Ten Things Called Precious in the Hebrew Bible

"And the word of the LORD was precious in those days" (1 Samuel 3:1), and so forth. Ten things were called precious, and these are they: the Torah, and prophecy, and understanding, and knowledge, and folly, and the righteous, and the death of the righteous, and lovingkindness, and wealth, and Israel. The Torah, from where? As it is written, "She is more precious than rubies" (Proverbs 3:15). Prophecy, from where? As it is written, "And the word of the LORD was precious in those days." And understanding, from where? As it is written, "He who spares his words has knowledge, and a man of understanding is of a precious spirit" (Proverbs 17:27). And knowledge, from where? As it is written, "and the lips of knowledge are a precious vessel" (ibid.). Folly, from where do we derive it? As it is written, "more precious than wisdom and than honor is a little folly" (Ecclesiastes 10:1). And the righteous, from where? As it is written, "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them" (Psalms 139:17). And the death of the righteous, from where? As it is written, "Precious in the eyes of the LORD is the death of His pious ones" (Psalms 116:15). And lovingkindness, from where? As it is written, "How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God" (Psalms 36:8). And wealth, from where? As it is written, "The slothful man does not roast his prey, but the precious wealth of a man is to be diligent" (Proverbs 12:27). Israel, from where? As it is written, "Is Ephraim a precious son to Me? Is he a darling child?" and so forth (Jeremiah 31:19).