Greek word · G5194

ὕαλος

hyalos

glass

Glass, and in older Greek also clear stones such as rock crystal. In the Roman period it means manufactured glass. Glassblowing was invented in the Syro-Palestinian region in the first century BC and spread rapidly. Ordinary glass was greenish or cloudy, while colourless glass was a luxury.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ὕαλος, -ου, ὁ

[in LXX: Job 28:17 (זְכוּכִית) * ;]

1. (Hdt.) a clear transparent stone.

2. (from Plat. on) glass: Revelation 21:18, 21.†

(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 21:18

Range of meaning

Glass, and in older Greek also clear stones such as rock crystal. In the Roman period it means manufactured glass. Glassblowing was invented in the Syro-Palestinian region in the first century BC and spread rapidly. Ordinary glass was greenish or cloudy, while colourless glass was a luxury.

Against the English

'Glass' is accurate. Modern readers, surrounded by cheap, perfectly clear window glass, may miss that flawless clear glass was a rare and admired thing in John's world.

Used elsewhere in the period

Pliny says the most highly valued glass is colourless and transparent, as close as possible to rock crystal (Natural History 36.198). In Revelation, compare the 'sea of glass, like crystal' before God's throne (4:6; 15:2) and the 'street of the city' that is 'pure gold, like transparent glass' (21:21).

From the study of Revelation 21:21

Range of meaning

Hyalos means glass (and sometimes rock crystal). Diaugēs, from dia 'through' and augē 'radiance', means letting light shine through: transparent or translucent, bright.

Against the English

'Transparent glass' (KJV, WEB, ESV), 'clear as glass' (BSB, NLT). These are fine, but modern readers think of glass as cheap and ordinary.

How it drifted

Industrial glassmaking made perfectly clear glass commonplace.

Used elsewhere in the period

Glassblowing spread across the Roman world in the first century, but most glass was tinted greenish or bluish. Pliny (Natural History 36.198) says the most highly prized glass was colourless and transparent, as close as possible to rock crystal. Compare Rev 4:6 (a sea of glass like crystal) and 21:11, 18 (the city's radiance 'clear as crystal', its gold 'like pure glass').

Where it appears

Revelation · 2

  1. Revelation 21:18 ὑάλῳ as glass

    The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself of pure gold, as pure as glass.

    Here: Glass, which in the first century was prized most when it was colourless and see-through. Gold you could see into or through is something no real gold can be. The picture is of impossible brilliance.

  2. Revelation 21:21 ὕαλος glass

    And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, with each gate consisting of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.

    Here: Glass, and in context clear, colourless glass, which was a prized luxury product in the first century.

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