page_title: Gemstones in the Bible
section_title: Onyx
hierarchical_section_title: Gemstones in the Bible / Alphabetical list / Onyx
caption_attribution_description: English: Agate (Var.: Onyx), Quartz Locality: Minas Gerais, Southeast Region, Brazil (Locality at mindat.org) Just a REALLY mesmerizing specimen of the onyx variety of agate, with an incredible "eye" staring out at you! Oddly, the rear end is made up of terminated quartz, so its a strange twofer of crystal and agate in one specimen. You could cut a good 7-8 slabs out of this one, each with the eye as it goes all the way through. It is even more impressive, in person. I am told this is very old lapidary material and uncut samples are impossible to obtain these days. Certainly, Herfurth bought heavily in the 50s and 60s and it is an older piece. 7 x 5.8 x 5.5 cm Deutsch: Achat (Var.: Onyx), Quarz Fundort: Minas Gerais, Southeast Region, Brasilien (Fundort bei mindat.org)
context_page_description: A range of gemstones are mentioned in the Bible, particularly the Old Testament and the Book of Revelation. Much has been written about the precise identification of these stones, which is largely speculative.
context_section_description: Onyx, Lat; Sept. onychion; Vulg. lapis onychinus; the eleventh stone of the breastplate in the Hebrew and the Vulgate (Ex., xxviii, 20; xxxix, 13), representing the tribe of Joseph. In the Sept. it is the twelfth stone and the fifth in Ezech., xxviii, 13, in the Heb., but the twelfth in the Greek; it is called sardonyx and comes in the fifth place in Apoc., xxi, 20.
  The exact nature of this stone is disputed because the Greek word beryllos occurs instead of the Hebrew ??? thereby indicating beryl. However, this is not so (see Beryl above).
  The Vulgate equates onyx with the Hebrew ???  and although this alone would be a very weak argument; there are other, stronger testimonies to the fact that the Hebrew word occurs frequently in Holy Scripture: (Gen., ii, 12; Ex., xxv, 7; xxv, 9, 27; I Par., xxxix, 2; etc.) and on each occasion, except Job, xxviii, 16, the gem is translated in the Vulgate by lapis onychinus (lapis sardonychus in Job, xxviii, 16).
  The Greek is very inconsistent in its translation, rendering shhs differently in various texts; therefore in Gen., ii, 12, it is lithos prasinos, sardios in Ex. xxv, 7; xxxv, 9;
  smaragdos in Ex., xxviii, 9; xxxv, 27; xxxix, 6; soam, a mere transcription of the Hebrew word in I Par., xxix, 2; and onyx in Job, xxviii, 16.
  Other Greek translators are more consistent: Aquila has sardonyx and Symmachus and Theodotion have onyx. The paraphrase of Onkelos had burla, the Syriac berula, both of which evidently are the Greek beryllos; "beryl". Since the translations do not observe the same order as the Hebrew in enumerating the stones of the rational (see Beryl above), it is not mandatory to accept the Greek beryllos as the translation of shhm. Therefore, relying on the testimony of the various versions it can safely be assumed that onyx is the stone signified by shhm.
  Onyx is a variety of quartz analogous to agate and other crypto-crystalline species. It is composed of different layers of variously coloured carnelian much like banded agate in structure, but the layers are in even or parallel planes. This makes it well adapted for the cutting of cameos and was much used by the ancients for that purpose. The colours of the best are perfectly well defined, and are either white and black, or white, brown, and
  black. Some of the best specimens have been brought from India.
caption: Onyx
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