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Birth-Stones: Josephus

Probably the very earliest text we have in which the stones of the breastplate are positively associated with the months of the year is to be found in the "Antiquities of the Jews," by Flavius Josephus. (Flavii Josephi, ed. Dindorf, Parisii, 1847, vol. ii, p. 97; "Antiq. Sud," lib. iii, cap. 7, paragraph 7. In the second century, Clemens Alexandrinus (lib. v, cap. 6) repeats this idea of Josephus, adding that the four months in which the gems were disposed signified the four seasons of the year.) This runs as follows: Moreover, the vestments of the high-priest being made of linen signifies the earth, the blue denotes the sky, being like lightning in its pomegranates, and resembling thunder in the noise of the bells. And as for the ephod, it showed that God had made the universe of four elements, and as for the gold interwoven in it, I suppose it related to the splendor by which all things are to be enlightened. He also appointed the breastplate to be placed in the middle of the ephod to resemble the earth, for that occupies the middle place in the world; and the gindle, which encompassed the high priest about, signifies the ocean, for that goes about everything. And the two sardonyxes that were in the clasps on the high-priest's shoulders, indicate to us the sun and the moon. And for the twelve stones, whether we understand by them the months, or the twelve signs of what the Greeks call the zodiac, we shall not be mistaken in their meaning. And for the cap, which was of a blue color, it seems to me to mean heaven, for otherwise the name of God would not have been inscribed upon it. That it was also adorned with a crown, and that of gold also. is because of the splendor with which God is pleased. This passage was adapted by St. Jerome, three hundred years later, in his letter to Fabiola, (Sancti Hieronymi, "Opera Omnia," ed. Migne, Parisiis, 1877, vol. i, col. 616; Epistola lxiv, paragraph 16.) and undoubtedly laid the foundation for the later custom of wearing one of these stones as a natal or birth-stone for a person born in a given month, or for an astral or zodiacal stone for one born under a given zodiacal sign. As we see, both uses are indicated by the passage of Josephus. In the later centuries, as the book of Revelation, which was generally less favored at the outset than the other parts of the New Testament, became a subject of devout study, and a mine of mystical suggestions, the twelve foundation stones (Rev. xxi, 19) of the New Jerusalem largely took the place of the stones of the breastplate. While this list of foundation stones is unquestionably based upon the much earlier list of the stones adorning Aaron's breastplate, the ordering differs considerably and there are some changes in the material; possibly many, if not all, of these differences may be due to textual errors or to a transcription from memory.