Minerals

Main index --- Minerals list --- Gemstones in Books index

Foundations of the city wall of Jerusalem (Revelations Chapter 21, verses 19-20)

	Jasper	Sapphire	Chalcedony
Amethyst	Authorised version (King James' Bible) 1611 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.			Emerald
Jacinth				Sardonyx
Chrysoprasus				Sardius
	Topaz	Beryl	Chrysolite

	Jasper	Lapis Lazuli	Chalcedony
Amethyst	New English Bible - 1970 The foundations of the city wall were adorned with jewels of every kind, the first of the foundation stones being jasper, the second lapis lazuli, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth cornelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh turquoise, and the twelfth amethyst.			Emerald
Turquoise				Sardonyx
Chrysoprase				Cornelian
	Topaz	Beryl	Chrysolite

The city is described as a square (indeed, as a cube), so I have assumed that there were three stones per wall, and have put them clockwise. Revalations was written in Greek, and while they didn't have clocks, the clockwise direction starts off going left to right, which is how Greek was written. The two versions of this description are much closer than the High Priest's breast-plate in Exodus. There are gemstones in common bewteen the Old and New Testament accounts. I don't know if there is symbolism in common, or whether the twelve 'foundations' of the city are the tribes of Israel, like in the breast-plate. They may be the Apostles instead. The expression "jewels of every kind" does suggest that the writer just wrote every gem that he could think of!

There are more gems described in Revelations. The wall was built of Jasper. The twelve gates were made of pearl, each one being a single pearl. The city itself and the streets were made of gold. Earlier (Revelations chapter 4), the One who sits on the throne has an appearance like the gleam of jasper and cornelian. Round the throne was a rainbow, bright as an emerald.