REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE - Chapter 21 - Verse 20

Verse 20. The fifth, sardonyx. This word does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. The name is derived from Sardis, a city in Asia Minor, (Barnes on "Re 3:1,) and onux—a nail—so named, according to Pliny, from the resemblance of its colour to the flesh and the nail. It is a silicious stone or gem, nearly allied to the onyx. The colour is a reddish yellow, nearly orange.—Webster's Dic.

The sixth, sardius. This word does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It is also derived from Sardis, and the name was probably given to the gem because it was found there. It is a stone of a blood-red or flesh colour, and is commonly known as a carnelian. It is the same as the sardine stone mentioned in Re 4:3. See Barnes on "Re 4:3"

The seventh, chrysolite. This word does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It is derived from crusov, gold, and liyov, stone, and means golden stone, and was applied by the ancients to all gems of a golden or yellow colour, probably designating particularly the topaz of the moderns.—Rob. Lex. But in Webster's Dic. it is said that its prevalent colour is green. It is sometimes transparent. This is the modern chrysolite. The ancients undoubtedly understood by the name a yellow gem.

The eighth, beryl. This word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. The beryl is a mineral of great hardness, and is of a green or bluish-green colour. It is identical with the emerald, except in the colour, the emerald having a purer and richer green colour, proceeding from a trace of oxide of chrome. Prisms of beryl are sometimes found nearly two feet in diameter in the state of New Hampshire.—Webster.

The ninth, a topaz. This word does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. The topaz is a well-known mineral, said to be so called from Topazos, a small island in the Arabian Gulf. It is generally of a yellowish colour, and pellucid, but it is also found of greenish, bluish, or brownish shades.

The tenth, a chrysoprasus. This word does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It is derived from crusov, gold, and prason, a leek, and denotes a precious stone of greenish golden colour, like a leek; that is, "apple-green passing into a grass-green."—Rob. Lex. "It is a variety of quartz. It is commonly apple-green, and often extremely beautiful. It is translucent, or sometimes semi-transparent; its hardness little inferior to flint."—Webster's Dic.

The eleventh, a jacinth. The word does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It is the same word as hyacinth—uakinyov—and denotes properly the well-known flower of that name, usually of a deep purple or reddish blue. Here it denotes a gem of this colour. It is a red variety of zircon. See Webster's Dic., under the word hyacinth.

The twelfth, an amethyst. This word, also, is found only in this place in the New Testament. It denotes a gem of a deep purple or violet colour. The word is derived from a, priv., and meyuw, to be intoxicated, because this gem was supposed to be an antidote against drunkenness. It is a species of quartz, and is used in jewelry.