Pearl
Summary
Pearls are lustrous gems formed within certain mollusks, highly prized in the ancient world and used in the New Testament as symbols of supreme value, including Christ's parable of the pearl of great price and the gates of the New Jerusalem.
☩Nature and Sources
Pearls are formed within certain mollusks, particularly the pearl oyster (Avicula margaritifera), when foreign matter such as sand or a parasite becomes lodged between the mantle and shell, causing the mollusk to deposit layers of nacre around the irritant. The ancient world obtained pearls chiefly from the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the coasts of Ceylon and India. For fine specimens, fabulous prices were paid—Cleopatra's single pearl, reportedly dissolved and swallowed, was valued at an enormous sum. The pearl fishery of the island of Tylos (modern Bahrain) was especially renowned.
☩Use as Ornaments
Pearls were considered among the most precious of gems and highly esteemed as ornaments throughout the ancient world. Women adorned themselves with pearls (1 Timothy 2:9), and the 'woman arrayed in scarlet and purple' in Revelation was decked with them (Revelation 17:4). They formed part of the merchandise of Babylon (Revelation 18:12, 16). The excessive passion for pearls in the East is illustrated by descriptions of Persian royal costume, where pearls covered tippets, formed tassels, and were worked into networks on cushions, some strands containing pearls of immense size.
☩Metaphorical and Symbolic Use
In Matthew 7:6, pearls represent anything of sacred value: 'Cast not your pearls before swine.' The swine, expecting food resembling peas or acorns, turn in rage against the giver when disappointed—so saving counsels offered to the sensual only provoke profanity. The distinction of pearls from coins in parables is significant: while talents represent active service and duty, the pearl's value lies in its inherent beauty, appreciated only by those who understand its worth. It symbolizes the secret treasure shared between soul and God, requiring reverent protection from those who cannot comprehend it.
☩The Pearl of Great Price
In Matthew 13:45-46, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a merchant seeking goodly pearls who, finding one of great price, sells all to purchase it. Some interpret the merchant as the believer who gives all for Christ; others see Christ as the merchant who sold all—His heavenly glory—to obtain His Church, a unique possession of surpassing worth. The pearl, formed from a wound in the oyster, may symbolize the Church formed through Christ's wounds. Unlike coined money representing duty, the pearl represents the transcendent preciousness of personal religion, something for which all else may be sacrificed.
☩The Gates of the New Jerusalem
In Revelation 21:21, 'the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the several gates was of one pearl.' This imagery has been interpreted as gates of mother-of-pearl of enormous size, symbolizing the purity and preciousness of entrance into the heavenly city. The pearl's formation through suffering, its gradual growth in hiddenness, and its eventual beauty may symbolize the process by which believers are formed through tribulation for eternal glory.
Related Verses9 mentions
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Pearl," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. VII (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Hastings (ed.), "Pearl," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. II (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).
- 3.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Pearl," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 4.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Pearl," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).
- 5.James Hastings (ed.), "Pearl," in Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, vol. II (T. & T. Clark, 1906–1908).
- 6.George Morrish, "Pearl," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).