Sardonyx

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

(σαρδόνυξ)

The sardonyx is the fifth foundation of the New Jerusalem ( Revelation 21:20). This stone is a beautiful variety of onyx, consisting, as the name implies, of a layer of sard (or of carnelian) with one of white chalcedony, or presenting several alternating layers of these minerals. The finest kind known to ancient writers-now called the ‘Oriental sardonyx’-had at least three strata-a black base, an intermediate band of white chalcedony, and a superficial layer of red or brown. The black was regarded as typifying humility, the white chastity, and the red modesty or martyrdom. The sardonyx was frequently used for seals and cameos. The best kind was obtained from India or Arabia. Imitations are made by cementing together stones of the required colours, or by placing a sard or carnelian, coated with sodium carbonate, on a red-hot iron and so producing a white layer.

James Strahan.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: Σαρδόνυξ (Strong'S #4557 — Noun Masculine — sardonux — sar-don'-oox )

a name which indicates the formation of the gem, a layer of sard, and a layer of onyx, marked by the red of the sard and the white of the onyx. It was used among the Romans both for cameos and for signets. It forms the fifth foundation of the wall of the heavenly Jerusalem,  Revelation 21:20 .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Sardonyx. A name compounded of Sard and Onyx , two precious stones, varieties of chalcedony or agate. The sardonyx combines the qualities of both, whence its name. It is mentioned only in  Revelation 21:20. The sardonyx consists of "a white opaque layer, superimposed upon a red transparent stratum of the true red sard." It is, like the sard, merely a variety of agate, and is frequently employed by engravers for signet-rings.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Revelation 21:20 (b) The beauty and the value of these stones probably represent the beauty and the value of the nation of Israel (the twelve tribes) in GOD's program of world development. Every blessing we enjoy has come to us through the influence of Israel. These influences were of various kinds and characters, and this fact is represented by the various kinds of stones.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

A precious stone associated with one of the foundations of the holy Jerusalem.  Revelation 21:20 . The word does not occur in the A.V. of the O.T. Aquila, in his Greek version, uses it for the onyx in  Genesis 2:12 . It is judged to be a variety of chalcedony, or of agate, of various colours, with stripes of a different shade.

King James Dictionary

S'ARDONYX, n. L. sardonyches, from Gr. from Sardis, a city of Asia Minor, and a nail so named, according to Pliny, from the resemblance of its color to the flesh under the nail.

A silicious stone or gem, nearly allied to carnelian. Its color is a reddish yellow, or nearly orange. We are informed that the yellow or orange colored agate, with an undulating surface, is now often called sardonyx.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

σαρδονυξ ,  Revelation 21:20 . A precious stone which seems to have its name from its resemblance partly to the sardius and partly to the onyx. It is generally tinged with black and blood colour, which are distinguished from each other by circles or rows, so distinct that they appear to be the effect of art.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

As if a sardius united to an onyx; a species of gem exhibiting the reddish color of the carnelian and the white of the chalcedony, intermingled either in shades or in alternate circles,  Revelation 21:20 .

Webster's Dictionary

(n.) A variety of onyx consisting of sard and white chalcedony in alternate layers.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Revelation 21:20

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Sardonyx . See Jewels and Precious Stones.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Revelation 21:20

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( Σαρδόνυξ , from Σάρδιον , the Sardius, and Ὄνυξ , the Onyx ) is mentioned in the New Test. once only — viz. in  Revelation 21:20 — as the stone which garnished the fifth foundation of the wall of the heavenly Jerusalem. "By sardonyx," says Pliny (N.H. 37, 6), who describes several varieties, "was formerly understood, as its name implies, a sard with a white ground beneath it, like the flesh under the fingernail." The sardonyx consists of "a white opaque layer, superimposed upon a red transparent stratum of the true red sard" (King, Ant. Gems, p. 9). It is, like the sard, merely a variety of agate, and is frequently employed by engravers for the purposes of a signet ring. It is a species of onyx, distinguished from the common stone of that name by having its different colors, red and white, disposed in alternate bands. But there is another stone so called, whose tint is reddish yellow or orange, with sometimes a tinge of brown (Moore, Anc. Mineral. p. 153).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Sardo´nyx, a precious stone exhibiting a milk-white variety of the onyx or chalcedony, intermixed with shades or stripes of the sardian (or carnelian); hence the compound name of sardonyx. It is mentioned in .