SAPPHIRE
A gem next in hardness and value to the diamond, and comprising, as varieties, all those precious stones known by the name of oriental gems, namely, the oriental ruby, oriental topaz, and oriental emerald, Joh 21:25 . In general the name of sapphire is given to the blue variety, which is either of deep indigo blue, or of various lighter tints, Exo 24:10, and sometimes gradually passes into perfectly white or colorless, which, when cut, may also pass for a diamond, Exo 28:18 ; 39:11; Jer 21:19 .
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Sapphire
(, from )
Sapphire is the second foundation stone of the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:19), an idea probably suggested by Isa 54:11. Doubtless the lapis lazuli is meant (so Rev 21:19 Revised Version margin). According to Theophrastus (Lap. 23) the sapphire is as it were spotted with gold dust. ( ), and Pliny (Historia Naturalis (Pliny) xxxvii. 38) alludes to its aureus pulvis, and again (39), in iis [sapphiris] enim aurum punctis conlucet caeruleis. This description does not suit the stone now called sapphire, but is fully applicable to the lapis lazuli, which frequently contains disseminated particles of iron-pyrites of gold-like appearance (Encyclopaedia Britannica 11 xvi. 199). In Exo 24:10 the Septuagint says that under Gods feet is -a fine simile for the star-gemmed azure sky (cf. Eze 1:26.). The modern sapphire is probably the ancient , or jacinth (q.v. [Note: .v. quod vide, which see.] ).
Literature-C. W. King, The Natural History of Precious Stones and Gems, 1865, pp. 273-277; J. H. Middleton, The Engraved Gems of Classical Times, 1891.
James Strahan.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Sapphire
(, sapper [according to Gesenius, from its capacity for engraving; but according to Frst, from its brilliancy]; Sept. and N.T. ; Vulg. sapphirus), a precious stone, apparently of a bright blue color; see Exo 24:10, where the God of Israel is represented as being seen in vision by Moses and the elders with a paved work of a sappir stone, and as it were the body of heaven in its clearness (comp. Eze 1:26). The sappir was the second stone in the second row of the high priest’s breastplate (Exo 28:18); it was extremely precious (Job 28:16); it was one of the precious stones that ornamented the king of Tyre (Eze 28:13). In the Apocalyptic vision it formed the second foundation wall of the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:19). Notwithstanding the identity of name between our sapphire and the and sapphirus of the Greeks and Romans, it is generally agreed that the sapphire of the ancients was not our gem of that name, viz. the azure or indigo blue crystalline variety of corundum, but our lapis lazuli (ultramarine); for Pliny (N.H. 37, 9) thus speaks of the sapphirus: It is refulgent with spots of gold, of an azure color sometimes, but not often purple. The best kind comes from Media; it is never transparent, and is not well suited for engraving upon when intersected with hard, crystalline particles. The account of Theophrastus is similar (De Lapid. 23). This description answers exactly to the character of the lapis lazuli; the crystalline particles of Pliny are crystals of iron pyrites, which often occur with this mineral. It is, however, not so certain that the sappir of the Hebrew Bible is identical with the lapis lazuli; for the scriptural requirements demand transparency, great value, and good material for the engraver’s art, all of which combined characters the lapis lazuli does not possess in any great degree. Pliny calls it inutilis sculpturae. King (Antique Gems, p. 44) says that intagli and camel of Roman times are frequent in the material, but rarely any works of much merit. Again, the sappir was certainly pellucid: sane apud Judaeos, says Braun (De Vest. Sac. p. 680, ed. 1680), saphiros pellucidas notas fuisse manifestissimum est, adeo etiam ut pellucidum illorum philosophis dicatur , saphir. Beckmann (Hist. of Invent. 1, 472) is of opinion that the sappir of the Hebrews is the same as the lapis lazuli; Rosenmller and Braun argue in favor of its being our sapphire or precious corundum.
The Oriental sapphire is a pellucid gem, little inferior in hardness to the diamond. The best are found in Pegu, and in the sand of the rivers of Ceylon. They are very seldom found of a large size. Their color is blue, varying through all the intermediate shades down to colorless. The deep blue are called male sapphires; the lighter, water sapphires, or female sapphires. The sapphire has been sometimes found red, and has then been mistaken for ruby. There is a gem called sapphirorubinus, which is a sapphire part blue, part ruby colored: it is called by the Indians niloecundi. Precious stones were considered by the ancients to be emblematical of some faculty or virtue. Pope Innocent III sent to king John a present of four rings: the sapphire, denoting hope; the emerald, faith; the garnet, charity; the topaz, good works. The sapphire is the stone which, in the high priest’s breastplate, bore the name of Issachar. According to the Cabalists, the sapphire was fatal to serpents. The rabbins also have an absurd story about the engraving of the gem on the high priest’s breastplate by means of a singular worm (see the Talmudical treatises Sopha and Gittin). The ancients as well as moderns had many other superstitions and speculations concerning this stone. (See Jungendres, De Sapphiro [Alt. 1705].) SEE GEM.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Sapphire
Associated with diamonds (Ex. 28:18) and emeralds (Ezek. 28:13); one of the stones in the high priest’s breastplate. It is a precious stone of a sky-blue colour, probably the lapis lazuli, brought from Babylon. The throne of God is described as of the colour of a sapphire (Ex. 24:10; comp. Ezek. 1:26).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Sapphire
One of the hyaline corundums; deep blue, hard, brilliant, and costly. Representing the hue of the divine throne. On the high-priest’s breast-plate (Exo 28:18); some think the lapis lazuli is meant (Exo 24:10). Eze 1:26; Eze 10:1; Job 28:6; Job 28:16; Son 5:14, sapphire, sparkling in the girdle round Him; Isa 54:11; Lam 4:7, “their polishing was of sapphire,” they were like beautifully cut and polished sapphires. The sapphires represent the blue veins of a beautiful person (Eze 28:13). The best sapphires came from Persia. Our sapphire is the azure or indigo blue, crystalline corundum; but the Latin and Greek sapphire was “refulgent with spots of gold, azure, never transparent, not suited for engraving when intersected with hard crystalline particles” (Pliny, H. N. 37:9); i.e. the lapis lazuli. The Hebrew lapis lazuli is transparent and suited for engraving; probably our sapphire.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Sapphire
SAPPHIRE.See Jewels and Precious Stones.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Sapphire
safr. See STONES, PRECIOUS.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Sapphire
Sapphire, a precious stone, mentioned in Exo 24:10; Exo 28:18; Job 28:16; Eze 28:13; Rev 21:19. It is next in hardness and value to the diamond, and is mostly of a blue color of various shades. It is often found in collections of ancient gems.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Sapphire
sappir , . When Moses, and the elders, etc., went up into the mount to God “there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone.” Exo 24:10. In Ezekiel’s vision, above the firmament, was seen the “likeness of a throne as the appearance of a sapphire stone.” Eze 1:26. It was one of the stones in the breastplate, and one that garnished the foundation of the holy Jerusalem. It is symbolical of heavenly glory. Exo 28:18; Rev 21:19. The word occurs in Job 28:6; Job 28:16; Son 5:14; Isa 54:11; Lam 4:7; Eze 10:1; Eze 28:13. Probably an azure or sky-blue stone. Some suppose it was the Lapis-lazuli, others identify it with the modern sapphire.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Sapphire
A precious stone
Job 28:6; Job 28:16; Isa 54:11; Eze 28:13
Set in the breastplate
Exo 28:18
The color of the firmament
Eze 1:26
Seen in the foundation of the New Jerusalem in John’s apocalyptic vision
Rev 21:19
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Sapphire
Sapphire. (Hebrew, sappir). A precious stone, apparently of a bright-blue color, Exo 24:10; set as the second stone, in the second row, of the high priest’s breastplate, Exo 28:18; extremely precious, Job 28:16. It was one of the precious stones, that ornamented the king of Tyre. Eze 28:13. The sapphire of the ancients was not our gem of that name, namely, the azure or indigo-blue, crystalline variety of corundum, but our lapis lazuli (ultra-marine).
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Sapphire
is mentioned in Rev 21:19 (RV, marg., “lapis lazuli”) as the second of the foundations of the wall of the heavenly Jerusalem (cp. Isa 54:11). It was one of the stones in the high priest’s breastplate, Exo 28:18; Exo 39:11; as an intimation of its value see Job 28:16; Eze 28:13. See also Exo 24:10; Eze 1:26; Eze 10:1. The “sapphire” has various shades of blue and ranks next in hardness to the diamond.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Sapphire
, Exo 24:10; Exo 28:18; Job 28:6; Job 28:16; Son 5:14; Isa 54:11; Eze 1:26; Eze 10:1; Eze 28:13, , Rev 21:19, only. That this is the sapphire, there can be no doubt. The Septuagint, the Vulgate, and the general run of commentators, ancient and modern, agree in this. The sapphire is a pellucid gem. In its finest state it is extremely beautiful and valuable, and second only to the diamond in lustre, hardness, and value. Its proper colour is pure blue; in the choicest specimens it is of the deepest azure; and in others varies into paleness, in shades of all degrees between that and a pure crystal brightness, without the least tinge of colour, but with a lustre much superior to the crystal. The oriental sapphire is the most beautiful and valuable. It is transparent, of a fine sky colour, sometimes variegated with veins of a white sparry substance, and distinct separate spots of a gold colour. Whence it is that the prophets describe the throne of God like unto sapphire, Eze 1:26; Eze 10:1. Isa 54:11-12, prophesying the future grandeur of Jerusalem, says,
Behold, I lay thy stones in cement of vermilion, And thy foundations with sapphires:
And I will make thy battlements of rubies, And tiny gates of carbuncles;
And the whole circuit of thy walls shall be of precious stones.
These seem, says Bishop Lowth, to be general images to express beauty, magnificence, purity, strength, and solidity, agreeably to the ideas of the eastern nations; and to have never been intended to be strictly scrutinized, or minutely and particularly explained, as if they had each of them some precise moral or spiritual meaning. Tob 13:16-17, in his prophecy of the final restoration of Israel, describes the New Jerusalem in the same oriental manner: For Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires, and emeralds, and precious stones; thy walls, and towers, and battlements, with pure gold. And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with the beryl and carbuncle, and with stones of Ophir, Rev 21:18-21.
Fuente: Biblical and Theological Dictionary
Sapphire
Isa 54:11 (a) Our Lord JESUS is compared to this beautiful stone because of His holy and heavenly character, and as the foundation of GOD’s Church. It is also a picture of the heavenly character of the nation of Israel as they will appear when GOD finishes His training of them.
Eze 1:26 (a) This is a bright blue stone which is typical of the heavenly and holy character of our Lord. (See also Son 5:14; Eze 10:1; Rev 21:19).