Crystal (Hastings' Dictionary)

1. In Job 28" n-jo) is rendered in AV 'crystal' (i.e. rock-crystal); and aa it occurs in a passage descriptive of the treasures of mines, this 18 probably to be accepted as correct. (See, however, Oxf. Heb. Lex. and KV which tr. 'glass'). 2. In Ezk 1^ another word n-;,^ is also tr. ' crystal ' (RVm ' ice '), and, in this case, there is no certainty whether rock, crystal or ice is referred to (cf. Davidson, ad loc.) ; the same remark applies to KpOaraXKoi in Rev 4' 21" 22' ; but this is immaterial in the case of poetic imagery, as the two sub- stances are similar as regards transparency and absence of colour ; hence the Greeks applied the same word (n-pi/oraWos) to both. 3. In Job 28'" KV substitutes ' crystal ' for ' pearls ' of AV as tr. of ii-Zi- Rock, crystal is pure quartz, crystallizing in hexagonal prisms with pyramidal apices, and ia abundant in veins amongst the older rocks in nearly all countries. It was used in ancient times for ornamental purposes, and being softer, could lie cut by the diamond or corundum. It is pos- sible that the Heb. word (cSq:) tr. 'diamond as one of the stones on the breastplate of the high priest was really rock-crystal, as it was engraveil with the name of one of the tribes (Ex 28-'). [See, however, art. Stones (Precious), and Ox/. Heb. Lex., where the jasper or the onyx are suggested as equivalents of cSq:.] E. Hull. CUB (313, AV Chub), in Ezk 30°, is almost cer- tainly a corruption of 3i^ (i.e. Lybia) as was read by LXX. Tiie 'Lybia' of AV is a mistransla- tion of Put (see RV). Cf. Nah 3^ where Lybians are mentioned along with Cush (Ethiopia), Egypt, and Put, as here ; also 2 Ch 12» 1G». Identihca- tions which assume the correctness of the text lead to no satisfactory result, and hardly deserve notice. J. SKINNER. CUBIT See Weights and Measures.