<P> According to Rebbenu Bachya, the word Yahalom in the verse Exodus 28: 18 means "pearl" and was the stone on the Hoshen representing the tribe of Zebulun . This is generally disputed among scholars, particularly since the word in question in most manuscripts is actually Yasepheh--the word from which jasper derives; scholars think that refers to green jasper (the rarest and most prized form in early times) rather than red jasper (the most common form). Yahalom is usually translated by the Septuagint as an "onyx", but sometimes as "beryl" or as "jasper"; onyx only started being mined after the Septuagint was written, so the Septuagint's term "onyx" probably does not mean onyx--onyx is originally an Assyrian word meaning ring, and so could refer to anything used for making rings . Yahalom is similar to a Hebrew word meaning hit hard, so some people think that it means diamond . The variation in possibilities of meaning for this sixth stone in the Hoshen is reflected in different translations of the Bible--the King James Version translates the sixth stone as diamond, the New International Version translates it as emerald, and the Vulgate translates it as jaspis--meaning jasper . There is a wide range of views among traditional sources about which tribe the stone refers to . </P> <P> In a Christian New Testament parable (Matthew 13: 45--46), Jesus compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a "pearl of great price". "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly (fine) pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it ." </P> <P> The twelve gates of the New Jerusalem are reportedly each made of a single pearl in Revelation 21: 21, that is, the Pearly Gates . "And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every gate was of one pearl: and the streets of the city were pure gold, as if transparent glass ." </P> <P> Holy things are compared to pearls in Matthew 7: 6: "Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you ." </P>

What does a pearl look like in an oyster