Job 28:19

28:12-19 Job here speaks of wisdom and understanding, the knowing and enjoying of God and ourselves. Its worth is infinitely more than all the riches in this world. It is a gift of the Holy Ghost which cannot be bought with money. Let that which is most precious in God's account, be so in ours. Job asks after it as one that truly desired to find it, and despaired of finding it any where but in God; any way but by Divine revelation.

The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it,.... Not Ethiopia Abyssinia, or that which lies beyond Egypt in Africa; for, as Ludolphus (x) says, there are no gems found there, or very rarely; but Cush, as the word is, or Arabia Chusaea, the same with the country of Midian, and the parts adjacent; see Habakkuk 3:7 ; hence Zipporah, the wife of Moses, who was of that country, is called an Ethiopian woman, Numbers 12:1 ; and this was near Job's country, who knew the produce of it; and here the topaz is found, as many writers observe.

Diodorus Siculus says (y), in Ophiodes, an island in the Arabian gulf, belonging to the Troglodytes, the topaz is found, which is a very clear stone, pleasant to the sight, like to glass, and affording a wonderful golden colour; and with him Strabo (z) agrees, who relates there is an island called Ophiodes, from its being freed from serpents by the king's orders, which killed men that came there for topazes; which, he says, is a clear stone of a golden colour, and so refulgent, that it is not easy to see it in the daytime, being so surrounded with light; but at night it is seen by those that gather it, who set a vessel for a sign, and then dig for it in the daytime; and, he adds, a multitude of men are hired by the kings of Egypt, to gather and keep these stones, and men from stealing them; and, according to Archelaus (a), the topaz is found in Chitis, an island in Arabia, where the Troglodytes digging for herbs and roots find it; and, as Juba relates (b), there is an island called Topazion, in the Red sea, three hundred furlongs (about 73 miles) from the continent, which is cloudy, and is therefore often sought for by navigators; whence he says it had its name Topazion, which in the language of the Troglodytes signifies to seek, and the topaz itself in their language so signifies; in the Samaritan version of Exodus 39:10 ; it is called Dachetah, from the Arabic word (c) "Dachatz", the language of the Troglodytes, which signifies to seek and search by removing the earth with

Verse 19. - The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it . It is generally allowed that the pithdath ( פִטְדַת ) is either the "topaz" or the "chrysolite." In favour of its being the chrysolite is the passage of Pliny which mentions its being esteemed for its green tints ('Hist. Nat.,' 37:8). Otherwise "topaz" might have appeared to be the best rendering. By "Cush," here translated "Ethiopia," is probably meant Cushite Arabia, or the southern and south-eastern regions (see the author's 'Origin of Nations,' pp. 206-209). Neither shall it be valued with pare gold. Of the four words used for "gold" in this passage (vers. 15-17), one ( זהב ) seems to be the common name, and to designate the metal by its coleus, "yellow," since צָהַב means "to be yellow" Another ( סָגוּר ) means properly "what is treasured," or "shut up," from סָגַר , "to shut." The third ( פַז ) seems to be the name for "native gold," or that found in river-washings and nuggets, which was regarded as the purest. The fourth ( כֶּחֶם ) is a poetical name only, and designates gold of extreme purity ( Song of Solomon 5:11 ), whether highly refined or native. Job uses them all, to show that there was no gold of any kind wherewith it was possible to purchase wisdom. Job 28:19

The topaz - The topaz is a precious stone, whose colors are yellow, green, blue, and red. Its natural place is in various primitive rocks, such as the topaz-rock, gneiss, and clay-slate. It is found in the granite and gneiss districts of Mar and Cairnaorta, in Cornwall, in Brazil, and in various other places. The most valuable stones of this kind now known are those which are found in Brazil. This gem is much prized by jewelers, and is considered as one of the more beautiful ornamental stones. The Hebrew word פטדה pı̂ṭdâh, occurs in Exodus 28:17 ; Exodus 39:10 ; Ezekiel 28:13 . and in this place only. It is uniformly rendered topaz. It is not improbable that the English word "topaz," and the Greek τοπάζιον topazion, are derived from this, by a slight transposition of the letters - טפדה. The Vulgate and the Septuagint render this "topaz." Of Ethiopia - Hebrew כוּשׁ kûsh - "Cush." Coverdale here renders it, "India." On the meaning of this word, and the region denoted by it, see the notes at Isaiah 11:11. It may mean either the part of Africa now known as Ethiopia, or Abyssinia and Nubia; the southern part of Arabia, or the Oriental Cush in the vicinity of the Tigris. It is better, since the word has such ambiguity, to retain the original, and to translate it "Cush." For anything that appears, this may have denoted, in the time of Job, the southern part of Arabia. It is known that the topaz was found there.