topaz Summary and Overview

Heb. pitdah (Ezek. 28:13; Rev. 21:20), a golden yellow or "green" stone brought from Cush or Ethiopia (Job 28:19). It was the second stone in the first row in the breastplate of the high priest, and had the name of Simeon inscribed on it (Ex. 28:17). It is probably the chrysolite of the moderns.

one of the gems used in the high priest's breastplate, #Ex 28:17; 39:10; Eze 28:13| one of the foundations also of the New Jerusalem, in St. John's description of the city. #Re 21:20| The topaz of the ancient Greeks and Romans is generally allowed to be our chrysolite, while their chrysolite is our topaz. Chrysolite is a silicate of magnesia and iron; it is so son as to lose its polish unless carefully used. It varies in color from a pale-green to a bottle-green. It is supposed that its name was derived from Topazos, an island in the Red Sea where these stones were procured.

TO'PAZ . Eze 28:13; Rev 21:20. It seems quite agreed that this was the modern chrysolite, a rather soft and transparent or translucent gem, usually of a pale green. It is also called peridot and olivine. The true topaz is ordinarily- pellucid and of a yellowish tint, but sometimes of a brown, blue, or green hue, or even colorless. A single gem of this kind has been sold (it is said) for upwards of $1,000,000. The finest specimens are found in the East Indies. The "topaz of Ethiopia," Job 28:19, or Southern Arabia (see Ethiopia), was probably distinguished for its beauty and value. That the most precious stones were once found there profane history asserts.

From pitdah (Hebrew) by transposition. One of the hyaline corundum stones, bright yellow. Second in the first row of the high-priest's breast-plate (Exodus 28:17; Exodus 39:10), ninth foundation stone of the wall of New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:20). Job (Job 28:19) represents it as from Ethiopia,; so Strabo (xvi. 770), Diodorus (iii. 39), and Pliny (xxxvii. 32). The king of Tyre wore it; among the nine of the 12 jewels of the high priest's breast-plate; as type of antichrist who shall usurp Christ's king priesthood (Ezekiel 28:13). Septuagint, Vulgate, and Josephus identify the Greek topaz with the Hebrew pitdah; and Smith's Bible Dictionary identifies the topaz as our chrysolite and the ancient chrysolite as our topaz. Pliny (H. N. 37, section 8) speaks of "the green tints of the topaz," meaning our chrysolite.