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Precious stones and metals
Pearl
Greek margaritēs · grows inside the shells of some mollusks · prized in New Testament times
A pearl forms inside the shell of certain mollusks, such as pearl oysters, and may be white or of other colors. In the ancient world pearls came from the warm seas of the east — the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean — and reached the Mediterranean through trade, so they were costly. Whether the Old Testament mentions pearls is uncertain. The Hebrew word peninim, which the BSB renders “rubies” (Proverbs 3:15), has also been taken as coral or pearls, and by one view the reddish peninim of Lamentations 4:7 are the pink pearls of the Red Sea.
By New Testament times pearls were among the most valued jewels, worn by wealthy women (1 Timothy 2:9) and traded by merchants. Jesus told of “a merchant in search of fine pearls” who sold all he had to buy one very precious pearl (Matthew 13:45–46), and spoke of throwing pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6). Revelation lists pearls among the cargoes of the merchants, with gold, silver and precious stones (Revelation 18:12), and describes each gate of the new Jerusalem as “a single pearl” (Revelation 21:21).
Key verses
She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire compares with her.Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he found one very precious pearl, he went away and sold all he had and bought it.Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; of all kinds of citron wood and every article of ivory, precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, with each gate consisting of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.Sources
Adapted and shortened from the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0
Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers · CC BY-SA 4.0 — Pearl; Stones, Precious
Adapted from Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary: articles chosen, shortened and retold in our own words (history, nature and daily life only) and, in languages other than English, machine-translated. The original work by Tyndale House Publishers is available for free at tyndaleopenresources.com.
