Greek word · G5472

χαλκηδών

chalkēdōn

chalcedony

Uncertain. The word is apparently not found as a gem name in Greek literature before Revelation. It probably refers to Chalcedon (on the Asian shore of the Bosporus, opposite Byzantium). Others suggest an agate.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

χαλκηδών, -όνος, ὁ

chalcedony, "supposed to denote a green silicate of copper found in the mines near Chalcedon " (Swete): 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

Uncertain. The word is apparently not found as a gem name in Greek literature before Revelation. It probably refers to Chalcedon (on the Asian shore of the Bosporus, opposite Byzantium). Pliny speaks of 'Chalcedonian' smaragdi, green stones from copper mines near Chalcedon, which may be the same stone. Others suggest an agate.

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB and YLT have 'chalcedony'. Some modern versions (e.g. ESV) have 'agate'. Both are guesses. Modern 'chalcedony', the milky, waxy quartz family, takes its name from this verse by way of the Latin Vulgate's calcedonius, not the other way round.

How it drifted

The modern mineral name was taken from the biblical word, which makes it look as if we know what John meant. We do not.

Used elsewhere in the period

Pliny, Natural History 37.72 (Chalcedonian smaragdus). It is absent from the LXX lists of breastplate stones (Exodus 28; 39) and from Ezekiel 28.

Similar words

Where it appears

Revelation · 1

  1. Revelation 21:19 χαλκηδών, chalcedony,

    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 rare name, probably taken from the city of Chalcedon on the Bosporus. No one knows for sure which stone John meant, though it may have been a greenish stone linked with the copper mines there. It is not necessarily the milky quartz that modern jewellers call chalcedony.

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