cheenc03a.pdf

STONES (PRECIOUS)
These derangements are instructive. That they
reprerent an old text in c1wr from vg. ; but that the
eorruotion is later than 6 - is orobablr. . firrtlv , because 6i .
follows Ex. 28,)fl (the variant dpy. n. xp. being
mainly explanatory of A+), xcondly, because the
derangements are all explicable on the single sopposition
that they are intended to remove difficulties
which are raised by the identifications propounded by
the LXX.
(I) The identifications d&rn=odp&av, and n@hch=
duapaf, brought two red stoner together. SO long as
'adem, whkch is 'red' in any case, meant red jasper, it
was opaque, and gare a certain contrast. 'Sardr,'
however, are often nearly clear. Helm a difficulty.
which war removed by transporing nd9heh and raj'bir;
the further difficult" thus created, that the red nobheh is
brought next to ti;e red icb6, dxdqr, not being felt,
because, ar we shall see, the 'third row' dropped out
altogether.
(1) The identification ddr4efh = ap6po76or had
already brought about the transposition of ydi&.bhih
and yuhd/a"', so as to separate the two green stoner.
and had caused the confusion in the LXX between
bvi;)(~ov and ,9vpliMlov in xi. and xii. In MT it has
had the further rsult that dnrdklh in. the old sense of
a clear mlourlerr stone became interchanged with the
opaque colourlers yahd18m. Moreover ddr4aalh. if it
meant cvdonv8or. . , , meant 'ereen': - and faor~r war
'green,' whereas ofidpoy8ar was ambiguous, and
yohdl6m had no special coiour. So on all grounds
bor4hcth went down to (vi.) and yohalam up to (iii).
(3) Fwther, to restore ydfzjhih to its proper place
at (vi.), and perhaps as an alternative method of
.eo.r.ti"s - idem and nibheh. the whole of the .fourth
~~r~ '
row' WPS interpolated between rows one and two.
(4) Finally and conrequently, the 'third row' fell
out altogether; l4iepjrm. hcylip~ov, being taken for
flAmrpo"-i.e. Lpylipcov *at xpvaiou-and confused with
the adhdb (=Vg, aurun), which actually ends the
description both in MT and 6.
Another distorted version of the same list of stoner ir
supplied by the 'Foundations' of the New Jerusalem.
~ ~
2s, Faun da- in Rev. 2119 f Here, as regards the
oPNew o'der. the problem has been, how to
Jerusalem. adapt the twelve stones of the breastplate,
in their four rows-of-three, to the
foundations of a 'foursauare' citv. The result is as
follows :-
Of there rows-of-three, the first row is the second
row of the 'breastplate,' given in reaer~ed odder, (vi.),
(v.), (iv.), with xaAx$bwv for (nijheh) avopa< at (iv.).
The second row is the firit row of the 'breastplate: airo
in rez~eried order (iii.), (ii.), (i.), with oapbiut exchanged
for d o at i . . The third row is the fourth row
of the 'breastplate' in direct order (x.). (xi.), (xii.), but
with rordliov exchanged for oop6bvuF at (r.). The
fourth row ir the third row of the 'breastplate' also in
dire1 order (uii. ). (viii. ). (ix.), but with xpuobrpooor for
h~74prou at (vii.) and bdnvO0r for dxd~r at (viii.).
That is to say, the (Foundations'
are conceived as i" the diagram
rii.
1". appended, and to describe them
the writer ha5 started from the
xi. IV. 11. u. angle between rides 11. and 111.
, , i. iii.
He has first described 11. and I.,
X. ~i. in correct sequence : but when he
ir, viii, + reached IV. and 111.. he has
recurred to the traditional order
within each of the 'rows-oEthree,' or has perhaps
attempted to work outwards again from his startingpoint
at the angle between 11. and 111.
This account also adds several minor points. (I)
4811
The confusion between #ap8:v"F and rord{~ou Suggest.
that the authoriry, which is followed, read Pvplihhcov for
itham at no. xi. (5 18). and duug, or oopPvy for
yahatam at no. xii. (g 19). (2) The xahx46wu which
takes the place of EvOplF at no, iu. suhrtitutes a green
gem ('dioptase' or copper silicate) for the red ,garnet';
giving some slight support to the discarded rendering
m-fbf ('malachite') for nipheh, but confirming the
view that oudoar6or . , . in Rev. does not mean a " meen
stone merely -for xoh~ljdwv was itself regarded as a
variety of opdpoy6or. Zfidpay8or here, therefore, may
perhaps still be tianrialed ,crystal' ar in its primary
meaning. (3) The xpwbrparor which takes the place
of Xrylip~orov and E not otherwise found in OT or NT,
belongs, like ~ahx+3~~ and aap86vvf. to a more
advanced stare of ex~erience, when intermediate tints
were recognired ; it may represent either a trrenish
' chryroiith,' or, more probably, the opaque applegreen
Ichrysoprase' (chalcedony tinted with nickel oxide),
which in intermediate in tint between a yellow serpentine
or yellow jasper, and the hLOar b rpdmvor (cp fiahoxinr)
ofGen. 21~. The modern 'prase' (deepgreenchalcedony)
and its variant the jasper-spotted 'bloodrtone' were
used for scaraboid gems as early as the sixth century
B.C. in the Levant ( eg Myrer and Ohnefalsch-Richter,
C~prur Murcum Colologue. No. 4581). but are not
clearly to be identified even in Pliny. (4) The bdrrwOor,
which takes the place of d~drqr, is similarly mentioned
in OT or NT only here and in Rev. 9x7. 6oniuLuor ;
cp Enoch 71% (of 'streams of fire'). Pliny (3740)
represents it a;r a dull sort of 'amethyst.' Solinur
describes what is evidently the modern 'sapphire
(blue corundum) and says that it came from Ethiopia ;
probably he is thinking of a port-ofkxchange on the
Red Sea, and consequently of the true Iudian gem.
Later, the meaning expanded, including many different-
coioured varieties ifive according to Eoiohanius, sir
according to Ben Mansor [quoted at length in King,
Nnf. Hirl, of Prei. Stoner. s50fll). But the use of
hycinihui in Vg. Symm. to render fnriii in Cant. 514
jwhere the LXX has auepatj as
" . .
as by symm. in
Ezrk. 1x6 28.3 (where the I.XX has the normal ~puob-
Ador) rutggestn that an early use of bdn~vOor may have
been to render the native Indian word which appears
in Arabic asya@t-this denoting the modern 'jacinth,'
a
~~
' nohle'
~~~~~~
variefv of 'zircon' lzirconium silicate), which
is a tranzparent deep-red stone. Now the BdxrvOor of
Rev. 21m taker the place of a dark-red translucent
stone, JPbb, dxdrvr. The epithet baxrv8ivour of Rev.
grr, too, is coupled wit11 rvpivovr 'fire-like' (cp Enoch
711, above, and the equation hyarinthur=livOpaf in
Cant. 54, so that in both cases 'sapphire' is out of
the question, whilst the sultry glow of the 'jacinth' is
exactly what is wanted. Moreover, both 6d~rvBor and
dxdqq might very well stand as parallel attempts to
transliterate yaalil, and the displacement of the one by
the other becomes in every way intelligible.
. ~
the Republic fro", Ptolemaic Ewpl. J. 1.. M.
C. W. King Nahrrol Hist. of Prrciuur Sfmc.; Anfique
Gsmr (1866); d. Menant, GZytIipr Orimlolr(r883): N. Story
Mate1 ne CatdogrrofthcMurlborawgh
24. Bibliography. G m 6nt:oduution); J. H. Middleron,
Anciznr Gems (1 I): Flindcrr Pstric,
'Precious Stonc' in Harriner' - DB: @Furtw&neler. - . Axlib<
c-m. ( 1 ~ ) .
STONINQ. See LAW AND JUSTICE, 5 12.
ST004 in 2 K. 4x9, represents KD3, hirri (A~+~oc),
on the original msaning of which word see Tnnoee, 1.
On the D!?=w, ddndyim (RV ' birthrtaol'), of Ex. I la cp
Por~enu, P 8, and BaenUEhS note, with the reference5 in
BDB, ra.