Hebrew word · H1220

בֶּ֫צֶר

batzer

gold

Raw precious metal: gold or silver ore, or nuggets. It probably comes from the root b-ts-r, 'to cut off, break off; make inaccessible', so the word may mean pieces broken out of rock. The same root gives words for 'fortified' and 'grape harvest' (cutting off clusters). BDB gives 'precious ore'.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

gold, precious ore, ring-gold

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Job 22:24

Range of meaning

Raw precious metal: gold or silver ore, or nuggets. It probably comes from the root b-ts-r, 'to cut off, break off; make inaccessible', so the word may mean pieces broken out of rock. The same root gives words for 'fortified' and 'grape harvest' (cutting off clusters). BDB gives 'precious ore'. HALOT lists it as 'ore, gold (in its raw state)'.

Against the English

BSB, KJV, NASB and ESV say 'gold'. NIV says 'nuggets'. WEB says 'treasure'. YLT says 'a defence', reading it as a fortress word from the same root (compare mivtsar, 'fortress').

Used elsewhere in the period

Only certain here and in v. 25 (as 'betsareka', 'your ore'). Job 36:19 has a similar form, 'betsar', but its meaning there is disputed. The Phoenician and Akkadian evidence is thin. That rarity is why YLT and the ancient versions guessed differently.

Where it appears

Job · 2

  1. Job 22:24 בָּ֑צֶר gold

    and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,

    Here: A rare word for raw precious metal, probably unrefined ore or nuggets rather than worked gold. It is chosen to set up a wordplay in the next verse, where Shaddai becomes Job's 'betser'.

  2. Job 22:25 בְּצָרֶ֑יךָ gold<s> your

    then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.