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( ἴáóðéò , from Assyr. aspû)
The king on the heavenly throne is like a jasper stone (Rev_4:3); the luminary of the New Jerusalem is like a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal (21:11); and the first foundation stone of the wall is a jasper. The jasper of mineralogy is an opaque, compact variety of quartz, variously coloured-red, brown, yellow, or green. As this stone does not answer the description ‘clear as crystal,’ some think that the diamond is meant (Smith’s Dict. of the Bible s.v.), while others suggest the opal (Encyclopaedia Biblica s.v.). The ἴáóðéò of the Septuagint (Exo_28:20) may have been the dark green jasper, which was known to the Egyptians and the early Greeks.
James Strahan.