Jewels

Jewels appear at the seams of covenant life: as betrothal gifts, as plunder carried out of Egypt, as raw material set apart for Yahweh's tabernacle, as the high-priestly stones that name the tribes, as a sign of royal authority pressed into wax, as the trappings of a bride decked by her God, and as the figurative measure of wisdom, redemption, and the city of God. The same gold and stones that adorn covenant glory also catch idolatrous hands; the topic holds both ends of that tension.

Betrothal Gifts

The earliest named jewels travel as a marriage settlement. Abraham's slave, having found Rebekah at the well, "brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah" with further "precious things" to her brother and mother (Gen 24:53). The pattern — silver, gold, and raiment — recurs whenever covenant treasure changes hands.

Borrowed from Egypt

The exodus rests on the same triad. Yahweh's first instruction to Moses at the bush is that "every woman will ask of her neighbor, and of her who sojourns in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and you⁺ will put them on your⁺ sons, and on your⁺ daughters; and you⁺ will despoil the Egyptians" (Ex 3:22). The instruction is renewed on the eve of the final plague — "let them ask every man of his fellow man, and every woman of her fellow woman, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold" (Ex 11:2) — and obeyed at departure: "the sons of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment" (Ex 12:35).

Dedicated to the Tabernacle

The borrowed wealth becomes sanctuary furniture. When the freewill offering is taken, "the men as well as the women, as many as were willing-hearted, brought brooches, and earrings, and signet-rings, and armlets, all jewels of gold; even every man who offered an offering of gold to Yahweh" (Ex 35:22). After the Midianite campaign the captains repeat the gesture: "we have brought Yahweh's oblation, what every man has gotten, of jewels of gold, ankle-chains, and bracelets, signet-rings, earrings, and armlets, to make atonement for our souls before Yahweh" — Moses and Eleazar receive "all wrought jewels" totalling "sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels" (Num 31:50-52).

David carries the same logic into preparations for the temple, naming "onyx stones, and [stones] to be set, stones for inlaid work, and of diverse colors, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance" (1Ch 29:2), and reckoning "three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, with which to overlay the walls of the houses" (1Ch 29:4).

The Breastplate of the High Priest

The most concentrated cluster of jewels in scripture is the high-priestly breastplate. The instruction calls for "onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate" (Ex 25:7), and "a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skillful workman; like the work of an ephod you will make it; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen" (Ex 28:15).

Twelve stones are then set in four rows: "a row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle will be the first row; / and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; / and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; / and the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they will be enclosed in gold in their settings" (Ex 28:17-20). The execution is recorded in identical order at Ex 39:10-13. Connecting the breastplate to the ephod are "chains like cords, of wreathed work of pure gold" (Ex 39:15). When Aaron is invested, Moses places "the breastplate on him: and in the breastplate he put the Urim and the Thummim" (Lev 8:8).

Sirach's praise of Aaron preserves the same picture: "[With] the holy garments of gold and violet, And purple, the work of the designer; And the breastplate of judgement, and the ephod and belt" (Sir 45:10).

Royal Treasure and Plunder

Outside the sanctuary, jewels mark royalty and the spoils of war. The Queen of Sheba arrives at Solomon's court "with camels that bore spices, and very much gold, and precious stones" (1Ki 10:2). David's Ammonite victory yields "the crown of Milcom from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set on David's head" (1Ch 20:2). Solomon's reign so multiplies them that "the king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars he made to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance" (2Ch 1:15).

Tyre's commerce specializes in such goods: "Syria was your merchant by reason of the multitude of your handiworks: they traded for your wares with emeralds, purple, and embroidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and rubies" (Ezek 27:16). Ophir is the byword for the source — "they came to Ophir, and fetched from there gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to King Solomon" (1Ki 9:28); Jehoshaphat tries the same route but "did not go; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber" (1Ki 22:48).

The Maccabean record carries the pattern into the Hellenistic period. Antiochus enters the sanctuary and "took away the golden altar, and the lampstand of light, and all the vessels of it, and the table of proposition, and the pouring vessels, and the vials, and the little mortars of gold, and the veil, and the crowns, and the golden ornament that was before the temple: and he broke them all in pieces" (1Ma 1:22), and "took the silver and gold, and the precious vessels: and he took the hidden treasures which he found" (1Ma 1:23). Conversely Judas, after victory, returns "to take the spoils of the camp, and they got much gold, and silver, and blue silk, and purple of the sea, and great riches" (1Ma 4:23). Simon is later "clothed with purple and gold" (1Ma 14:43) and sends Rome "a great shield of gold, of the weight of a thousand minas" (1Ma 14:24).

Foreign Gods and the Stripping of Ornaments

The same materials become problematic when they trail idolatry. At Bethel Jacob's household surrenders "all the foreign gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem" (Gen 35:4). After the golden-calf episode, the people mourn at Yahweh's word and "no man put on himself his ornaments" — Yahweh tells Moses, "now put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what to do to you," and "the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from mount Horeb onward" (Ex 33:4-6).

Isaiah promises a like stripping for the daughters of Zion in judgment: "the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, and the cauls, and the crescents; / the pendants, and the bracelets, and the mufflers; / the headtires, and the ankle chains, and the sashes, and the houses of the soul, and the amulets; / the rings, and the nose-jewels" (Isa 3:18-21). The list is itemized precisely so that it may be removed.

A like warning shapes Sirach's counsel on wealth: "He who runs after gold will not be guiltless, And he who loves gain will go astray by it" (Sir 31:5); "There are many who have been entangled through gold, And those who put their trust in pearls [have been ensnared]" (Sir 31:6). And Paul's word to Timothy: "in like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefastness and sobriety; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly raiment" (1Ti 2:9).

Tokens of Love

Yahweh's covenant with Jerusalem in Ezekiel uses jewels to describe grace given. "I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck. / And I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. / Thus you were decked with gold and silver; and your raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work" (Ezek 16:11-13). Song of Solomon describes the beloved similarly: "His hands are rings of gold set with beryl: His insides are ivory work overlaid [with] sapphires" (Song 5:14).

Worn by Men

Men as well as women are pictured in adornments. Of Oholibah's lovers, Ezekiel says "men of the multitude of man were brought from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on their hands, and beautiful crowns on their heads" (Ezek 23:42).

Seals and Signets

A particular jewel — the engraved signet — carries legal weight. Jezebel "wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal" (1Ki 21:8); the Persian decree is "sealed with the king's ring; for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse" (Esth 8:8); Jeremiah's deed of purchase is "subscribed... and sealed... and called witnesses" (Jer 32:10); and "a stone was brought, and laid on the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel" (Dan 6:17). Sirach reaches for the signet metaphorically: "As a ruby signet in a work of gold, So is good music at a banquet of wine" (Sir 32:5); "A setting of gold with an emerald signet Is the melody of music at pleasant wine-drinking" (Sir 32:6).

Figurative Use: Wisdom, Word, Yahweh's Possession

Jewels supply the standard image for what is most valuable. Of wisdom: "It can't be obtained for gold, Neither will silver be weighed for its price... It can't be valued with the gold of Ophir, With the precious onyx, or the sapphire. Gold and glass can't equal it, Neither will it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold... the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia will not equal it, Neither will it be valued with pure gold" (Job 28:15-19). The same comparison runs through Proverbs: wisdom "is more precious than rubies" (Pr 3:15); "wisdom is better than rubies" (Pr 8:11); "How much better it is to get wisdom than gold!" (Pr 16:16). The "worthy woman... her price is far above rubies" (Pr 31:10). And the lips of knowledge themselves are "a precious jewel" (Pr 20:15).

Of Yahweh's words: "More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb" (Ps 19:10); "Therefore I love your commandments Above gold, yes, above fine gold" (Ps 119:127). Of Yahweh's words in their character: "The words of Yahweh are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, Purified seven times" (Ps 12:6). Of speech: "The tongue of the righteous is [as] choice silver" (Pr 10:20).

The refining figure recurs as a description of Yahweh's testing of his people. "You have tried us, as silver is tried" (Ps 66:10); "I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried" (Zec 13:9). Where the test fails, the metal is rejected: "Men will call them refuse silver, because Yahweh has rejected them" (Jer 6:30); "the house of Israel has become dross to me: all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver" (Ezek 22:18). Sirach uses the same figure: "gold is proved in fire, And acceptable men in a furnace of affliction" (Sir 2:5).

Of Yahweh's people in covenant intimacy, Malachi names them as Yahweh's "[even] my own possession" — "they will be mine, says Yahweh of hosts, [even] my own possession, in the day that I make; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him" (Mal 3:17).

The Inadequacy of Gold and Silver

Against Yahweh's wrath, the metals fail. "Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh's wrath" (Zeph 1:18); "I will make common man more rare than fine gold, even man more than the pure gold of Ophir" (Isa 13:12). And Peter draws the redemption-cost contrast: "you⁺ were redeemed from your⁺ useless manner of life handed down from your⁺ fathers, not with corruptible things, silver or gold" (1Pe 1:18). Yahweh's claim over the metals is unconditional — "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says Yahweh of hosts" (Hag 2:8) — but the metals themselves cannot ransom.

A line of judgment runs the same direction. Amos: "they have sold the righteous for silver" (Am 2:6). Zechariah: "they weighed for my wages thirty [shekels] of silver" (Zec 11:12). Sirach on Solomon's later wealth: "You heaped up gold like tin, And multiplied silver like lead" (Sir 47:18).

The City of Jewels

Apocalyptic vision returns the topic to glory. Isaiah sees a rebuilt Zion: "I will make your pinnacles of rubies, and your gates of carbuncles, and all your border of precious stones" (Isa 54:12). Ezekiel's Eden vision describes a covering of "every precious stone... the sardius, the topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold" (Ezek 28:13).

In Revelation, the same materials become both the indictment of Babylon and the architecture of the New Jerusalem. Babylon "the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of detestable things" (Rev 17:4); her trade is "gold, and silver, and precious stone, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet" (Rev 18:12). Of the city which descends, "her light was like a most precious stone, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal" (Rev 21:11); "the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; / the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst" (Rev 21:19-20). "The twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the several gates was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass" (Rev 21:21).

The corpus closes the topic where it opened: jewels gathered, dedicated, refined, given as tokens of love, and finally built into the dwelling of Yahweh with his people.