Hebrew word · H1378
גָּבִישׁ
vegavish
crystal
Found only here. It is most likely rock crystal (clear quartz), linked to ʾelgābîš, 'hailstones' (Ezek 13:11, 13; 38:22). A clear stone that looked like ice. Rock crystal was carved into seals, beads and inlays in the ancient Near East.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
crystal
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
- Range of meaning
Found only here. It is most likely rock crystal (clear quartz), linked to ʾelgābîš, 'hailstones' (Ezek 13:11, 13; 38:22). A clear stone that looked like ice. Rock crystal was carved into seals, beads and inlays in the ancient Near East.
- Against the English
BSB has 'quartz'. WEB and ESV have 'crystal'. KJV and YLT have 'pearl(s)'. NIV has 'jasper'. 'Crystal' or 'quartz' has the best support. 'Pearls' comes from older guesses.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The hailstone connection (ʾelgābîš) is the main evidence. The Septuagint simply transliterated the word (gabis), which shows its translators did not know it either.
Where it appears
Job · 1
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Job 28:18 וְ֭גָבִישׁ and crystal
Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
Here: Rock crystal (clear quartz). The word appears only here in the Bible. It is related to the word for hailstones, so it probably named a stone that looked like ice. It was prized for seals and beads.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.