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pearl Summary and Overview

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pearl in Easton's Bible Dictionary

(Heb. gabish, Job 28:18; Gr. margarites, Matt. 7:6; 13:46; Rev. 21:21). The pearl oyster is found in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. Its shell is the "mother of pearl," which is of great value for ornamental purposes (1 Tim. 2:9; Rev. 17:4). Each shell contains eight or ten pearls of various sizes.

pearl in Smith's Bible Dictionary

(Heb. gabish). The Hebrew word in #Job 28:18| probably means "crystal." Pearls, however are frequently mentioned in the New Testament, #Mt 13:45; 1Ti 2:9; Re 17:4; 21:21| and were considered by the ancients among the most precious of gems, and were highly esteemed as ornaments. The kingdom of heaven is compared to a "pearl of great price." In #Mt 7:6| pearls are used metaphorically for anything of value, or perhaps more especially for "wise sayings." (The finest specimens of the pearl are yielded by the pearl oyster (Avicula margaritifera), still found in abundance in the Persian Gulf and near the coasts of Ceylon, Java and Sumatra. The oysters grow in clusters on rocks in deep water, and the pearl is found inside the shell, and is the result of a diseased secretion caused by the introduction of foreign bodies, as sand, etc., between the mantle and the shell. They are obtained by divers trained to the business. March or April is the time for pearl fishing. A single shell sometimes yields eight to twelve pearls. The size of a good Oriental pearl varies from that of a pea to about three times that size. A handsome necklace of pearls the size of peas is worth $15,000. Pearls have been valued as high as $200,000 or $300,000 apiece.--ED.)

pearl in Schaff's Bible Dictionary

PEARL . The best pearls are produced by a shell-fish of the oyster species, though they are found in other mollusks. The pearl-oysters grow in clusters on rocks (hence called "pearlbanks") in the Persian Gulf, on the western coast of Ceylon, on the coasts of Java, Sumatra, etc., and in some parts of Europe. The shells are obtained by diving, and this is done by a class of persons trained to the business. The Ceylon pearl-fishery bank is about 15 miles from the shore, and 72 feet deep on an average. The fishery begins in April, when the sea is most calm, and continues five or six weeks. One shell contains from eight to twelve pearls. The largest are of the size of a walnut, but they are rarely as large as a cherry-stone. The shell of the pearl-oyster, or, more properly, the interior coat, is called "mother-of pearl." A single pearl has been valued at $350,000. Pearls were anciently, as now, used in the East as personal ornaments. 1 Tim 2:9; Rev 17:4; Rev 18:12-16. From the various illustrations in which the pearl is introduced in the N.T., it was evidently regarded as among the most precious substances, and, compared with gems, it was esteemed as more valuable than at present. Matt 7:6; Matt 13:45-46; Rev 21:21.

pearl in Fausset's Bible Dictionary

gabish. Job 28:18. Literally, "ice"; "what is frozen", as in Ezekiel 13:11; Ezekiel 13:13; Ezekiel 38:22 with "stones." So translated "crystal." In Ezekiel 38:17, zekukit translated "glass" for "crystal." The orientals anciently valued the rock crystal for its beauty and pure luster. In the New Testament margaritoee mean "pearls" (Matthew 13:45-46; 1 Timothy 2:9; Revelation 17:4; Revelation 18:12; Revelation 18:16; Revelation 21:21). In Matthew 7:16, "neither cast your pearls before swine," the pearls resemble peas or acorns, their natural food; so the swine, finding them not so, turn against the giver and rend him. Saving counsels offered to the swinish sensualist only provoke his filthiness and profanity (Proverbs 23:9; Proverbs 9:8). The godly love even the sharp rebuke which heals their souls (Proverbs 15:31; Psalm 141:5; Job 13:23; Isaiah 39:8, Hezekiah; the Virgin, John 2:4-5; Galatians 2:14; 2 Peter 3:16. Peter). He that is filthy must be filthy still. Pearls are accidental concretions within certain molluscs, especially the Avicula margaritifera found in the Indian ocean and Persian gulf and Pacific. Some foreign substance, introduced naturally or artificially, as a sandgrain, an egg, a parasite, or minute shell, forms the nucleus round which the surface of the mantle deposits nacreous or calcareous matter in thin layers, which hardening forms a shelly coat on the inner side of the valves. A pearl is an abnormal shell, reversed, i.e. the lustrous nacreous coat is external.