Marble

שיש , 1Ch 29:2; Est 1:6; Son 5:15; a valuable kind of stone, of a texture so hard and compact, and of a grain so fine, as readily to take a beautiful polish. It is dug out of quarries in large masses, and is much used in buildings, ornamental pillars, &c. Marble is of different colours, black, white, &c; and is sometimes elegantly clouded and variegated. The stone mentioned in the places cited above is called the stone of sis or sish: the LXX and Vulgate render it “Parian stone,” which was remarkable for its bright white colour. Probably the cliff Ziz, 2Ch 20:16, was so called from being a marble crag: the place was afterward called Petra. The variety of stones, בהט , שיש , דר , סחרת , mentioned in the pavement of Ahasuerus, might be marble of different colours. The ancients sometimes made pavements wherein were set very valuable stones.

Marble. The Hebrew, shesh, the generic term for marble, may probably be taken to mean almost any shining stone. The so-called marble of Solomon’s architectural works may thus have been limestone. There can be no doubt that Herod, both in the Temple and elsewhere, employed Parian or other marble. The marble pillars and tesserae of various colors of the palace at Susa came doubtless from Persia. Est 1:8.

The well-known stone that takes a high polish. It was used in Solomon’s temple, and there were pillars of marble in the Persian palace. Babylon, or Papal Rome, in her luxury imported marble. 1Ch 29:2; Est 1:6; Son 5:15; Rev 18:12.

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By: Emil G. Hirsch, Immanuel Benzinger

A stone composed mainly of calcium carbonate or of calcium and magnesium carbonates. It is mentioned in the Old Testament in three very late passages only. According to I Chron. xxix. 2, David prepared, among other materials, white "marble stones" for the building of the Temple. The account of the building in the Book of Kings does not mention the use of marble. In the Song of Solomon (v. 15) the author compares the legs of the bridegroom to marble pillars in golden sockets. Finally, Esther i. 6 speaks of marble columns and of a pavement of white and colored marble in the palace of the Persian king. In the last-cited passage it is not wholly certain if the text is intact in the versions; consequently there is doubt whether marble is really meant. In the other two passages. also the correctness of the text has been doubted (see "Encyc. Bibl." s.v. "Marble").

Moreover, the fact that all the old authorities, especially the accounts of the building of the Temple, preserve complete silence on the subject shows that the Hebrews in olden times were not acquainted with the use of marble as a building-stone. Its employment for building purposes seems to have been very limited even among the Assyrians.

MARBLE.—See Mining and Metals.

mar´b’l (שׁישׁ, shayish, שׁשׁ, shēsh, שׁישׁ אבני, ’abhnē shayish, “stones of marble” (1Ch 29:2); וסחרת ודר ושׁשׁ בּהט רצפּת, ricpath bahaṭ wā-shēsh w^e-dhar w^e-ṣōḥā̄reth, “a pavement of red, and white, and yellow, and black marble,” or, according to the margin, “a pavement of porphyry, and white marble, and alabaster, and stone of blue color” (Est 1:6); שׁשׁ עמּוּדי, ‛ammūdhē shēsh, “pillars of marble” (Est 1:6; Son 5:15); compare שׁשׁ, shēsh, the King James Version margin “silk” or the Revised Version (British and American) “fine linen” (Gen 41:42; Exo 25:4, etc.); שׁושׁנּים, shōshannı̄m, “lilies” (Son 2:16, etc.), apparently from a root signifying “white”; μάρμαρος, mármaros, “marble” (Rev 18:12)): Marble is properly crystalline limestone, usually pure white or veined with black, the former being in demand for statuary, while the latter is used in architecture, especially for floors and pillars. True marble is not found in Palestine, but is obtained from Greece or Italy. Much of the stone described as marble is non-crystalline limestone capable of being smoothed and polished. White or yellow stone of this character is abundant in Palestine. Non-crystalline rocks of other colors are also sometimes called marble. In the passage from Esther cited above (compare margin), it is a question whether the reference is to marble and other stones or to marble of different colors. In 1Ch 29:2, “marble stones” are mentioned among the materials brought together by David for the building of the temple. In Est 1:6, pillars and a pavement of marble are features of the palace of Ahasuerus. In Son 5:15, the various parts of the body of the “beloved” are likened to gold, beryl, ivory, sapphire, and marble. In Rev 18:12, marble occurs in the list of the merchandise of Babylon. All these references imply a costly stone, and therefore probably one imported from other countries, and make it likely that true crystalline marble is meant.

(ìÜñìáñïò, Lat. marmor; from ìáñìáßñåéí, ‘sparkle,’ ‘glisten’)

Marble is the name given to any limestone which is sufficiently close in texture to admit of being polished. It is mentioned as part of the merchandise of ‘Babylon,’ i.e. Rome (Rev_18:12). It began to be used there for the adornment of buildings about the beginning of the 1st cent. b.c. For a time such luxury was viewed with jealousy by stern republicans (Pliny, Historia Naturalis (Pliny) xxxvi. 7), but the Empire effected a great change of sentiment, and Augustus boasted, not without reason, that he ‘found Rome of brick and left it of marble’ (Suet. Octav. xxix.). ‘The Emperor obtained this result, seconded by his friend and minister, Agrippa, and succeeded in leaving behind him truly a city of marble, to which the Pantheon bears sufficient witness’ (Mary W. Porter, What Rome was built with, 1907, p. 7). While the white marble of Luna (near the modern Carrara), Hymettus, Pentelicus, and Paros was used for statuary, many varieties of coloured marble were available for architecture. See, further, article Rome.

Literature.-F. Corsi, Delle pietre antiche, Rome, 1845; G. P. Merrill, Stones for Building and Decoration3, New York, 1903.

James Strahan.

Son 5:15 (c) This beautiful stone is a symbol of strength, vigor, stamina and symmetry. Soldiers, prize fighters, sailors, mountain climbers and foot travelers know the need of strong, durable legs. The picture is given to us by Solomon to represent the Lord JESUS who would always walk with us and never tire. He would fight for us and never lose. He would go with us and never fail.