The Curious Lore of Precious Stones

Talismans and birth-stones, crystal balls and the High Priest's breastplate — Tiffany's own gem expert gathered every superstition, legend and cure ever credited to a precious stone.

The High Priest's Breastplate

15 pages in this part of The Curious Lore of Precious Stones.

The High Priest's Breastplate

VERY early, and very naturally, the religious nature of man led to the use of precious stones in connection with worship--the most valuable…

The High Priest's Breastplate: Israel

And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every…

The High Priest's Breastplate: Aaron

And thou shalt put in the breastplate of Judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before…

The High Priest's Breastplate: Moses

When Moses wished to engrave on the stones of the breastplate the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, he is said to have had recourse to…

The High Priest's Breastplate: Cornelius

In his commentary on Exodus xxviii, Cornelius a Lapide (Cornelius Van den Steen) discusses the question of the diamond in the high-priest's…

The High Priest's Breastplate: Jewish

A fact which has generally been overlooked by those who have embarked on the sea of conjecture relative to the fate of the breastplate…

The High Priest's Breastplate: Manasseh

For those who, with the late lamented Lieutenant Totten, see in the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim the Anglo-Saxons of England and the…

The High Priest's Breastplate: Josephus

III. Bareketh. Here the Septuagint, Josephus, and the Vulgate agree in translating smaragdus, and as we know that emerald mines were worked…

The High Priest's Breastplate: Hebrew

VI. Yahalom. The sixth stone of the Septuagint version and of Josephus is the, probably green jasper, or jade, and this has been assumed to…

The High Priest's Breastplate: Liguria

VII. Leshem. No stone in the breastplate is more difficult to determine than this one. The Septuagint, Josephus, and the Vulgate all…

The High Priest's Breastplate: Oriental

IX. Ahlamah. As to this stone also, all the authorities are in agreement, and render ahlamah by "amethyst." This was not, however, the…

The High Priest's Breastplate: Septuagint

X. Tarshish. The Septuagint renders this word "chrysolite," where it is used in the description of the breastplate, as does Josephus also…

The High Priest's Breastplate: Emerald

The Breastplate of Aaron. The Breastplate of the Second Temple. I Red jasper Carnelian II Light-green serpentine Peridot III Green feldspar…

The High Priest's Breastplate: Matthew

Gospel of St. Matthew x, 2-4. Gospel of St. Mark iii, 16-19. Gospel of St. Luke vi, 14-16.

The High Priest's Breastplate: Rabbi

In commenting on this text Rabbi Johanan is quoted in the Babylonian Talmud as saying that God would bring jewels and pearls thirty ells…

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