Reference: Seal
Easton
commonly a ring engraved with some device (Ge 38:18,25). Jezebel "wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal" (1Ki 21:8). Seals are frequently mentioned in Jewish history (De 32:34; Ne 9:38-10:1; Es 3:12; Song 8:6; Isa 8:16; Jer 22:24; 32:44, etc.). Sealing a document was equivalent to the signature of the owner of the seal. "The use of a signet-ring by the monarch has recently received a remarkable illustration by the discovery of an impression of such a signet on fine clay at Koyunjik, the site of the ancient Nineveh. This seal appears to have been impressed from the bezel of a metallic finger-ring. It is an oval, 2 inches in length by 1 inch wide, and bears the image, name, and titles of the Egyptian king Sabaco" (Rawlinson's Hist. Illus. of the O.T., p. 46). The actual signet-rings of two Egyptian kings (Cheops and Horus) have been discovered. (See Signet.)
The use of seals is mentioned in the New Testament only in connection with the record of our Lord's burial (Mt 27:66). The tomb was sealed by the Pharisees and chief priests for the purpose of making sure that the disciples would not come and steal the body away (Mt 27:63-64). The mode of doing this was probably by stretching a cord across the stone and sealing it at both ends with sealing-clay. When God is said to have sealed the Redeemer, the meaning is, that he has attested his divine mission (Joh 6:27). Circumcision is a seal, an attestation of the covenant (Ro 4:11). Believers are sealed with the Spirit, as God's mark put upon them (Eph 1:13; 4:30). Converts are by Paul styled the seal of his apostleship, i.e., they are its attestation (1Co 9:2). Seals and sealing are frequently mentioned in the book of Revelation (Re 5:1; 6:1; 7:3; 10:4; 22:10).
Illustration: Ancient Jewish Seals Illustration: Egyptian Signet-Rings
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And he will say, What the pledge which I shall give to thee? And she will say, Thy seal, and thy cord, and thy rod which is in thy hand: and he will give to her, and will go in to her, and she will conceive by him.
She being brought forth, and she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the man whose are these, by him I conceived. And she will say, Recognise, now, to whom the seal, the cords, and the rod, these.
Is not this laid up with me, Sealed up in my treasuries?
And she will write letters in the name of Ahab, and seal with his seal; and she will send the letters to the old men, and to the nobles who were in his city dwelling with Naboth.
And the king's scribes will be called in the first month, in the thirteenth day in it, and it will be written according to all that Haman commanded to the king's satraps and to the prefects, which were over province and province, and to the chiefs of people and people of province and province, according to its writing, and people and people according to their tongue; in the name of king Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king's signet ring.
Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love was strong as death; jealousy hard as hades: its flames, flames of fire, flames of Jehovah.
Bind up the oracle, seal up the law among the disciples.
I live says Jehovah, for if Coniah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, shall be the seal upon my right hand, I will pluck thee off from thence.
They shall buy fields with silver, and write thou in the book, and seal and affirm witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in round about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountain, and in the cities of the low country, and in the cities of the south: for I will turn back their captivity, says Jehovah.
Saying, Lord, we remember that that impostor said, yet living, After three days, I arise. Order therefore, the tomb to be rendered secure till the third day, lest his disciples, having come by night, should steal him, and say to the people, He was raised from the dead; and the last error shall be worse than the first.
And they, having gone, rendered the tomb secure, having sealed the stone with the watch.
Work not for food perishing, but food remaining to eternal life, which the Son of man will give you: for him God the Father sealed.
And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the justice of the faith which in uncircumcision: for him to be father of all believing through uncircumcision; for justice also to be reckoned to them:
If to others I am not sent, but surely I am to you: for the seal of my sending are ye in the Lord.
In whom ye also, having heard the word of truth, the good news of your salvation: in whom also having believed, ye were sealed by the holy Spirit of solemn promise,
And grieve ye not the Holy Spirit of God in which ye were sealed to the day of redemption.
And I saw upon the right hand of him sitting upon the throne, a book written within and behind, sealed with seven seals.
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as the voice of thunder, Come and see.
Saying, Injure not the earth, neither the sea, neither the trees, until we should seal the servants of God upon their foreheads.
And when the seven thunders spake their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Seal what the seven thunders spake, and thou mayest not write these.
And he says to me, Thou mayest not seal the words of the prophecy of this book: for the time is near.
Fausets
Used to stamp a document, giving it legal validity. Judah probably wore his suspended from the neck over the breast (Ge 38:18; Song 8:6; Job 38:14). As the plastic clay presents various figures impressed on it by the revolving cylinder seal (one to three inches long, of terra cotta or precious stone, such as is found in Assyria), as "it is turned," so the morning light rolling on over the earth, previously void of form through the darkness, brings out to view hills, valleys, etc. Treasures were sealed up (De 32:34); the lions' den in Daniel's case (Da 6:17); so our Lord's tomb (Mt 27:66).
Sealing up was also to ensure secrecy (Da 12:4; Re 5:1). The signet ring was the symbol of royal authority (Ge 12:20; Es 3:10; 8:10). Clay hardens in the heat, and was therefore used in Assyria and Babylon rather than wax, which melts. A stone cylinder in the Alnwick Museum bears the date of Osirtasin I, between 2,000 and 3,000 B.C. The Assyrian documents were often of baked clay, sealed while wet and burnt afterwards. Often the seal was a lump of clay impressed with a seal and tied the document. Such is the seal of Sabacho or So, king of Egypt (711 B.C.), found at Nimrud (2Ki 17:4).
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And Pharaoh will command the men concerning him, and they will send him away, and his wife and all that is to him.
And he will say, What the pledge which I shall give to thee? And she will say, Thy seal, and thy cord, and thy rod which is in thy hand: and he will give to her, and will go in to her, and she will conceive by him.
Is not this laid up with me, Sealed up in my treasuries?
And the king of Assur will find conspiracy in Hoshea, because he sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and he brought up no gift to the king of Assur, as year by year; and the king of Assur will surround him and bind him in the house of shutting-up.
And the king will remove the signet ring from his hand, and will give it to Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, to press the Jews.
And he will write in the name of the king Ahasuerus, and seal with the king's signet ring; and he will send letters by the hand of runners on horses riding the courser, the mules, sons of mares:
It shall be turned as clay to the seal; and they shall stand as clothing.
Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love was strong as death; jealousy hard as hades: its flames, flames of fire, flames of Jehovah.
And one stone was brought and set upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his signet ring, and with the signet ring of his nobles, that the will shall not be changed upon Daniel.
And thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run through and knowledge shall be multiplied.
And they, having gone, rendered the tomb secure, having sealed the stone with the watch.
And I saw upon the right hand of him sitting upon the throne, a book written within and behind, sealed with seven seals.
Smith
Seal.
The importance attached to seals in the East is so great that without one no document is regarded as authentic. Among the methods of sealing used in Egypt at a very early period were engraved stones, graved stones, pierced through their length and hung by a string or chain from the arm or neck, or set in rings for the finger. The most ancient form used for this purpose was the scarabaeus, formed of precious or common stone, or even of blue pottery or porcelain, on the flat side of which the inscription or device was engraved. In many cases the seal consisted of a lump of clay, impressed with the seal and attached to the document, whether of papyrus or other material, by strings. In other cases wax was used. In sealing a sepulchre or box, the fastening was covered with clay or wax, and the impression from a seal of one in authority was stamped upon it, so that it could not be broken open without discovery. The signet-ring was an ordinary part of a man's equipment.
The ring or the seal as an emblem of authority in Egypt, Persia and elsewhere is mentioned in
Ge 41:42; 1Ki 21:8; Es 3:10,12; 8:2; Da 6:17
and as an evidence of a covenant, in
Jer 32:10,44; Ne 9:38-10:1; Hag 2:23
Engraved signets were in use among the Hebrews in early times.
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And he will say, What the pledge which I shall give to thee? And she will say, Thy seal, and thy cord, and thy rod which is in thy hand: and he will give to her, and will go in to her, and she will conceive by him.
And Pharaoh will remove his signet ring from his hand, and will give it upon Joseph's hand; and will put upon him a white garment, and will put a gold collar about his neck.
The work of a stone engraver, the engravings of a signet, engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel: surrounded with textures of gold thou shalt make them.
And make a plate of pure gold, and engrave upon it the engravings of a seal, HOLINESS TO JEHOVAH.
And they will make stones of onyx turned in textures of gold, engraved with engravings of a seal, with the names of the sons of Israel
And the king will remove the signet ring from his hand, and will give it to Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, to press the Jews.
And the king's scribes will be called in the first month, in the thirteenth day in it, and it will be written according to all that Haman commanded to the king's satraps and to the prefects, which were over province and province, and to the chiefs of people and people of province and province, according to its writing, and people and people according to their tongue; in the name of king Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king's signet ring.
And the king will remove his signet ring which he caused to pass from Haman, and he will give it to Mordecai. And Esther will set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
And I shall write in a book, and seal and affirm witnesses, and weigh the silver in the balances.
They shall buy fields with silver, and write thou in the book, and seal and affirm witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in round about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountain, and in the cities of the low country, and in the cities of the south: for I will turn back their captivity, says Jehovah.
And one stone was brought and set upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his signet ring, and with the signet ring of his nobles, that the will shall not be changed upon Daniel.
In that day, says Jehovah of armies, I will take thee, O Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, my servant, says Jehovah, and I set thee as a seal; for I chose in thee, says Jehovah of armies.
Watsons
SEAL. The ancient Hebrews wore their seals or signets, in rings on their fingers, or in bracelets on their arms, as is now the custom in the east. Haman sealed the decree of King Ahasuerus against the Jews with the king's seal, Es 3:12. The priests of Bel desired the king to seal the door of their temple with his own seal. The spouse in the Song 8:6, wishes that his spouse would wear him as a signet on her arm. Pliny observes, that the use of seals or signets was rare at the time of the Trojan war, and that they were under the necessity of closing their letters with several knots. But among the Hebrews they are much more ancient. Judah left his seal as a pledge with Tamar, Ge 38:25. Moses says, De 32:34, that God keeps sealed up in his treasuries, under his own seal, the instruments of his vengeance. Job says, Job 9:7, that he keeps the stars as under his seal, and allows them to appear when he thinks proper. He says also, "My transgression is sealed up in a bag," Job 14:7. When they intended to seal up a letter, or a book, they wrapped it round with flax, or thread, then applied the wax to it, and afterward the seal. The Lord commanded Isaiah to tie up or wrap up the book in which his prophecies were written, and to seal them till the time he should bid him publish them, Isa 8:16-17. He gives the same command to Da 12:4. The book that was shown to St. John the evangelist, Re 5:1; 6:1-2, &c, was sealed with seven seals. It was a rare thing to affix such a number of seals, but this insinuated the great importance and secrecy of the matter. In civil contracts they generally made two originals: one continued open, and was kept by him for whose interest the contract was made; the other was sealed and deposited in some public office.
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She being brought forth, and she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the man whose are these, by him I conceived. And she will say, Recognise, now, to whom the seal, the cords, and the rod, these.
Is not this laid up with me, Sealed up in my treasuries?
And the king's scribes will be called in the first month, in the thirteenth day in it, and it will be written according to all that Haman commanded to the king's satraps and to the prefects, which were over province and province, and to the chiefs of people and people of province and province, according to its writing, and people and people according to their tongue; in the name of king Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king's signet ring.
Saying to the sun, and it shall not rise; and for the stars he will seal them up
For there is hope for a tree if it shall be cut down, and it shall yet revive, and its suckers shall not cease.
Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love was strong as death; jealousy hard as hades: its flames, flames of fire, flames of Jehovah.
Bind up the oracle, seal up the law among the disciples. And I waited for Jehovah in his hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I trusted to him.
And thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run through and knowledge shall be multiplied.
And I saw upon the right hand of him sitting upon the throne, a book written within and behind, sealed with seven seals.
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as the voice of thunder, Come and see. And I saw and behold a white horse: and he sitting upon him having a bow; and a crown was given to him: and he went forth conquering, and that he might conquer.