Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 13:12

"I will make a man more rare than fine gold, even a man than the pure gold of Ophir." — Isaiah 13:12 (ASV)

I will make a man more precious. — Both the words for man (e̓nosh and a̓dam) express, as in Psalms 8:2, the frailty of man’s nature. The words may point to the utter destruction, in which but few men should be left. The “gold of Ophir” (the gold coast near the mouth of the Indus) was proverbial for its preciousness (Job 22:24; Job 28:16; 1 Chronicles 29:4; 1 Kings 9:28; 1 Kings 22:48).