appear
that they entered into the decorations of the Tabernacle and the
Temple, or were largely employed in the paraphernalia of the synagogue.
In
the New Testament, however, there are numerous references to the
estimation in which pearls were held. In his teachings, Christ
repeatedly referred to them as typifying something most precious: "The
kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls :
who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that
he had, and bought it" (Matt. xiii. 45, 46) ; and in "casting pearls
before swine," in that great Sermon on the Mount (Matt. vii. 6). In
picturing the glories of the Heavenly City, St. John made the twelve
gates of pearls (Rev. xxi. 21) ; and what could better serve as portals
through the walls of precious stones ?
In
the Talmud, pearls are frequently mentioned, and usually as signifying
something beautiful or very costly, as "a pearl that is worth thousands
of zuzim" (Baba Batra, 146a) ; a "pearl that has no price" (Yerushalmi,
ix. I2d) ; the coats which God made for Adam and Eve were "as beautiful
as pearls" (Gen. R. xx. 12), and the manna was "as white as a pearl"
(Yoma, 75a). Their purchase formed one of the exceptions to the law of Ona'ah (overcharge), for the reason that two matched pearls greatly exceeded the value of each one separately (Baba Mezi'a, iv. 8).
The
high value attached to pearls by the ancient Hebrews is illustrated by
a beautiful Rabbinical story in which only one object in nature is
ranked above them. On approaching Egypt, Abraham hid Sarah in a chest,
that foreign eyes might not behold her beauty. When he reached the
place for paying custom dues, the collectors said, "Pay us the custom"
; and he replied, "I will pay your custom." They said to him, "Thou
carriest clothes"; and he stated, "I will pay for clothes." Then they
said to him, "Thou carriest gold" ; and he answered, "I will pay for
gold." On this they said to him, "Surely thou bearest the finest silk"
; and he replied, "I will pay custom for the finest silk." Then said
they, "Truly it must be pearls that thou takest with thee" ; and he
answered, "I will pay for pearls." Seeing that they could name nothing
of value for which the patriarch was not willing to pay custom, they
said, "It cannot be but that thou open the box and let us see what is
within." So the chest was opened, and the land was illumined by the
luster of Sarah's beauty.1
The
love which the early Arabs bore to pearls is evidenced by the
references to them in the Koran, and especially the figurative
description given of Paradise. The stones are pearls and jacinths ;
the fruits
1 Gen.
R. xl. 6. This story also exists somewhat altered in Arabic literature
; see Weill's "Biblical Legends of the Mussulmans," New York, 1846.
