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In the Bible I know of gold jewelry for woman But what are the first precious stones, semiprecious stones, or diamonds used as jewelry for woman (I know stones were used for the kohen gadol)

I am looking for the earliest source evidencing that it was used for that.
or a newer comentery stating that it was used (the earliest)

How about pearls?

How about silver?

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  • You mean like a pearl necklace? Where does the Bible talk about gold jewelry?
    – DonielF
    Commented Dec 27, 2017 at 0:18
  • @DonielF I added a source, I want to know about pearls also
    – hazoriz
    Commented Dec 27, 2017 at 0:22
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    How is this off-topic? It’s asking for a source within Tanach or early Jewish sources, with a fair base - we find these gems, how about those?
    – DonielF
    Commented Dec 27, 2017 at 16:24
  • Beads were often used as jewelry - stone and glass beads were popular all over the Biblical world - they've found glass beads from the 3rd millennium BCE, Just Google "ancient beads" and similar words and see how much stuff comes up detailing the finds and extent of bead use.
    – Gary
    Commented Dec 28, 2017 at 3:12

1 Answer 1

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Silver was likely also in women's jewelry from that time. See Bereishis 24:53 and Rashbam there, as well as Shemos 3:22 (which he references).

Various other Pesukim may indicate usage of other materials in jewelry, such as Shemos 35:22 (as it specifies the gold ones, implying there were some made of other materials). See Yeshaya 3:18-24 for a list of jewelry being described as worn by women, likely not all made out of gold. Shir Hashirim 1:10 also seems to be discussing some sort of precious stones according to many Mefarshim.

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    @gary "she was adorned with twenty four kinds of finery, and then brought to him, as it says: "In Eden, the garden of God you were, and all precious stones were your covering: the carnelian, the topaz..." (Ezekiel 28:13)." from sefaria.org/Bereishit_Rabbah.18
    – hazoriz
    Commented Dec 29, 2017 at 1:58
  • @hazoriz great find-why not post it as an answer? (although note that from the Passuk itself there is no indication that they were worn as women's jewelry, just from the Midrash.) Commented Dec 29, 2017 at 3:10

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