ISRAEL PHOTOS III  -- A COLLECTION OF PHOTOS FROM ISRAEL 

WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF SCENES AND SITES PERTINENT TO THE STUDY OF CHRISTIANITY


A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE


Pearls in the Smithsonian Collection 2006

Pearls from India, Ceylon, and the Persian Gulf were precious gems during the days of Jesus. 

From Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, c. 1st Century AD, "From each of these market-towns (Persian Gulf), there are ... many pearls, but inferior to those of India."

Mathew 13:45 (WEB) “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46 who having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

Pearls are graded according to shape, size, and color. The rare ones are very round and would roll on a table top without noticeable wobble. Ones larger than an olive are rare, but some pearls are larger. The color and luster are of great importance. The color changes with the angle of light and view point. The richer variations of color play are called oriental iridescence. Some highly valued pearls are of a silver luster. Some strings of pearls appear white. A pearl merchant in the Eastern Orient wrote that in the gold, silver, and jewelry districts of major cities there are known prices for various sorts of pearls based on size, shape, and color. A very rare pearl is of much greater value and is so rare that there were none like it in in the district, its price is greater than all the other pearls in that area. I have read that a thousand pearl oysters were opened to find a pearl that is marketable. There might be one very rare pearl in hundreds of thousands of pearl oysters. More recently pearls have been cultured in oyster farms. Emperors gave their wives and daughters fine pearls. People with great wealth exhibited their pearls and considered them to be investments of great value.

Some who heard Jesus speak left everything to follow him only to find greater reward than when they started.

Matthew 76 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet, and turn and rend you.

One must not throw away valuable assets, but should know their fair market value. Upon divesting of such assets one might check various buyers for a fair price. There were numerous pearl traders during the days of Christ.

Julius Caesar bought a pearl for Servilia costing six million sesterces (1.5 million denarii). It was rumored that he had given it to gain Servilia's daughter Tertia. -Suetonius

Augustus Caesar went to the shrine of Jupiter Capitolinus and offered sixteen thousand pounds of gold, besides pearls and other precious stones to the value of fifty million sesterces. - Suetonius

Caesar Vitellius took one of his mother's earrings and pawned it to pay business expenses. - Suetonius

Job 28:18 ...the price of wisdom is above pearls.

Peter and Paul (letter to Timothy) wrote letters counseling women to avoid making an extravagant display of clothing and jewelry on the outside, but to be of great value on the inside.

Parable of the Mustard Seed
     A Mustard Field Along Highway 87-North Shore of Galilee
     Mustard Seeds in the Palm of a Hand
     Mustard Flowers
     Giant Mustard
     Upper Most Seats of the Synagogue
The Fig Tree
     Mt of Olives Fig Tree, April 12-13, 2005
     Fig and Pomegranite Trees Below Siloam in Jerusalem
     Sycomore Fig Tree
The Good Shepherd
The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats
     Goat Herder
Camels
Ritual Cleansing
Shechem
     The Olive Harvest of Samaria
     Mt. Ebal
     Olive Tree
Pearl of Great Price
A First Century Synagogue at Gamala
     Overview of Gamala
Modern Galilee Fishing Boats
Kursi
     Caves and/or Tombs
     Steep Slope Near Kursi
Hippos
Feeding the 5,000
     On the Mountain
     Walking on Water
     Ramot-Tzelon area
Mt. Hermon
The Pools of Bethesda in Jerusalem
     Healing Pools
     Crusader Chapel and St. Ann Church
Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem
     Hezekiah's Tunnel
     Overlook to Siloam
Tower of Siloam
A Watch Tower in a Vineyard/Olive Grove
     Grape Vines at Beth Horan
     Towers
Mt. Precipice
     South Face
     Summit
     Over the edge
     Measuring Line
     View of Nazareth from near Megiddo
Nazareth
     The Basilica of the Annunciation
Capernaum
Healing a Paralytic in Capernaum
Bethsaida
Waterskins and Wineskins
The Fish and the Coin
     Barbel
A Denarius
Casting Out a Demon
The Road to Jericho
     Old Roman Road
     Wilderness Above Jericho
     Old Jericho
Western Wall
Gethsemane and the Cave of Gethsemane
Church of the Holy Sepulcher
Rolling Stone Tombs - Jerusalem
    Other Rolling Stone Tombs
Tiberias
Solar Power in Israel
Salt of the earth
Chorazin

Home Page

OTHER WEB SITES BY DAVID HALL:

Israel Photos VI
Israel Photos V -- Spring 2011
Israel Photos IV -- Pilgrimage

DQHALL.COM