Ezekiel 28:13

28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. ¹ 

Every precious stone was your covering,

the ruby, topaz, and emerald,

the chrysolite, onyx, and jasper,

the sapphire, turquoise, and beryl; ² 

your settings and mounts were made of gold.

On the day you were created they were prepared.

Revelation 21:19-21

21:19 The foundations of the city’s wall are decorated ³  with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation is jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, ⁴  the fourth emerald, 21:20 the fifth onyx, ⁵  the sixth carnelian, ⁶  the seventh chrysolite, ⁷  the eighth beryl, ⁸  the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, ⁹  the eleventh jacinth, ¹⁰  and the twelfth amethyst. 21:21 And the twelve gates are twelve pearls – each one of the gates is made from just one pearl! The ¹¹  main street ¹²  of the city is pure gold, like transparent glass.

¹ sn The imagery of the lament appears to draw upon an extrabiblical Eden tradition about the expulsion of the first man (see v. 14 and the note there) from the garden due to his pride. The biblical Eden tradition speaks of cherubs placed as guardians at the garden entrance following the sin of Adam and Eve (Gen 3:24), but no guardian cherub like the one described in verse 14 is depicted or mentioned in the biblical account. Ezekiel’s imagery also appears to reflect Mesopotamian and Canaanite mythology at certain points. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:119-20.

² tn The exact identification of each gemstone is uncertain. The list should be compared to that of the priest in Exod 28:17-20, which lists twelve stones in rows of three. The LXX apparently imports the Exod 28 list. See reference to the types of stones in L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.

³ tn The perfect participle here has been translated as an intensive (resultative) perfect.

⁴ sn Agate (also called chalcedony) is a semiprecious stone usually milky or gray in color (L&N 2.32).

⁵ sn Onyx (also called sardonyx) is a semiprecious stone that comes in various colors (L&N 2.35).

⁶ sn Carnelian is a semiprecious gemstone, usually red in color (L&N 2.36).

⁷ sn Chrysolite refers to either quartz or topaz, golden yellow in color (L&N 2.37).

⁸ sn Beryl is a semiprecious stone, usually blue-green or green in color (L&N 2.38).

⁹ sn Chrysoprase is a greenish type of quartz (L&N 2.40).

¹⁰ sn Jacinth is a semiprecious stone, probably blue in color (also called “hyacinth,” but that translation is not used here because of possible confusion with the flower of the same name). See L&N 2.41.

¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹² tn The Greek word πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to a major (broad) street (L&N 1.103).