Pearl

A pearl is a hard, smooth object that forms inside the shell of some mollusks. Pearls are often white, but they can have other colors.

Pearls were highly valuable in Bible times. People used them as jewelry and traded them as costly goods (1 Timothy 2:9; Revelation 18:12–16).

Jesus used pearls in his teaching. He compared the kingdom of heaven to a valuable pearl that a merchant sold everything to buy (Matthew 13:45–46). He also warned his followers not to give what is holy to people who would not value it, just as people should not throw pearls before pigs (Matthew 7:6).

Some translations, such as the New Revised Standard Version, use “pearl” in Job 28:18, whereas the Berean Standard Bible and others use “rubies.” The exact object named in that verse is uncertain.

See also Precious Stones.