Abstract
The Hebrew Bible mentions 12 precious stones arranged in four rows of three each on the high priest’s breastpiece in two lists (Ex 28:17–20 and 39:10–13). Nine of these precious stones reappear in the Tyrian king’s ‘covering’ in Ezekiel 28:13 in three groups of three. Although the two lists in Exodus are identical, the order in Ezekiel is slightly different. In Septuagint (LXX) Ezekiel there are 12 precious stones. However, the number and order in the LXX lists (LXX-Ex 28:17–20 and 36:17–20; LXX-Ezk 28:13) are constant in all three cases. The same 12 stones as in the LXX appear, but with variation in order, in two accounts found in Josephus ( The Wars of the Jews Book 5, Chapter 5, Section 7; The Antiquities of the Jews Book 3, Chapter 7, Section 5). The list of precious stones in Revelation 21:19–20 that adorn the 12 foundations of the New Jerusalem is reminiscent of the breastpiece, but it shows four new names along with eight that are known from the LXX; it is not clear if it is a fresh translation from the Hebrew list. This article focuses on the relationships amongst these lists by examining the arrangement, translation and symbolism of these precious stones. Contribution: The precious stones in the high priest’s breastpiece (Exod 28:17–20, 39:10–13) were rendered differently and re-arranged by the Septuagint and other later versions for new contexts, audiences and theological purposes. Unknown stones were rendered with similar stones known to the translator or the incipient text terms were transliterated.
Highlights
The Hebrew Bible mentions 12 precious stones arranged in four rows of three each on the high priest’s breastpiece in two identical lists in Exodus 28:17–20 and 39:10–13
The list of precious stones in Revelation 21:19–20 that adorn the 12 foundations of the New Jerusalem is reminiscent of the breastpiece, but shows four new names along with the eight that are known from the LXX
19.In a forthcoming book on the precious stones, we examine this question in more detail using Peircean semiotics, in which colours may convey meaning by partaking in an iconic, indexical or symbolic relationship between the signifier and the signified (Peirce 1955; see Almalech 2014; Caivano 1998; Kauppinen-Räisänen & Jauffret 2018)
Summary
The Hebrew Bible mentions 12 precious stones arranged in four rows of three each on the high priest’s breastpiece in two identical lists in Exodus 28:17–20 and 39:10–13. The Syriac translator(s) of Exodus clearly normalised the two lists of precious stones in S-Exodus 28:17–20 and 39:10–14 because the coordination patterns (which differ between the two passages both in the MT and in the LXX) are identical.. The third stone (Hebrew ) ָב ֶר ֶקתis translated by the targumim with two alternate forms of the Hebrew as a loanword into Aramaic – Oneqelos uses ָב ְר ָקן, whereas Pseudo-Jonathan and Neofiti use alternate spellings of the singular determined noun ברקה These nouns are not known from other Aramaic literature, and the identification of the jewel is uncertain (Sokoloff 2002:115); Jastrow (1967:197) suggests that it is probably smaragd (from the LXX rendering σμάραγδος). In row 4, the alternate order involves χρυσόλιθος at the beginning or end of the row (Table 17)
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