Albert Barnes Commentary Job 22:24

"And lay thou [thy] treasure in the dust, And [the gold of] Ophir among the stones of the brooks;" — Job 22:24 (ASV)

Then you shall lay up gold as dust - Margin, or, “on the dust.” Dr. Good renders this, “You shall then count your treasure as dust” - implying that he would have much of it. Noyes renders it, “Cast to the dust your gold” - implying that he would throw his gold away as of no account, and put his dependence on God alone. Kim-chi, and, after him, Grotius, suppose that it means, “Your gold you shall regard no more than dust, and gold of Ophir no more than the stones of the brook; God shall be to you better than gold and silver.” The editor of the Pictorial Bible supposes that there is here a distinct reference to the sources from which gold was formerly obtained, as being washed down among the stones of the brooks.

The word rendered “gold” here, בצר (betser), is from בצר (bâtsar) — to cut off (Psalms 76:12) — and was properly applied to the ore of precious metals in the raw state, as cut or dug out of mines.

Hence, it properly refers to the metals in their crude state, before they were subjected to fire. Then it comes to mean precious metals and is parallel with gold of Ophir in the other half-verse. The word occurs only in the following places: Job 22:24; Job 36:19 (where it is rendered “gold”); and Job 22:25 (where it is rendered “defense”).

The literal translation here would be, “Cast to the dust the precious metals; on the stones of the brooks (the gold of) Ophir.” The Vulgate renders it, “He shall give for earth flint, and for flint golden torrents.” The Septuagint, “You shall be placed on a mount in a rock, and as a rock of the torrent of Ophir.” The Chaldean: “And you shall place upon the dust your strong tower, תקיף כרך, and as a rock of the torrents the gold of Ophir.”

The word here is probably synonymous with “precious treasure,” whether consisting of gold or silver. The idea is that he should cast all that treasure to the dust, or regard it as valueless; that he should cease to make it an object of solicitude to gain it, and then the Almighty would be to him a treasure of more value than gold.

According to this, the idea is not that he would be recompensed with gold and silver as a consequence of returning to God, but that God would afford him more happiness than he had found in the wealth he had sought, and on which Eliphaz supposed his heart had been set. He regarded Job as covetous of property, as mourning over what he had lost, and he entreats him now to cease to grieve on account of that, and to come and put his trust in God.

And the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks - Or, rather, “Cast the gold of Ophir to the stones of the valley, or let it remain in its native valley among the stones of the brook, as of no more value than they are.” There is probably an allusion here to the fact that gold was then commonly found in such places, as it often is now. It was washed down by mountain torrents, lodged among the stones of the valley, and was collected from there; after the sand was washed out, the gold remained.

Ophir is uniformly mentioned in the Scriptures as a place abounding in gold and as well known (see 1 Kings 9:28; 2 Chronicles 8:18; 2 Chronicles 9:10; 1 Kings 10:11; 1 Kings 22:48; 1 Chronicles 29:4).

Much perplexity has been felt regarding its situation, and the difficulty has not been entirely removed. Concerning the opinions held on this point, the reader may consult the notes at Isaiah 13:12, the note in the Pictorial Bible on 2 Chronicles 20:36, and the Dissertation of Martin Lipenius, “de Ophir,” in Ugolin’s Thesaur. Sacr. Ant. Tom. vii. pp. 262-387; also, the Dissertation of John C. Wichmanshausen, “de navigatione Ophiritica,” and Reland’s Dissertation, “de Ophir,” in the same volume. From the mention of this place at a period as early as the time of Job, it is reasonable to suppose that it was not a very remote region, as there is no evidence that voyages were made then to distant countries or that the knowledge of geography was very extensive. The presumption would be that it was in the vicinity of Arabia.