the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Precious Stones
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or (λίθοι τίμιοι; λίθος τίμιος used collectively in Revelation 18:12; Revelation 18:16)
The writers of Scripture share to some extent the instinctive delight of mankind in precious stones, ‘a subject in which the majestic might of Nature presents itself to us within a very limited space, though, in the opinion of many, nowhere displayed in a more admirable manner’ (Pliny, HN_ xxxvii. 1). St. Paul uses precious stones figuratively (1 Corinthians 3:12), in allusion either, generally, to the marbles and other costly materials employed in the building of palaces and temples, or, in particular, to the ‘pleasant stones’ (LXX_, λίθοι ἐκλεκτοί, Vulg._ ‘lapides desiderabiles’) of Isaiah 54:12. He thinks of Christians, of characters, or of creeds (apparently the last are more immediately in view) as the precious stones which may be built upon the one foundation, Jesus Christ. The writer of the Rev. alludes to the proper colours of precious stones in a very technical manner, displaying ‘that exact knowledge of particulars only possessed by persons either dealing with precious stones, or from special circumstances compelled to have a practical acquaintance with their nature’ (C. W. King, The Nat. Hist. of Precious Stones and of the Precious Metals 2, 1867, p. 325). He figures Him that sits on the throne of heaven as like a jasper and a sardius (Revelation 4:3). The light (φωστήρ) within the New Jerusalem is like a very precious stone, a jasper, crystal-clear (Revelation 21:11); and the foundations of the city are adorned with all manner of precious stones (Revelation 21:19). The merchandise of Imperial Rome of course includes precious stones (Revelation 18:12), with which, indeed, the city decks herself (Revelation 18:16), While Pliny, a contemporary of the writer of Rev., expresses a sober regret that the admiration of precious stones ‘has now increased to such a universal passion’ (loc. cit.), the Hebrew-Christian prophet writes with a holy indignation, since to his mind the things that are most precious have become an adornment for her who is most vile-for ‘Babylon,’ the mother of harlots (Revelation 17:4; Revelation 17:8).
The idea of a New Jerusalem built of precious stones (Revelation 21:19-21) was not original, for it occurs in the prayer of Tobit (Tobit 13:16-17). St. John’s list of 12 precious stones is closely related to that of the 12 engraved stones in the breastplate of the high priest (Exodus 28:17-20; Exodus 39:10-13), and thus to that of the king of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:13, where the LXX_, diverging widely from the Massoretic text, simply reproduces the stones of the breastplate). It was probably the writer’s intention to name all the 12 stones which had been consecrated by use in the ephod, but he quotes loosely from memory, omitting some and adding others. Sardius, topaz, emerald, sapphire, jacinth, amethyst, beryl, and jasper reappear in his list, though in a different order. Carbuncle (marg._ ‘emerald’), diamond (marg._ ‘carbuncle’), agate, and onyx (marg._ ‘beryl’) are omitted, and their place is taken by chalcedony, sardonyx, chrysolite, and chrysoprase.
Various causes make the identification of the precious stones of the ancients a difficult matter. The classical treatises of Theophrastus (c._ 300 b.c.) and Pliny (c._ a.d. 100) are full of interest, but the descriptions of particular stones are often too vague for diagnosis. The old principle of classification was colour rather than chemical affinity. Various red stones-ruby, red spinal, and garnet-were grouped together under the general name of carbuncle (ἄνθραξ), while many green stones-emerald, peridote, green fluorspar, malachite, and certain kinds of quartz and jade-were each called σμάραγδος. Stones once deemed valuable have fallen out of esteem, and their names have been transferred to others which have risen into favour. Stones which were, and still are, precious have had their names interchanged. Of the twelve foundation stones in Revelation 21:19-20, the jasper, the emerald (a corruption of σμάραγδος), the sardonyx, the sard, the beryl, and the amethyst have (on the whole) retained their ancient meanings; but the ancient sapphire is our modern lapis lazuli, the chalcedony our agate, the chrysolite our topaz, the topaz our chrysolite, and the jacinth our sapphire. Moreover, it is very improbable that the stones in the Hebrew ephod were in all instances so precious as the Greek names assigned to them in the Ptolemaic period would seem to indicate. As taste developed, it normally moved away from the common to the rich and rare. The conquests of Alexander brought into the Western markets all the gems of the gorgeous East, and established a new standard of values in precious minerals. The diamond and the ruby, which became well known in the Greek and Roman periods, are anachronisms in the OT (where even the RV_ retains them); and Flinders Petrie (HDB_ iv. 619 ff.) has stated strong reasons for holding that the ‘sardius’ of the Hebrew breastplate (Exodus 28:17; cf. Revelation 21:20) was an opaque red jasper, the ‘emerald’ a quartz crystal, the ‘topaz’ a yellow green serpentine, and the ‘beryl’ a green felspar. The question whether the writer of Rev. gave the terms he found (mostly) in the LXX_ an ancient or a modern connotation is one which perhaps scarcely occurred to himself.
It is probable that precious stones were originally valued less for their beauty and rarity than for the magical and medicinal powers which they were supposed to possess. By a kind of sympathetic magic the amethyst (ἀ, ‘not,’ and μεθύσκω, ‘make drunk’) with its wine-red colour was reputed to be a preventive of intoxication, the red jasper (or blood-stone) was a cure for haemorrhage, the green jasper brought fertility to the soil, and so forth. According to the doctrine of ‘signatures,’ each mineral was supposed to be marked by some natural sign which indicated the particular medicinal use to which it could be put. The belief in ‘lucky stones’ was widespread. Pliny gravely sets down the peculiar virtues of many of the precious stones which he describes: the diamond ‘neutralizes poison and dispels delirium’; amber, ‘worn on the neck, is a cure for fevers and other diseases,’ and so on. From this superstition the writer of Rev. is far removed. It does not appear that his precious stones have any occult or mystical meaning. He merely uses their colours aesthetically, as the pigments of a splendid picture. His sole desire is to fire the imagination with an idea of the radiant beauty of the city whose builder and maker is God.
Literature.-W. M. Flinders Petrie, art._ ‘Stones, Precious,’ in HDB_; A. S. Murray and A. H. Smith, art._ ‘Gem’ in EBr_11; C. Babington, art._ ‘Gems’ in Smith’s DCA_.
James Strahan.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Precious Stones'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/p/precious-stones.html. 1906-1918.
