Reference: Seal, Signet
Hastings
The existence of seals is attested for the early dynasties of Egypt, and for an equally remote period in the history of Babylonia. The first mention of a seal in the OT is in connexion with the patriarch Judah, who fared forth with his staff in his hand and his seal hung round his neck by a cord (Ge 38:18 RV), precisely as was the custom of every Babylonian gentleman in the days of Herodotus (i. 195). The seals hitherto found in Palestine show little initiative on the part of the Hebrews in this branch of the fine arts, the great majority plainly showing the predominant influence of Egypt, or to a less extent of Babylonia.
As regards material, almost every variety of precious stone was used for this purpose, although ordinary limestone, and even baked clay, were used by those who could afford nothing better. An almost equal wealth of form is attested by the extant seals. Thus the scarab and the scaraboid forms were distinctive of Egypt, as the cylinder was of Babylonia. Other seals, again, were conical in shape, while the square form is not unknown.
Most of the extant seals bearing evidence of a Hebrew origin, however, are oval in outline. This was also the usual form for seals intended to be set in the bezel of a ring. In this case it was customary to wear the ring on one of the fingers of the right hand (Jer 22:24; cf. Ge 41:42). The distinctively Jewish type of seal is marked by two features: (a) the absence of figures, Divine or human, in the field, and (b) the presence of two parallel lines, set close together, which cross the field longitudinally, and divide the inscription into two parts. The legend, as a rule, contains the name of the owner, preceded by the preposition signifying 'belonging to'
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And he said, What would you have? And she said, Your ring and its cord and the stick in your hand. So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she became with child by him.
Then Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and he had him clothed with the best linen, and put a chain of gold round his neck;
So she sent a letter in Ahab's name, stamped with his stamp, to the responsible men and the chiefs who were in authority with Naboth.
Now those who put down their names were Nehemiah the Tirshatha, the son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah,
It is changed like wet earth under a stamp, and is coloured like a robe;
The sin of Judah is recorded with a pen of iron, and with the sharp point of a jewel it is cut on their hearts of stone, and on the horns of their altars for a sign to them:
By my life, says the Lord, even if Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, was the ring on my right hand, even from there I would have you pulled off;
Great in wisdom and strong in act: whose eyes are open on all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone the reward of his ways and the fruit of his doings:
Then they got a stone and put it over the mouth of the hole, and it was stamped with the king's stamp and with the stamp of the lords, so that the decision about Daniel might not be changed.
Seventy weeks have been fixed for your people and your holy town, to let wrongdoing be complete and sin come to its full limit, and for the clearing away of evil-doing and the coming in of eternal righteousness: so that the vision and the word of the prophet may be stamped as true, and to put the holy oil on a most holy place.
But as for you, O Daniel, let the words be kept secret and the book rolled up and kept shut till the time of the end: numbers will be going out of the way and troubles will be increased.
So they went, and made safe the place where his body was, putting a stamp on the stone, and the watchmen were with them.
Let your work not be for the food which comes to an end, but for the food which goes on for eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you, for on him has God the Father put his mark.
If to others I am not an Apostle, at least I am one to you: for the fact that you are Christians is the sign that I am an Apostle.
In whom you, having been given the true word, the good news of your salvation, and through your faith in him, were given the sign of the Holy Spirit of hope,
And do not give grief to the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were marked for the day of salvation.
In the body of his flesh through death, so that you might be holy and without sin and free from all evil before him:
And when the second stamp was undone, the voice of the second beast came to my ears, saying, Come and see.
Morish
Stones on which words, letters, or symbols are engraved. Anciently these were pierced, and by a cord or chain were hung from the arm or the neck, or they were set in rings and worn on the finger. The design was impressed on pieces of clay which were attached to official documents, which in the East are not considered authentic without being sealed. Ex 28:11; Es 8:8,10; Job 38:14; Da 6:17. The seal was also used to ensure security, or to preserve the sanctity of things not to be revealed. Isa 29:11; Da 12:4,9; Mt 27:66; Re 20:3; 22:10.
A covenant was sealed by Nehemiah and those with him. Ne 10:1. The believer, in crediting what God says of man, and of God's salvation, virtually attaches his seal (vouches for the fact) that God is true. Joh 3:33. "The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his God's side; and, Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity man's side." 2Ti 2:19. This is an illustration of a double-seal turning on a pivot, of which either side could be used.
The roll in Revelation 5 had seven seals, so arranged that by breaking one seal a certain portion could be unrolled; and each seal was broken in succession until the whole was revealed.
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With the work of a jeweller, like the cutting of a stamp, the names of the children of Israel are to be cut on them, and they are to be fixed in twisted frames of gold.
Now those who put down their names were Nehemiah the Tirshatha, the son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah,
So now send a letter about the Jews, writing whatever seems good to you, in the king's name, and stamping it with the king's ring: for a writing signed in the king's name and stamped with the king's ring may not be changed.
The letters were sent in the name of King Ahasuerus and stamped with his ring, and they were taken by men on horseback, going on the quick-running horses used for the king's business, the offspring of his best horses:
It is changed like wet earth under a stamp, and is coloured like a robe;
And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book which is shut, which men give to one who has knowledge of writing, saying, Make clear to us what is in the book: and he says, I am not able to, for the book is shut:
Then they got a stone and put it over the mouth of the hole, and it was stamped with the king's stamp and with the stamp of the lords, so that the decision about Daniel might not be changed.
But as for you, O Daniel, let the words be kept secret and the book rolled up and kept shut till the time of the end: numbers will be going out of the way and troubles will be increased.
And he said, Go on your way, Daniel: for the words are secret and shut up till the time of the end;
So they went, and made safe the place where his body was, putting a stamp on the stone, and the watchmen were with them.
He who so takes his witness has made clear his faith that God is true.
But God's strong base is unchanging, having this sign, The Lord has knowledge of those who are his: and, Let everyone by whom the name of the Lord is named be turned away from evil.
And put him into the great deep, and it was shut and locked over him, so that he might put the nations in error no longer, till the thousand years were ended: after this he will be let loose for a little time.
And he said to me, Let not the words of this prophet's book be kept secret, because the time is near.