Hebrew word · H1304

בָּרֶ֫קֶת

uvareket

gem

"Flashing, glittering (stone)", from bārāq, "lightning", or bāraq, "to flash". A gem name barraqtu is attested in Akkadian, the language of ancient Mesopotamia. It occurs in the breastpiece lists (28:17; 39:10) and in Ezek 28:13.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

a gem, precious stone, emerald (Josephus)

Also means: bar.qat (בָּֽרְקַת "gem" H1304B)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Exodus 28:17

Range of meaning

"Flashing, glittering (stone)", from bārāq, "lightning", or bāraq, "to flash". A gem name barraqtu is attested in Akkadian, the language of ancient Mesopotamia. It occurs in the breastpiece lists (28:17; 39:10) and in Ezek 28:13.

Against the English

BSB and NASB have "emerald". WEB and NIV have "beryl". KJV, YLT and ESV have "carbuncle", a glowing red stone. So English versions disagree even about this stone's color. KJV puts "emerald" in the next verse instead, for nōfekh (28:18).

How it drifted

KJV's "carbuncle" comes from Latin carbunculus, "little glowing coal", the old name for a red garnet-like gem. It probably reflects a guess based on "lightning, fire". Modern readers mostly know "carbuncle" as a cluster of boils.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek Septuagint has smaragdos, and the Vulgate smaragdus. In ancient usage this was a green stone. It covered true emerald but also other green stones such as green jasper or malachite. Smaragdos also appears in Rev 4:3 and 21:19.

Where it appears

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 28:17 וּבָרֶ֔קֶת and a beryl

    And mount on it a setting of gemstones, four rows of stones: In the first row there shall be a ruby, a topaz, and an emerald;

    Here: "And a bareqet": the name comes from bārāq, "lightning", so it means something like "the flasher" or "the glittering one". The name points to its brilliance rather than its color. The Greek version understood it as smaragdos, a green stone.

  2. Exodus 39:10 וּבָרֶ֔קֶת and a beryl

    And they mounted on it four rows of gemstones: The first row had a ruby, a topaz, and an emerald;

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 28:13 וּבָרְקַ֖ת and beryl

    You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold, prepared on the day of your creation.

    Here: From baraq, 'lightning': a gleaming or flashing stone, perhaps emerald or another green stone. KJV 'carbuncle.'

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