28:16 It cannot be measured out for purchase 1 with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx 2 or sapphires.
28:17 Neither gold nor crystal 3 can be compared with it,
nor can a vase 4 of gold match its worth.
28:18 Of coral and jasper no mention will be made;
the price 5 of wisdom is more than pearls. 6
28:19 The topaz of Cush 7 cannot be compared with it;
it cannot be purchased with pure gold.
3:15 She is more precious than rubies,
and none of the things 8 you desire 9 can compare 10 with her. 11
54:11 “O afflicted one, driven away, 12 and unconsoled!
Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony
and I lay your foundation with lapis-lazuli.
54:12 I will make your pinnacles out of gems, 13
your gates out of beryl, 14
and your outer wall 15 out of beautiful 16 stones.
1 tn The word actually means “weighed,” that is, lifted up on the scale and weighed, in order to purchase.
2 tn The exact identification of these stones is uncertain. Many recent English translations, however, have “onyx” and “sapphires.”
3 tn The word is from זָכַךְ (zakhakh, “clear”). It describes a transparent substance, and so “glass” is an appropriate translation. In the ancient world it was precious and so expensive.
4 tc The MT has “vase”; but the versions have a plural here, suggesting jewels of gold.
5 tn The word מֶשֶׁךְ (meshekh) comes from a root meaning “to grasp; to seize; to hold,” and so the derived noun means “grasping; acquiring; taking possession,” and therefore, “price” (see the discussion in R. Gordis, Job, 309). Gray renders it “acquisition” (so A. Cohen, AJSL 40 [1923/24]: 175).
6 tn In Lam 4:7 these are described as red, and so have been identified as rubies (so NIV) or corals.
7 tn Or “Ethiopia.” In ancient times this referred to the region of the upper Nile, rather than modern Ethiopia (formerly known as Abyssinia).
9 tn Heb “all of your desires cannot compare with her.”
10 tn Heb “your desires.” The 2nd person masculine singular suffix on the noun probably functions as subjective genitive.
11 tn The imperfect tense verb יָסַד (yasad, “to establish be like; to resemble”) has a potential nuance here: “can be compared with.”
12 tn Heb “All of your desires do not compare with her.”
11 tn Or, more literally, “windblown, storm tossed.”
13 tn Perhaps, “rubies” (so ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
14 tn On the meaning of אֶקְדָּח (’eqdakh), which occurs only here, see HALOT 82 s.v.
15 tn Heb “border” (so ASV); NASB “your entire wall.”
16 tn Heb “delightful”; KJV “pleasant.”