22:24 and throw 1 your gold 2 in the dust –
your gold 3 of Ophir
among the rocks in the ravines –
28:17 Neither gold nor crystal 4 can be compared with it,
nor can a vase 5 of gold match its worth.
31:24 “If I have put my confidence in gold
or said to pure gold,
‘You are my security!’
1 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.
tn Heb “place.”
2 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”).
3 tn The Hebrew text simply has “Ophir,” a metonymy for the gold that comes from there.
4 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.
5 tc The MT has “vase”; but the versions have a plural here, suggesting jewels of gold.