Jacinth (, ) or hyacinth () is a yellow-red to red-brown variety of

zircon Zircon () is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates and is a source of the metal zirconium. Its chemical name is zirconium(IV) silicate, and its corresponding chemical formula is Zr SiO4. An empirical formula showing some of t ...

used as a

gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...

. In

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * E ...

28:19, one of the precious stones set into the '' hoshen'' (the breastplate worn by the High Priest of Israel) is called, in Hebrew, '' leshem'', which is often translated into English as "jacinth". The true identity of this stone has been a source of confusion since at least the first century; the modern identification of ''leshem'' with jacinth seems to have been popularised by

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

, who may in turn have been following a fourth-century tradition. In Revelation 21:20, one of the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem is hyacinth (Greek: ''hyakinthos''). However, ''

Strong's Concordance ''The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible'', generally known as ''Strong's Concordance'', is a Bible concordance, an index of every word in the King James Version (KJV), constructed under the direction of James Strong. Strong first published ...

'' and ''Thayer's Greek Lexicon'' describe this as a stone of the colour of the hyacinth plant, i.e. dark blue. The stone intended may be the

sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sa ...

. In Revelation 9:17, the word appears in adjective form (''hyakinthinous'', "hyacinthine"); this, again, is thought to be descriptive of a blue or purple colour, with no reference to the modern jacinth stone.

References

{{Reflist Zirconium minerals Gemstones