Carbuncle (gemstone)

A carbuncle is an archaic name given to any red cabachon cut gemstone. The name applied particularly to red garnet.^[1] The word occurs in four places in most English translations of the Bible. Each use originates from the Vulgate's Latin translation of the Septuagint's Greek term Anthrax - meaning coal, in reference to the colour of burning coal; in this sense, a carbuncle is usually taken to mean a gem, particularly a deep-red garnet, unfaceted and convex. In the same place in the masoretic text is the Hebrew word בָּרְקַת בָּרְקַת or bâreqath bâreqath (baw-reh'-keth, baw-rek-ath'); however, the Hebrew definition is less definite and the precise color of the gems is not known.

• Exodus 28:17 and 39:10 both refer to the carbuncle's use as the third stone in the breastplate of the Hoshen.
• Ezekiel 28:13 refers to the carbuncle's presence in the Garden of Eden.
• Isaiah 54:12 uses carbuncle to convey the value of the Lord's blessing on His faithful servants:

  "And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones."

References

1. ^ Shipley, Robert M. Dictionary of Gems and Gemology, 5th edition, Gemological Institute of America, 1951, pp40