Home›Open Questions›Is there any surviving class of evidence capable of deciding between jacinth, amber, tourmaline and opal as the referent of leshem?Open QuestionsIs there any surviving class of evidence capable of deciding between jacinth, amber, tourmaline and opal as the referent of leshem?Citation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "Is there any surviving class of evidence capable of deciding between jacinth, amber, tourmaline and opal as the referent of leshem?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/is-there-any-surviving-class-of-evidence-capable-of-deciding-between-jacinth-amber-tourmaline-and-opal-as-the-referent-of-leshem.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). Is there any surviving class of evidence capable of deciding between jacinth, amber, tourmaline and opal as the referent of leshem?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/is-there-any-surviving-class-of-evidence-capable-of-deciding-between-jacinth-amber-tourmaline-and-opal-as-the-referent-of-leshemCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-is-there-any-surviving-class-of-evidence, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {Is there any surviving class of evidence capable of deciding between jacinth, amber, tourmaline and opal as the referent of leshem?}, year = {2026}, url = {https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/is-there-any-surviving-class-of-evidence-capable-of-deciding-between-jacinth-amber-tourmaline-and-opal-as-the-referent-of-leshem}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXOpen QuestionCross-Tradition ConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)Open QuestionThis investigation set out to identify the ninth breastplate stone and stopped without a conclusion, because every avenue it examined turned out to be inferential. The ancient versions disagree and none of them is independent of the others; comparison with neighbouring stone lists establishes what was available rather than what was meant; and etymology alone has not narrowed the four candidates. Nobody holds a defended position that a specialist could go and read against a rival one, so this is a gap rather than a disagreement.What would resolve this A securely dated use of leshem outside the two Exodus lists, in a Hebrew or closely related Northwest Semitic text, in a context that identifies a physical object. Failing that, a labelled or securely provenanced stone from a Second Temple period priestly context, or a decisive argument from Semitic cognates. Absent one of those, the honest answer is that the question may not be decidable on present evidence, and establishing that would itself be a result.OpenNorthwest Semitic philology, biblical archaeology and historical gemologyMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Encyclopedia of ReligionCross-Tradition ConnectionsQuestion OnThe Identity of the Breastplate Leshem, Studies Well-attested Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)tier 1SourcesEncyclopedia of Religiontier 1Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005View the SourceComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year