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Bible Encyclopedias
Coral
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or A genus of polypus known to science as "coralligenous zoophytes"; also the hard structures secreted by these animals. The variety known as the red coral (Corallium rubrum) (Pliny, 32:2,11, and elsewhere) is found in the Mediterranean, and was greatly valued by the ancients. It was used for personal ornament, and also for talismans and amulets. It is not certain that the ancient Hebrews were familiar with the coral. The A. V. translates the Hebrew 
"coral" in Job 28:18 and in Ezekiel 27:16, while in Proverbs 24:7 both the A. V. and R. V. give "too high" as an equivalent for the same Hebrew word.
In favor of a derivation from 
("to be high") it might be urged that the red coral has a natural upward form of growth. According to Freitag ("Einleitung in das Studium der Arabischen Sprache," p. 332), the coral in use among the Arabs was white, not red. But he confounds glass beads with corals. In Job 28:18 the Septuagint reads μεÏήÏÏο, Sym. á½Ïηλά, Vulgate excelsa, showing the influence of the etymology from the word meaning "to be high." The Targum renders 
according to Cheyne = ÏαÏ
δαÏάκη), which is entirely inapplicable here; Jastrow prefers "sardonyx," Levy "sandarachina." Rashi holds 
to be the name of a precious stone found in the water. Ibn Ezra gives no explanation, and Gersonides, with the Targum, the paraphrase "costly pearls."
Of modern commentators, Dillmann thinks that "ramoth" (Job 28:18), which Luther simply transliterates, designates something less valuable than "peninim," mentioned in the second half of the verse. Friedrich Delitzsch (in his German translation of Job, 1902) translates it "pearl shells." In Ezekiel 27:16 the Septuagint (Alexandrine Codex) has the transliteration ÏαμμÏÎ, the Vulgate sericum, and Targum "precious stones"; Luther, "sammet."
In Proverbs 24:7 "ramoth" suggests perhaps a play upon the word (= "too high"), but Bickell suggests a change into 
, the Septuagint having an altogether different reading. In the margin of R. V. (Lamentations 4:7) "corals," "red corals," and "pearls" are suggested as truer renderings for the Hebrew word "peninim" (Job 28:18; Proverbs 3:15, 8:11, 20:15, 31:10). Luther has this translation in Lamentations 4:7; Friedrich Delitzsch in Job 28:18. Gesenius ("Th.") holds "peninim" to be the red coral, and "ramoth" to be another, probably the black, variety. The use of the word 
("draft") in connection with "peninim" in Job 28:18, appears to recall the method employed in coral-fishing. Coral is broken off from the rocks by long hooked poles, and "drawn out."
Of medieval Jewish lexicographers, Abu al-Walid, in his "Book of Roots," rejects the opinion that "ramoth" signifies "coral." Ḳimḥi, in his dictionary, explains it as a precious stone. See Menahem ben Saruḳ in "Maḥberet," and "Sefer ha-Parḥon."
These files are public domain.
Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Coral'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/c/coral.html. 1901.
