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luxury,
Ezekiel, inveighing against Tyrus as the city of too great
cries out :
Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares
of thy making : they were occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple,
and embroidered work, and fine linen, and coral, ana agStgr*"
Reproving the Prince of Tyrus for his impious pride, he
declares :
Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God, every precious stone
was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond the^bexyl, the
onyx, and the jasper/'the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle,
gohfc
line in Jeremiah is interesting because it is, with one other,
the only mention in the Bible of the diamond, which then must have
been very rare, if not wholly unknown, yet is here described, in its
use at least, with the greatest accuracy:
The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point
of adiamond.
These include all references to precious stones in the Old Testament,
except the High Priest's Breastplate. Aaron, the first High
Priest, tells what it shall be in Exodus 28, and describes it completed
in Exodus 39 :
Four square it shall be, being doubled, a span shall be the length
thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof.
And thou shalt set in it settings of stones; the first row shall
be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle; this shall be the first row.
And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a
diamond.
\ And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.
And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper.
And the stones shall be with the names of the children of |
Israel,
twelve, according to their names, like the engraving of a signet ; every
one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.
In the New Testament, except John's Vision in Revelations,
precious stones are used more frequently to point a moral than to
adorn a tale. The Old Testament seems more mellow, richer in
thought and culture, the New stronger in religious zeal, exortation
and practical application. Pearls in their purity greatly appealed to
the clean, austere minds of the Apostles :
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant-man seeking
he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold
all he had, and bought it. ^" .
Again Matthew shows his reverence for these gifts of the sea :
Give not what is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls
before swine. ** ""
Thus they appeared to Matthew ; but Timothy, a minor disciple,
evidently stood in fear of them, as savoring too greatly of impious
luxury:
I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands,
without wrath or doubting.
In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest
apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broidered hak,
or gold, or pearls, or costly array.