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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What do you want? he asked. The ring on that cord around your neck, she replied. I also want the special walking stick you have with you. So he gave them to her. They slept together and she became pregnant.
As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. I am pregnant by the man who owns these, she said. She added: See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.
Is this not laid up in store with me and sealed up among my treasures?
So she sent a letter in Ahab's name, stamped with his stamp, to the elders and nobles who were in authority with Naboth.
Then on the thirteenth day of the first month, the king's scribes were summoned. They put in writing Haman's orders to all the king's captains and the rulers of every division of his kingdom and the chiefs of every people. It was to be for every division of the kingdom in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in the language which was theirs. It was signed in the name of King Ahasuerus and stamped with the king's ring.
(The Shulamite to her Beloved) Set me as a signature ring seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For Love is as strong as death. Zeal (devotion) is as fixed as the grave. And zeal burns like coals of fire, the very flame of Jehovah.
Tie up the written instructions. Seal the precepts (law) among my disciples.
As I live,' says Jehovah, 'even though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring on my right hand, yet I would pull you off.
Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the Negev. I will restore their prosperity, declares Jehovah.
They said: Sir, we remember while he was yet alive, the deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' Command the tomb be secured until the third day. Otherwise his disciples could come and steal him away. They could say to the people. 'He is risen from the dead.' The last deception will be worse than the first.
So they made the tomb secure. They sealed the stone and placed a guard there.
Do not work for food that perishes but for food that offers everlasting life. The Son of man will give you this food. The Father, even God, has set his seal upon him.
He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith that he had while he was not circumcised. That way he could be the father of all those who believe, though they are not circumcised, that righteousness might be counted to them.
If I am not an apostle to others, I most certainly am to you, for you are the seal (stamp) (proof) of my apostleship in the Lord.
You have heard the word of the truth in Christ. It is the good news about your salvation. You also believed and were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in which (Greek: en hos) (in which) (Greek: hos, he ho) (whereby) (which) you were sealed to the day of release by ransom.
I saw a book in the right hand of him who sat on the throne. It had writing on the inside and on the back and was sealed with seven seals.
I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals. And I heard one of the living creatures speak with a voice like thunder. He said: Come!
He said: Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven say to me: Seal up those things that the seven thunders spoke. Do not write them.
And he says to me: Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near 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 gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.
What do you want? he asked. The ring on that cord around your neck, she replied. I also want the special walking stick you have with you. So he gave them to her. They slept together and she became pregnant.
Is this not laid up in store with me and sealed up among my treasures?
Hoshea's treachery became clear to the king of Assyria. He had sent representatives to the king of Egypt. He did not send his offering to the king of Assyria like he did in previous years. So the king of Assyria had him put in chains and locked in prison.
The king took his ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the hater of the Jews.
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:
The earth takes shape like clay under a seal. Its features stand out like those of a garment.
(The Shulamite to her Beloved) Set me as a signature ring seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For Love is as strong as death. Zeal (devotion) is as fixed as the grave. And zeal burns like coals of fire, the very flame of Jehovah.
A stone was placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.
But you, O Daniel, keep the words secret, and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will run back and forth and knowledge will increase.
So they made the tomb secure. They sealed the stone and placed a guard there.
I saw a book in the right hand of him who sat on the throne. It had writing on the inside and on the back and was 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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What do you want? he asked. The ring on that cord around your neck, she replied. I also want the special walking stick you have with you. So he gave them to her. They slept together and she became pregnant.
Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand. He clothed him in garments of fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck.
Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the same way a jeweler engraves a signet ring. Mount them in gold settings.
Also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engravings of a seal: Holy to Jehovah.
They prepared the carnelians and mounted them in gold settings. They were skillfully engraved with the names of the twelve sons of Jacob.
The king took his ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the hater of the Jews.
Then on the thirteenth day of the first month, the king's scribes were summoned. They put in writing Haman's orders to all the king's captains and the rulers of every division of his kingdom and the chiefs of every people. It was to be for every division of the kingdom in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in the language which was theirs. It was signed in the name of King Ahasuerus and stamped with the king's ring.
The king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. Esther put Mordecai over the family of Haman.
I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales.
Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the Negev. I will restore their prosperity, declares Jehovah.
A stone was placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.
On that day, declared Jehovah of Hosts, I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, declared Jehovah. I will make you important like a signet (signature) ring, because I have chosen you, proclaimed Jehovah 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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As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. I am pregnant by the man who owns these, she said. She added: See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.
Is this not laid up in store with me and sealed up among my treasures?
Then on the thirteenth day of the first month, the king's scribes were summoned. They put in writing Haman's orders to all the king's captains and the rulers of every division of his kingdom and the chiefs of every people. It was to be for every division of the kingdom in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in the language which was theirs. It was signed in the name of King Ahasuerus and stamped with the king's ring.
He commands the sun and it does not rise! He seals off the stars.
At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.
(The Shulamite to her Beloved) Set me as a signature ring seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For Love is as strong as death. Zeal (devotion) is as fixed as the grave. And zeal burns like coals of fire, the very flame of Jehovah.
Tie up the written instructions. Seal the precepts (law) among my disciples. I will wait for Jehovah, who hides his face from the descendants of Jacob. I will hope in him.
But you, O Daniel, keep the words secret, and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will run back and forth and knowledge will increase.
I saw a book in the right hand of him who sat on the throne. It had writing on the inside and on the back and was sealed with seven seals.
I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals. And I heard one of the living creatures speak with a voice like thunder. He said: Come! I saw a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow. A crown was given to him and he conquered.