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ANTIQUITY OF THE PEARL
many
ideas connected with or embodied in the cult of the Jewish Church, the
fact that the Jewish writers did not so use it, though the precious
metals and other precious stones were so used, and though their books
were written in various countries, suggests that the pearl in those
days was not reckoned of equal importance with gold and silver and
stones like those set in the Jewish High Priest's breastplate for
instance.
That
a very considerable change in the world's estimate of the pearl took
place during the four centuries B. C. is illustrated by the references
made to pearls in the New Testament. Rome had made of the "white bones
from a shellfish" of the fourth century B. C, a gem for the rich and
powerful and so generally established it in the public estimation that
the sacred writers used it to illustrate their greatest conceptions of
beauty and spiritual worth.
The
Saviour likened the Kingdom of Heaven to "a pearl of great price:"
under the similitude of pearls He counseled the reservation of holy
things from men incapable of appreciating them. Paul and John numbered
them among
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