294 THE CURIOUS LORE OP PRECIOUS STONES
tion, however, it is somewhat strange that the Hebrew word sappir appears
to indicate a stone especially adapted to receive inscriptions. The
fact that the lapis-lazuli was greatly esteemed in ancient Egypt, and
was still much used as an ornamental stone in Greek and Roman times,
renders it probable that it was set not only in the original
breastplate, but also in that of a later age. Upon this fifth stone the
name Issachar was inscribed.
VI. Yahalom.
The sixth stone of the Sep-
tuagint version and of Josephus is the ϊαοπις, probably green jasper, or jade, and this has been assumed to show that in the original Hebrew text yashpheh was the sixth stone, in place of yahalom. The twelfth stone of the Greek version is the ονύχων or "onyx," and this seems to be the most probable equivalent of the Hebrew yahalom. Some
Hebrew sources, however, render it "diamond," and Luther in his German
version of the Bible, as well as our own Authorized Version,
translates it thus. This rendering is based upon the derivation of
the word yahalom from a verb meaning "to smite," thus making
the name of the stone signify "the smiter," a designation not
inappropriate for the diamond, which, because of its extreme hardness,
has the power to cut, or "smite," all other stones. However, for this
purpose the emery corundum, or smiris-point shamir, mentioned
in Zechariah, was most likely used. The diamond was certainly not used
in this way in very early times, although it is possible that the stone
was employed in engraving in the fifth century b.c. These considerations induce us to prefer the traditional interpretation of yahalom, and
translate it "onyx." In this case "the smiter" could be explained as
denoting the use of the engraved onyx for sealing, as the engraved
figure or letters
