BIBLICAL

It remains a matter of remarkable comment that some of the earliest mentions about Diamond draw attention to its exceptional hardness and, as a "consequence therefrom, to its use as a tool of one sort or another. Even in Biblical times this was recognised. Just as old Bible translators use two words, Diamond and adamant (both still in use), so in Biblical Hebrew two words always have been accepted as meaning Diamond: the word Jahalom refers to a gem in the breast-plate of the High Priest and is used in the early writings of Exodus; in the (per­haps six centuries later) writings of the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel the word Shamir is also used. It is agreed that Shamir means the point of a hard engraving or writing instrument, and it is translated both as Diamond and as adamant.

There is every reason to believe these words do mean 'Diamond'; indeed, they are always given so by dictionaries and today in Hebrew still have this same ancient meaning. Classical Hebrew certainly is a language whose usages have remained unchanged ' and have persisted from very early times. Since the dispersal of the Jews from Israel in a.d. 70, learned Jewish scholars and rabbis have clung tenaciously to the meaning of every word and letter in their Holy Scriptures.

In two Biblical references!! it is made perfectly clear that the hardness was fully understood! and its use appreciated. Jeremiah (xvii.l) - the date of writing is considered to be some six centuries B.C. - states, ‘The sin of: Judah is written with the point of a Diamond; it is graven upon the horns of your altars.’ The horns of altars are des­cribed as of brass, but brass in the Bible almost certainly means bronze, for although zinc oxide, calamine, was known, the metal zinc, a constituent of brass, was not yet familiar to the ancients. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin and can be quite hard. Diamond at that time came from India and this source has pointed octahedra. It is notable that then (and for centuries after) a Diamond point was being used for engraving. This was probably the first use of Diamond as a tool.

In Ezekiel we find there is mention (in the English version) both of Diamond and of adamant (iii. 9, and xxviii. 13). Ezekiel shows a familiarity with a very extensive range of I he riches of his times, of silks and tapestries, of metals such as gold, silver, tin, lead, brass, and especially of precious stones of which he lists no less than the following, i.e. emerald, coral, agate, sardius, topaz, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, carbuncle and, of course, Diamond and adamant. Most perti­nent to our inquiry is his phrase, 'As an adamant harder than Hint I have made thy forehead.' Now, this is noteworthy, for (lint (quartz) is hard, very hard (indeed, of hardness about 1200 on the Vickers scale).

Ezekiel knows it is hard, and in his poetic description for overpowering this he chooses naturally the hardest thing he knows in this particular context, he chooses adamant (Diamond). It is implicit in the very nature of his phrase that what he selects is likely to be harder than all the other stones he knows of. The sapphire and emerald, about which he knows but does not mention here, have a hardness of 2000, but he chooses adamant, the mighty hard Diamond and well he knows he is choosing the hardest of all. Thus we see that the ancients knew Diamond was a phenomen­ally hard material.