Bible Dictionary
Agate
Agate was a precious, banded or veined stone. It was listed among the stones of the high priest’s breastplate, though some other biblical references may denote a different red stone.
Definition
Agate is a beautifully veined, semitransparent variety of quartz, commonly marked by bands or clouds of differing colors. In the biblical passages, however, the English word may represent different Hebrew terms and stones.
Biblical Usage
The stone called agate was placed in the second position of the third row of the high priest’s breastplate. In Isaiah and Ezekiel, the translated word is a different term meaning ruddy and probably denotes another crystalline stone.
Historical Background
The English name comes from the Achates River in Sicily, where agate was said to have been found. The breastplate stone may have been brought from Sheba, according to one explanation.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
(Heb. shebo), a precious stone in the breast-plate of the high priest (Ex. 28:19; 39:12), the second in the third row. This may be the agate properly so called, a semi-transparent crystallized quartz, probably brought from Sheba, whence its name. In Isa. 54:12 and Ezek. 27:16, this word is the rendering of the Hebrew cadcod, which means “ruddy,” and denotes a variety of minutely crystalline silica more or less in bands of different tints. This word is from the Greek name of a stone found in the river Achates in Sicily.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
a beautifully-veined semi-transparent precious stone, a variety of quartz. Its colors are delicately arranged in stripes or bands or blended in clouds. It is mentioned four times in the text of the Authorized Version, viz., in (Exodus 28:19; 39:12; Isaiah 54:12; Ezekiel 27:16) In the two former passages; where it is represented by the Hebrew word shebo it is spoken of as forming the second stone in the third row of the high priest’s breastplate; in each of the two latter places the original word is cadced, by which, no doubt, is intended a different stone. [RUBY] Our English agate derives its name from the Achates, on the banks of which it was first found.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>See STONES, PRECIOUS.</p>