The High Priest's Breastplate and the Tables of the Law
T
here are,
as every Bible student knows, innumerÂable references to precious
stones in the pages of Scripture. How could it be otherwise, since the
Old and the New Testaments touch closely on all human activity and
aspiration?
A
number of writings deal with this subject. I am inÂdebted in particular
for sundry particulars to "Precious Stones of the Bible", by the Rev.
C. W. Cooper, which gives considerable space to the twelve gems
contained in the Breastplate of Judgment.
You
will remember that I began my tale where, as a small boy, I imagined I
might actually find among my mother's goods stones from the High
Priest's breastplate. It is fitting, therefore, that I should in my
last chapter come full circle with a reasonable account of that
awe-inspiring and significant object, which meant so much to the Ancient Hebrews. Below I have coupled the names
of the twelve tribes with those of the stones as given by
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