Greek word · G4665

σμάραγδος

smaragdos

emerald

A bright green stone. It covers true emerald (green beryl, mined in Egypt in the Roman period) and other green stones such as green quartz or malachite.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

σμάραγδος, -ου, ἡ

(and in late writers also ὁ), [in LXX: Exodus 28:9 (שֹׁהַם) Exodus 36:17 (Exodus 39:10) (בָּרֶקֶת), Ezekiel 28:13 (יַהֲלֹם), etc. ;]

emerald or other trans parent green stone (LS, see word; DB, iv, 620; Swete, Ap., 67, 288): Revelation 21:19.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Revelation 21:19

Range of meaning

A bright green stone. It covers true emerald (green beryl, mined in Egypt in the Roman period) and other green stones such as green quartz or malachite.

Against the English

'Emerald' is a fair rendering. The ancient word was simply broader than the modern one.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 28:17 LXX: the third stone in the first row of the breastplate. Ezekiel 28:13 LXX. Tobit 13:16: Jerusalem's gates of sapphire and emerald. Revelation 4:3: a rainbow around the throne 'like an emerald'. Theophrastus, On Stones 23–27. Pliny, Natural History 37.62–75 praises its green as the most restful to the eye.

Similar words

Where it appears

Revelation · 1

  1. Revelation 21:19 σμάραγδος, emerald,

    The foundations of the city walls were adorned with every kind of precious stone: The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,

    Here: A bright green stone. The word covered true emerald and other green stones. It is one of the high priest's breastplate stones (Exodus 28:17), and it echoes the rainbow 'like emerald' around God's throne (4:3).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.