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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Then said he, "What pledge shall I give thee?" And she said, "Thy signet, thy necklace, and thy staff that is in thy hand." And he gave it her and lay by her, and she was with child by him.
And when they brought her forth, she sent to her father-in-law saying, "By the man unto whom these things pertain, am I with child." And said also, "Look whose are this seal, necklace, and staff."
Are not such things laid in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?
And she wrote a letter in Ahab's name and sealed it with his seal, and sent it unto the elders and chief men of his city that dwelt where Naboth dwelt.
Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written, according as Haman commanded, unto the king's princes, and to the captains everywhere in the lands, and to the rulers of every people in the countries on every side, according to the writing of every nation, and after their language in the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed with the king's ring.
O set me as a seal upon thine heart, and as a seal upon thine arm: for love is mighty as the death, and jealousy as the hell. Her coals are of fire, and a very flame of the LORD:
Now lay the witnesses together and seal the law with my disciples.
As truly as I live, sayeth the LORD, Though Jechoniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet of my right hand, yet will I pluck him off:
Yea, land shall be bought for money, and evidences made thereupon and sealed before witnesses in the country of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem: in the cities of Judah; in the cities that are upon the mountains; and in them that lie beneath; yea, and in the cities that are in the desert. For I will bring their prisoners hither again, sayeth the LORD.'"
and said, "Sir, we remember that this deceiver said while he was yet alive, after three days I will arise again. Command, therefore, that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest peradventure his disciples come, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from death: And then the last error shall be worse than the first was."
And they went and made the sepulchre sure with watchmen, and sealed the stone.
Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for the meat that endureth unto everlasting life, which meat the son of man shall give unto you. For him hath God the father sealed."
And he received the sign of circumcision, as a seal of the righteousness which is by faith: which faith he had, yet being uncircumcised, that he should be the father of all them that believe: though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also;
If I be not an apostle unto others, yet am I unto you. For the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.
In whom also ye - after that ye heard the word of truth, I mean the gospel of your salvation wherein ye believed - were sealed with the holy spirit of promise,
And grieve not the holy spirit of God, by whom ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
And I saw, in the right hand of him that sat in the throne, a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
And I saw when the lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four beasts say, as it were the noise of thunder, "Come and see."
saying, "Hurt not the earth neither the sea, neither the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
And when the seven thunders had spoken their voices, I was about to write. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, "Seal up those things which the seven thunders spake, and write them not."
And he said unto me, "Seal not the sayings of prophesy of this book. For the time is at hand.
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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Pharaoh also gave a charge unto his men over Abram, to lead him out, with his wife and all that he had.
Then said he, "What pledge shall I give thee?" And she said, "Thy signet, thy necklace, and thy staff that is in thy hand." And he gave it her and lay by her, and she was with child by him.
Are not such things laid in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?
And the king of Assyria found treason in Hoshea, because he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and sent no presents unto the king of Assyria, as he was yearly wont to do. Therefore the king of Assyria besieged him and put him in prison.
Then took the king his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.
And it was written in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed with the king's ring. And by posts that rode upon swift young Mules, sent he the writings,
Their tokens and weapons hast thou turned like clay, and set them up again as the changing of a garment.
O set me as a seal upon thine heart, and as a seal upon thine arm: for love is mighty as the death, and jealousy as the hell. Her coals are of fire, and a very flame of the LORD:
And there was brought a stone, and laid upon the hole of the den: this the king sealed with his own ring, and with the signet of his princes: that the king's commandment concerning Daniel, should not be broken.
And thou O Daniel, shut up these words, and seal the book, till the last time. Many shall go about here and there, and then shall knowledge increase."
And they went and made the sepulchre sure with watchmen, and sealed the stone.
And I saw, in the right hand of him that sat in the throne, a book written within and on the backside, 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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Then said he, "What pledge shall I give thee?" And she said, "Thy signet, thy necklace, and thy staff that is in thy hand." And he gave it her and lay by her, and she was with child by him.
And he took off his ring from his finger, and put it upon Joseph's finger, and he arrayed him in raiment of byss, and put a golden chain about his neck,
After the work of a stone graver, even as signets are graven, shalt thou grave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel, and shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold.
And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave thereon, as signets are graven, 'The holiness of the LORD,'
And they wrought onyx stones closed in ouches of gold and graved as signets are graven with the names of the children of Israel,
Then took the king his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.
Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written, according as Haman commanded, unto the king's princes, and to the captains everywhere in the lands, and to the rulers of every people in the countries on every side, according to the writing of every nation, and after their language in the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed with the king's ring.
And the king put off his finger ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
I caused him also to make me a writing, and to seal it, and called record thereby, and weighed him there the money upon the weights.
Yea, land shall be bought for money, and evidences made thereupon and sealed before witnesses in the country of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem: in the cities of Judah; in the cities that are upon the mountains; and in them that lie beneath; yea, and in the cities that are in the desert. For I will bring their prisoners hither again, sayeth the LORD.'"
And there was brought a stone, and laid upon the hole of the den: this the king sealed with his own ring, and with the signet of his princes: that the king's commandment concerning Daniel, should not be broken.
And as for thee, O Zerubbabel, sayeth the LORD of Hosts, thou son of Shealtiel my servant: I will take thee, sayeth the LORD, at the same time: and make thee as a seal. For I have chosen thee, sayeth the LORD 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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And when they brought her forth, she sent to her father-in-law saying, "By the man unto whom these things pertain, am I with child." And said also, "Look whose are this seal, necklace, and staff."
Are not such things laid in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?
Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written, according as Haman commanded, unto the king's princes, and to the captains everywhere in the lands, and to the rulers of every people in the countries on every side, according to the writing of every nation, and after their language in the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed with the king's ring.
He commandeth the sun, and it riseth not: he closeth up the stars, as it were under a signet.
"If a tree be cut down, there is some hope yet, that it will sprout and shoot forth the branches again;
O set me as a seal upon thine heart, and as a seal upon thine arm: for love is mighty as the death, and jealousy as the hell. Her coals are of fire, and a very flame of the LORD:
Now lay the witnesses together and seal the law with my disciples. Thus I wait upon the LORD that hath turned his face from the house of Jacob, and I look unto him.
And thou O Daniel, shut up these words, and seal the book, till the last time. Many shall go about here and there, and then shall knowledge increase."
And I saw, in the right hand of him that sat in the throne, a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
And I saw when the lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four beasts say, as it were the noise of thunder, "Come and see." And I saw, and behold there was a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering and for to overcome.