Job 22:24

and throw ¹  your gold ²  in the dust – your gold ³  of Ophir among the rocks in the ravines –

and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,

And place your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,

Give up your lust for money, and throw your precious gold into the river.

Relax your grip on your money and abandon your gold-plated luxury.

And put your gold in the dust, even your gold of Ophir among the rocks of the valleys;

if you treat gold like dust, and gold of Ophir like the stones of the torrent-bed,

Then you will lay your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.

and throw ¹  your gold ²  in the dust – your gold ³  of Ophir among the rocks in the ravines –

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.