A noun of uncertain etymology referring to something hard, transparent, and pure — crystal, clear ice, or possibly pearl. It appears in Job's great poem on wisdom, describing the incomparable purity of divine wisdom.
In Job 28:18, gabiysh (crystal/pearls) cannot purchase wisdom, and gold cannot be weighed as its equivalent. This section of Job catalogs the most precious things on earth — gold, silver, sapphire, coral, crystal — only to declare them all inadequate currency for wisdom. The word therefore points beyond itself: it belongs to a list that wisdom transcends. For the Christian, this foreshadows Revelation's holy city, where the street is pure gold 'like transparent glass' (Revelation 21:21) — the new creation is itself wisdom crystallized, the eternal dwelling of the One who is Wisdom incarnate (1 Corinthians 1:30).