Jewelry in the Bible: What You Always Wanted to Know but Were Afraid to Ask
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Controversy continues to grow around whether jewelry can or should have a place in the committed Christian life. This small book is designed to help the reader cut a path throughout the maze of questions, opinions, and even passions to arrive at genuinely biblical answers. It responds to requests made to the Biblical Research Institute from church leaders, pastors, and interested lay people for a review of the subject. Ángel Manuel Rodríguez offers a serious study of how the Bible deals with jewelry and how the Seventh-day Adventist understanding compares.
Top Highlights
“‘Jewelry’ is used in this document to refer to ornaments made of different materials, with different functions, that can be placed directly on the body or on the garments of a person in order to enhance the appearance of the individual, establish social distinctions, and communicate personal convictions. This definition is based on my analysis of the biblical materials on this subject.” (Page 8)
“The people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.’7 This suggests that the removal of jewelry as a sign of repentance or mourning ‘was not a temporary display, but a continuous one.’1 It became ‘a perpetual rule,’2 a constant manifestation of the Israelites’ dependence and reliance on God’s forgiving grace.” (Pages 39–40)
“The principle underlying the standard is identified as self-denial manifested in humble submission to the will of God” (Page 12)
“Fourth, jewelry was prescribed here exclusively for the high priest and not for the Israelites in general” (Page 38)
“First, the jewelry he wore was beautiful but simple in its design.” (Page 37)