricted.” Some propose a wordplay, pointing out that the name “Cabul” sounds like a Hebrew phrase meaning, “like not,” or “as good as nothing.”
10 tc The form is the imperative. Eliphaz is telling Job to get rid of his gold as evidence of his repentance. Many commentators think that this is too improbable for Eliphaz to have said, and that Job has lost everything anyway, and so they make proposals for the text. Most would follow Theodotion and the Syriac to read וְשָׁתָּ (vÿshatta, “and you will esteem….”). This would mean that he is promising Job restoration of his wealth.
11 tn The word for “gold” is the rare בֶּצֶר (betser), which may be derived from a cognate of Arabic basara, “to see; to examine.” If this is the case, the word here would refer to refined gold. The word also forms a fine wordplay with בְצוּר (bÿtsur, “in the rock”).
12 tn The Hebrew text simply has “Ophir,” a metonymy for the gold that comes from there.
13 tn The word actually means “weighed,” that is, lifted up on the scale and weighed, in order to purchase.
14 tn The exact identification of these stones is uncertain. Many recent English translations, however, have “onyx” and “sapphires.”
15 tn Heb “daughters of kings.”
16 tn Heb “valuable ones.” The form is feminine plural.
17 tn This rare Hebrew noun apparently refers to the king’s bride, who will soon be queen (see Neh 2:6). The Aramaic cognate is used of royal wives in Dan 5:2-3, 23.
18 tn Heb “a consort stands at your right hand, gold of Ophir.”
19 tn The verb is supplied in the translation from the first line. The verb in the first line (“I will make scarce”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse.