סַפִּיר

From the study of Exodus 24:10

Range of meaning

A precious blue stone. Ancient descriptions point to lapis lazuli: opaque, deep ultramarine, often speckled with golden flecks of pyrite. It was used for jewellery, inlay, seals, and the decoration of temples and divine images.

Against the English

KJV, ESV, NASB, BSB and WEB say 'sapphire'. NIV (2011) and NLT say 'lapis lazuli'. The word 'sapphire' comes from this Hebrew word by way of Greek sappheiros and Latin sapphirus, but the modern gem it names (blue corundum, a transparent crystal) is a different stone.

How it drifted

The name moved from one stone to another. Roman writers still used sapphirus for the opaque blue stone with gold specks. Pliny, Natural History 37.120, describes it as sky-blue and spotted with gold, which fits lapis. In the Middle Ages the name was transferred to the transparent blue corundum gem. English kept the word and lost the stone.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lapis lazuli was mined mainly in Badakhshan (modern Afghanistan) and traded across Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Levant from the third millennium BC. In Mesopotamian and Egyptian texts it is the stone of heaven and of the gods: Egyptian gods are said to have hair of lapis lazuli. A Babylonian cosmological text describes the middle heaven as a blue stone, with the god Bel seated on a dais of lapis lazuli (see Horowitz, Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography). In the Ugaritic Baal myth, Baal's palace is built of silver, gold and lapis. In the Bible: Ezek 1:26 and 10:1 (God's throne above the sky-vault looks like sappir), Isa 54:11 (the foundations of a restored Zion), the high priest's breastpiece (Exod 28:18), Job 28:6.

From the study of Isaiah 54:11

Range of meaning

A precious blue stone. Most scholars identify it as lapis lazuli: deep blue, opaque, often flecked with gold-coloured pyrite. It was mined chiefly in Badakhshan (modern Afghanistan) and traded across the whole ancient Near East.

Against the English

Every major English version says 'sapphires', and modern readers picture the clear, faceted blue gem (corundum) of jewellery shops. Faceted sapphire of that kind was not part of the Iron Age world. The ancient sappir was more likely a solid blue stone used for inlay, seals and ornaments.

How it drifted

English 'sapphire' comes through Greek sappheiros and Latin sapphirus. Ancient writers such as Pliny describe sapphirus as a blue stone with gold spots, which fits lapis lazuli. Only in the Middle Ages did the name move over to the transparent corundum gem we call sapphire today.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 24:10, the elders see under God's feet 'a pavement of sappir, like the very heaven'. Ezekiel 1:26 and 10:1, God's throne 'like sappir'. One of the stones on the high priest's breastpiece (Exod 28:18). In Mesopotamian royal and temple inscriptions lapis lazuli is the standard luxury material of the gods' houses.

From the study of Song of Songs 5:14

Range of meaning

A precious blue stone. In the ancient Near East this is almost certainly lapis lazuli: opaque, deep blue, often flecked with golden pyrite. It was mined in Afghanistan and treasured from Egypt to Mesopotamia.

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB and ESV say "sapphires". NIV (and, I believe, NLT) say "lapis lazuli". Modern "sapphire" means transparent corundum, a stone that was barely known or worked in the Levant in the biblical period.

How it drifted

The English word comes through Greek sappheiros and Latin sapphirus. In antiquity those words meant lapis (Pliny, Natural History 37.120, describes the sapphirus as blue with gold specks). The name moved to transparent blue corundum only in the Middle Ages.

Used elsewhere in the period

A breastpiece stone (Exod 28:18). Under God's feet is "a pavement of sappir" (Exod 24:10), and the throne in Ezek 1:26 looks like sappir stone. Job 28:6 says the earth's stones hold sappir "and it has dust of gold", which fits lapis with its pyrite flecks. Lam 4:7 describes the noble young men: "their form was sappir".