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 said, "What [is] the pledge that I must give to you?" And she said, "your seal, your cord, and your staff that [is] in your hand." And he gave [them] to her and went in to her. And she conceived by him.
She was brought out, but she sent to her father-in-law saying, "By the man to whom these [belong] I have conceived." And she said, "Now discern to whom these [belong]: the seal and cord and the staff."
'[Is] not this stored up with me, sealed in my treasuries?'
So she wrote letters in the name of Ahab and sealed them with his seal. She sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who [were] dwelling with Naboth in his city.
And the king's secretaries were called in the first month on the thirteenth day, and [a decree] was issued, according to all that Haman commanded, to the satraps of the king and to the governors who [were] over all the provinces, and to [the] officials of all the people, to each province according to [its own] script and to all people according to their own language; [it was] written in the name of King Ahasuerus and [was] sealed with the king's ring.
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love [is] strong as death; passion [is] fierce as Sheol; its flashes [are] flashes of fire; [it is] a blazing flame.
Bind up [the] testimony; seal [the] teaching among my disciples.
"As I live," {declares} Yahweh, "surely if Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were [the] seal on my right hand, surely from there I would wrench you off.
They will buy fields with money, and they will sign the deeds, and they will seal [them], and they will call witnesses as witness in the land of Benjamin, and in the surroundings of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negev, for I will restore their fortunes,' {declares} Yahweh."
saying, "Sir, we remember that [while] that deceiver was still alive he said, 'After three days I will rise.' Therefore give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come [and] steal him and tell the people, 'He has been raised from the dead,' and the last deception will be worse than the first."
So they went with the guard of soldiers [and] made the tomb secure [by] sealing the stone.
Do not work for the food that perishes, but the food that remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has set his seal on this one."
And he received the sign of circumcision [as] a seal of the righteousness by faith which [he had] {while uncircumcised}, so that he could be the father of all who believe {although they are uncircumcised}, so that righteousness could be credited to them,
If to others I am not an apostle, yet indeed I am to you, for you are my seal of apostleship in the Lord.
in whom also you, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also when you believed you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
And I saw in the right hand of the one who is seated on the throne a scroll, written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.
And I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying like the sound of thunder, "Come!"
saying, "Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the slaves of our God on their foreheads."
And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write, and I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Seal up [the things] which the seven thunders spoke, and do not write them!"
And he said to me, "Do not seal up 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 commanded his men concerning him, and then sent him and his wife and all that [was] with him away.
And he said, "What [is] the pledge that I must give to you?" And she said, "your seal, your cord, and your staff that [is] in your hand." And he gave [them] to her and went in to her. And she conceived by him.
'[Is] not this stored up with me, sealed in my treasuries?'
But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and he did not offer tribute to the king of Assyria as [he had] year after year; so the king of Assyria arrested him, and confined him [in] a house of imprisonment.
So the king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.
And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and he sealed [the letters] with the king's signet ring and sent them by couriers on horses, riding on royal horses {bred by} racing mares.
It is changed like clay [under] a seal, and they appear like a garment.
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love [is] strong as death; passion [is] fierce as Sheol; its flashes [are] flashes of fire; [it is] a blazing flame.
And a stone was brought and it was put on the entrance of the pit, and the king sealed it with his signet [ring] and with the signet [rings] of his lords, so that nothing would be changed concerning Daniel.
But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and seal the scroll until [the] time of [the] end; many will run back and forth and knowledge will increase."
So they went with the guard of soldiers [and] made the tomb secure [by] sealing the stone.
And I saw in the right hand of the one who is seated on the throne a scroll, written inside and on the back, sealed up 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 said, "What [is] the pledge that I must give to you?" And she said, "your seal, your cord, and your staff that [is] in your hand." And he gave [them] to her and went in to her. And she conceived by him.
Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his finger and put it on the finger of Joseph. And he clothed him with garments of fine linen, and he put a chain of gold around his neck.
[As the] work of a skilled stone craftsman, [with] seal engravings you will engrave on the two stones the names of the {Israelites}; you will make them mounted [in] gold filigree settings.
"And you will make a pure gold rosette, and you will engrave on it with seal engravings: "A holy object for Yahweh."
And they made onyx stones mounted [in] gold filigree settings, engraved [with] seal engravings according to the names of the {Israelites}.
So the king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.
And the king's secretaries were called in the first month on the thirteenth day, and [a decree] was issued, according to all that Haman commanded, to the satraps of the king and to the governors who [were] over all the provinces, and to [the] officials of all the people, to each province according to [its own] script and to all people according to their own language; [it was] written in the name of King Ahasuerus and [was] sealed with the king's ring.
And the king removed his signet ring that he had taken away from Haman, and he gave it to Mordecai. So Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
And I signed on the letter and sealed [it], and I called witnesses as witness, and I weighed out the money on a set of scales.
They will buy fields with money, and they will sign the deeds, and they will seal [them], and they will call witnesses as witness in the land of Benjamin, and in the surroundings of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negev, for I will restore their fortunes,' {declares} Yahweh."
And a stone was brought and it was put on the entrance of the pit, and the king sealed it with his signet [ring] and with the signet [rings] of his lords, so that nothing would be changed concerning Daniel.
'On that day,' {declares} Yahweh of hosts, 'I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant,' {declares} Yahweh, 'and I will make you a signet ring, for I have chosen you,' {declares} Yahweh of hosts."
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 was brought out, but she sent to her father-in-law saying, "By the man to whom these [belong] I have conceived." And she said, "Now discern to whom these [belong]: the seal and cord and the staff."
'[Is] not this stored up with me, sealed in my treasuries?'
And the king's secretaries were called in the first month on the thirteenth day, and [a decree] was issued, according to all that Haman commanded, to the satraps of the king and to the governors who [were] over all the provinces, and to [the] officials of all the people, to each province according to [its own] script and to all people according to their own language; [it was] written in the name of King Ahasuerus and [was] sealed with the king's ring.
[He is the one] who commands the sun, and it does not rise, {and he seals up the stars}.
"Indeed, there is hope for a tree: if it is cut down, then it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not cease;
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love [is] strong as death; passion [is] fierce as Sheol; its flashes [are] flashes of fire; [it is] a blazing flame.
Bind up [the] testimony; seal [the] teaching among my disciples. And I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will await him.
But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and seal the scroll until [the] time of [the] end; many will run back and forth and knowledge will increase."
And I saw in the right hand of the one who is seated on the throne a scroll, written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.
And I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying like the sound of thunder, "Come!" And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and the one seated on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and in order that he might conquer.