Job 28 · Verse 13

Job 28:13

Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.
Job 28:13, King James Version

Job 28:13 in other translations

BSBNo man can know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living.
WEBMan doesn’t know its price, and it isn’t found in the land of the living.
ASVMan knoweth not the price thereof; Neither is it found in the land of the living.
YLTMan hath not known its arrangement, Nor is it found in the land of the living.
DARBYMan knoweth not the value thereof; and it is not found in the land of the living.
BBEMan has not seen the way to it, and it is not in the land of the living.
WebsterMan knoweth not the price of it; neither is it found in the land of the living.

What does Job 28:13 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
13. Man can fix no price upon it, as it is nowhere to be found in man's abode (Is 38:11). Job implies both its valuable worth, and the impossibility of buying it at any price.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 13 Man knoweth not the price thereof - It is of infinite value; and is the only science which concerns both worlds. Without it, the wisest man is but a beast; with it, the simplest man is next to an angel. Neither is it found in the land of the living - The world by wisdom, its wisdom, never knew God. True religion came by Divine revelation: that alone gives the true notion of God, his attributes, ways, designs, judgments, providences, etc., whence man came, what is his duty, his nature, and his end. Literature, science, arts, etc., etc., can only avail man for the present life, nor can they contribute to his true happiness, unless tempered and directed by genuine religion.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 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…

Read the full comment on Job 28:12-19 →

Job 28:13 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לֹא\־lo'-notH3808
יָדַ֣עya.Da'he knowsH3045
אֱנ֣וֹשׁ'e.No.oshhumankindH582
עֶרְכָּ֑הּ'er.Kahvaluation itsH6187
וְלֹ֥אve.Lo'and notH3808
תִ֝מָּצֵ֗אti.ma.Tze'it is foundH4672
בְּאֶ֣רֶץbe.'E.retzin [the] land ofH776
הַֽחַיִּֽים\׃Ha.chai.Yimthe living [ones]H2416

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 28:13

  • Proverbs 8:11

    For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

  • Proverbs 8:18-19

    Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.

  • Proverbs 3:14-15

    For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

  • Proverbs 23:23

    Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

  • Matthew 13:44-46

    Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

  • Ecclesiastes 8:16-17

    When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:) Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.

  • Proverbs 16:16

    How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!

  • Psalms 52:5

    God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.

  • Psalms 19:10

    More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

  • Isaiah 53:8

    He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

  • Job 28:21-22

    Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.

  • Job 28:15-19

    It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
knoweth.
15-19; Ps 19:10; 119:72; Pr 3:14,15; 8:11,18,19; 16:16; 23:23
Ec 8:16,17
in the land.
21,22; Ps 52:5; Isa 38:11; 53:8

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 28:12

    But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?

  • Job 28:13

    Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.

  • Job 28:14

    The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.

Read all of Job 28

Job 28:13 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		No conoce su valor el hombre, ni se halla en la tierra de los vivientes.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Aucun mortel n’en connaît le prix, et elle ne se trouve pas sur la terre des vivants.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Kein Mensch kennt ihren Wert, und im Lande der Lebendigen wird sie nicht gefunden.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Nescit homo pretium ejus, nec invenitur in terra suaviter viventium.