20 Pearls, 



in connection with the introduction of man upon 

 earth, as recorded in the opening chapters of the 

 Old Testament.* But be this as it may, it is 

 certain that when the ideal state is revealed in 

 the closing chapters of the New Testament, we 

 have presented to us, in the sublime Apocalyptic 

 vision, the city whose " Twelve gates were twelve 

 pearls," while throughout " The Book " they are 

 alluded to by various inspired writers. 



So great was the importance attached to Pearls, 

 and such the high estimation in which they were 

 held at all times and in all countries, that we can 

 hardly wonder that their origin should have been 

 the subject of much speculation and even wild 

 conjecture. From a very early period in their 

 history, when a belief existed that they were formed 

 from drops of rain which fell into the open oyster- 

 shell, down to our own time, when science has busied 

 itself with enquiring into their origin, numerous 



* The word Bdellium ( Heb.; ''BedolacK''^ mentioned in Genesis ii. 12, 

 as one of the products of the land of Havilah, is considered by 

 many ancient interpreters to mean a costly aromatic gum, and 

 this opinion is held by the m^ajority of modern commentators. 

 The Rabbinic interpreters, however, reject this explanation on 

 the ground that the aromatic gum Bdellium was not so valuable 

 a product as to deserve mention along with gold and precious 

 stones; they understood it to mean "Pearls," and Gesenius, 

 following Bochart, concurs in this rendering. — See Smith's Dic- 

 tionary of the Bible, vol. i., p. 173. 



