Job 3:15

3:15 or with princes who possessed gold, ¹ 

who filled their palaces ²  with silver.

Job 28:17

28:17 Neither gold nor crystal ³  can be compared with it,

nor can a vase ⁴  of gold match its worth.

Job 31:24

31:24 “If I have put my confidence in gold

or said to pure gold,

‘You are my security!’

Job 37:22

37:22 From the north he comes in golden splendor; ⁵ 

around God is awesome majesty.

[3:15]  ¹ tn The expression simply has “or with princes gold to them.” The noun is defined by the noun clause serving as a relative clause (GKC 486 §155.e).

[3:15]  ² tn Heb “filled their houses.” There is no reason here to take “houses” to mean tombs; the “houses” refer to the places the princes lived (i.e., palaces). The reference is not to the practice of burying treasures with the dead. It is simply saying that if Job had died he would have been with the rich and famous in death.

[28:17]  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.

[28:17]  ⁴ tc The MT has “vase”; but the versions have a plural here, suggesting jewels of gold.

[37:22]  ⁵ tn The MT has “out of the north comes gold.” Left in that sense the line seems irrelevant. The translation “golden splendor” (with RV, RSV, NRSV, NIV) depends upon the context of theophany. Others suggest “golden rays” (Dhorme), the aurora borealis (Graetz, Gray), or some mythological allusion (Pope), such as Baal’s palace. Golden rays or splendor is what is intended, although the reference is not to a natural phenomenon – it is something that would suggest the glory of God.