the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Pearl
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or PEARL.—This jewel, specially esteemed and familiar in the East, is twice used by our Lord as an image of the preciousness of the Christian religion: once in the saying, ‘Cast not your pearls before swine’ (Matthew 7:6), and again in the parable of the Pearl of Great Price (Matthew 13:46). A distinction should be observed in the choice of this jewel as a metaphorical expression. In the case of coined money such as talents or pounds, the side of religion emphasized is the active life of good works, and the lesson conveyed is that of duty. The value of the pearl is not primarily a commercial value; it is something which appeals to its possessor as a unique and priceless possession, precious for its own inherent qualities of beauty and rarity, something for which all that a man has may be sold, itself to be jealously treasured, not to be cast at the feet of those to whom it has no meaning. The pearl is not, from the purchaser’s point of view, merely a counter of commerce, it has a beauty which is its own, and which can be appreciated only by him who knows. It stands not for any utilitarian aspect of religion, but for the secret shared between the soul and God, which loses its beauty and its value if it is paraded before those who do not understand its sanctity. The main points of the two passages would seem to be the transcendent beauty and preciousness of personal religion, and the need of reticent reverence to guard it.
M. R. Newbolt.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Pearl'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/p/pearl.html. 1906-1918.
