...Than Rubies

I possess a large, South African ruby. On account of its poor degree of translucence, it is not valuable, though what it lacks in transparency it compensates in size and colour. Nevertheless, it is a cheap version of something usually rather expensive. Most references to rubies (and it is always plural in the scriptures) in scripture compare their great value to something even more precious, something which fallen humans are inclined to despise, like knowledge, or wisdom, or a virtuous wife (all NKJV):

Proverbs 3:15: She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.

Job 28:18: No mention shall be made of coral or quartz, for the price of wisdom is above rubies.

Proverbs 3:15: She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.

Proverbs 8:11: For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.

Proverbs 20:15: There is gold and a multitude of rubies, but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

Proverbs 31:10: Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.

Lamentations 4:7: Her Nazirites were brighter than snow and whiter than milk; they were more ruddy in body than rubies, like sapphire in their appearance.

This is testament to the ruby’s enduring worth and esteem that, like gold, it should be employed as a constant comparison of wealth. The two exceptions to this rule are Ezekiel 27:16, in which the city of Tyre or its king (or even Satan himself) possessed these beautiful red stones as an expression of wealth and beauty:

Syria was your merchant because of the abundance of goods you made. They gave you for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidery, fine linen, corals, and rubies.

The other, rather more positively, is found in Isaiah 54:12 and describes the future prosperity of God’s people, or even New Jerusalem itself:

I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of crystal, and all your walls of precious stones.

Rubies bespeak future glory and wealth; for now, let us content ourselves with knowledge, wisdom, good marriages and friendships.

A  D