The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it has dust of gold.
Read Chapter 28
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Sapphires. The best are found in Media, in the country of the Taphyri, (Ptol.) or Raspires. (Herodotus iii. 94.)
Gold. This precious metal, like all others, is found in the bowels of the earth, (Haydock) and in the bed of rivers, in Ophir, Peru (Calmet)
52. The proclaim of the glory going before adds to the guilt of the sin following after. For the fall of every individual is of worse criminality, in proportion as before he fell he had the power to be of greater excellency. Thus let it be told of Judaea, let it be told what she was, and let the greatness of the excellencies going before grow into the heightening of the delinquencies succeeding afterwards, Her stones were the place of sapphires, arid her clods of gold, What do we understand in this place by ‘gold,’ but the minds of the Saints and strong ones? For in Holy Scripture ‘stones’ are wont to be taken sometimes on the side of bad and sometimes on the side of good, For when a’ stone’ is put for insensibility, by ‘stones’ we have hard hearts denoted. Whence also it is said by John; God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham [Matt. 3, 9]; who, surely, by the name of’ stones’ denotes the hearts of the Gentiles, at that time hard and insensible in respect of...
