The noun βηρυλλος (berullos) describes any sea-green gem and is the source of the English word beryl — which differs from the Greek original in that it specifically describes a fairly common mineral, which may be green, red or clear. The clear version of beryl is so clear that in the early Renaissance, people made eye glasses from it: hence the German noun Brille, spectacles. Also our English word "brilliant" derives from this Greek noun βηρυλλος (berullos).

But all these later usages are of course not immediately relevant to our word's occurrence in the New Testament (Revelation 21:20 only), which refers to a typically sea-green gem. The common word for green is χλωρος (chloros), which derives from the same Proto-Indo-European root "ghelh-" from which English gets words like gold and glitter, and German the words Gelb (yellow) and Geld (money). In Greek, the color green not only associates to those parts of vegetation that aren't flower or fruit, but also to death and disease (hence the "green" fourth horseman of Revelation 6:8), money and the endless storage of money in vast treasures (and hay in hay stacks, and papyrus in libraries; see our article on βασκαινω, baskoino, bewitch).

Red, to the contrary, connects to fruits (i.e. products), and hence economic competition and market formation, and of course the production of alcoholic drinks such as wine and the joyful spirit that comes with it (see our articles on "red" names like Rhodes, Adam, Red Sea). The four horsemen mean a lot of things but as reflections of elements of the commercial market, the white one refers to information and intelligence (see our article on τοξον, toxon, bow) and the black one to government, standardization and law enforcement (see λιτρα, litra).

Our noun βηρυλλος (berullos) does not resemble anything in Greek or Latin, and occurs a mere half a dozen times in the Greek and Latin classics combined. The name was imported into these languages from India, and appears to derive from the name Belur, of a city in southern India. A slightly more common name for green gemstones is σμαραγδος (smaragdos), emerald (see next) and the main (or perhaps only) difference between the two is that βηρυλλος (berullos) is Indo-European whereas σμαραγδος (smaragdos) is Semitic.

The noun σμαραγδος (smaragdos) refers to a precious green gem: the emerald (Revelation 21:19 only). Our English word "emerald" actually derives from the word smaragdos via Latin and French (in a way similar to how in French the name Jacob became first Gemmes and then James); hence also the name Esmeralda (the name Quasimodo comes from a Latin prayer: quasi modo geniti infantes, or "as newborn babes..." and is thus a "red" name according to the explanation offered above).

Our noun σμαραγδος (smaragdos) occurs slightly more frequently in the classics than βηρυλλος (berullos), see above, but in such wide variation that it seems to cover anything from green beryl to green glass: the latter because of a report of an entire pillar of smaragdos in the temple of Hercules in Tyre, and true emerald appears not have been known to the Europeans of the classical period.

The more famous Pillars of Hercules (the Gibraltar Straight) came to signify the outer limit (i.e. the beginning or the end, depending on which way one travels) of the regulated and policed commercial market of the Mediterranean, and note that Hercules was known for his αγων (agon), or rule-governed combat, and his signature twelve αθλοι (athloi), or rule-governed contest for a final prize bestowed by judges. Market control by violent law enforcement and the forcible relocation or allocation of resources are of course the quintessential qualities of the broad road to destruction (the father of which being Plato, whose names derives from the word for broad: πλατυς, platus). The Pillars of Hercules, reduced to two vertical lines, became the symbol of the regulated market and adorn the world's currency symbols: the dollar, euro, yen and even BTC (and may even have helped inspire or at least cement the familiar double Sig-Rune symbol of the SS, Hitler's security agency). The free and unregulated market, to the emphatic contrary, exists beyond the narrow gate, beyond the love of money and perfect bookkeeping (see our article on Mammon).

Like the previous word, there is not much in either Greek and Latin that resembles our noun, with the notable exception of the verb σμαραγει (smaragei), which means to make the loud crashing or roaring noise of thunder, warring Trojans, exited cranes (the birds), or even one's bowels. This verb is generally thought to be onomatopoeic, but here at Abarim Publications we think not. Instead, the German equivalent of this Greek verb σμαραγει (smaragei) is brüllen, which is likewise of unknown pedigree but rather strikingly similar to the nouns Brille and βηρυλλος (berullos), we discuss above. Our noun σμαραγδος (smaragdos), meanwhile, is thought to derive from the name of a gem that was widely known in the Semitic language basin, namely what the Hebrews called ברקת (bareqat): Exodus 28:17, 39:10 and Ezekiel 28:13 only (and note the link with Hercules' pillar in Tyre here).

The nouns ברקת (bareqat) and σμαραγδος (smaragdos) and "emerald" are basically dialectal variations of one and the same word, although the European versions may have something to do with the PIE root "mer-", to glisten; see μαρμαρος (marmaros), below. The Greek language has a tendency to stick a sigma in front of words (see a list of such added-s words in our article on σειρα, seira), and depending on the time the import occurred and the mode in which it did (whether accidentally, via bilingual traders, or as a deliberate import of the fancy exotic name along with the fancy exotic stone), a Semitic "b" often morphs into a Greek "m", a Semitic "q" sound may turn into a Greek "g", and the -ος (-os) suffix is an off-the-shelf way for Greek to make a thing out of a concept, or a noun that describes an agent that performs the action of the verb.

The verb that sits at the core of our words is ברק (baraq), to cast forth light and lightning — and note that in Hebrew there exists a very strong association between light and water: see this further discussed in our article on the verb נהר (nahar), which means to shine (what lamps do), and to flow (what rivers do). That means that in the Hebrew mind, the "roaring" of many waters (Revelation 1:15, 12:15, 14:2, 17:1, 17:15, 19:6) is the same event as the bursting forth of much light from many stars (Genesis 15:5, Daniel 12:3, Philippians 2:15).

Our verb ברק (baraq) means to cast forth light and occurs three times only, namely in 2 Samuel 22:15, Psalm 18:14 and 144:6, consistently in reference to light that bursts forth from the presence of God. The noun ברק (baraq), lightning, occurs more often, sometimes of atmospherical lightning (Psalm 135:7, Jeremiah 10:13, 51:16, Nahum 2:4, 3:3), or light flashing off the metal of weapons (Job 20:25), but predominantly of light proceeding from God (Exodus 19:16, Job 38:35, Psalm 77:18, 97:4), or his metaphorical weapons (Deuteronomy 32:41, Ezekiel 21:10-28, Habakkuk 3:11, Zechariah 9:14), or his messenger (Daniel 10:6). Probably most spectacularly, our noun occurs in Ezekiel's great vision of God's chariot throne (Ezekiel 1:13).

From this verb or noun also derives the name Barak, of the great general under judge Deborah, and the name Bene-berak, which means Sons of Lightning, and which brings to mind the name Boanerges, the Sons of Thunder. Other words of interest are βροντη (bronte), thunder, and perhaps βρυχω (brucho), to loudly gnash or grind.

From our noun σμαραγδος (smaragdos), emerald, derives:

The noun μαρμαρος (marmaros) means marble (and indeed is the source of the English "marble", via the French marbre), and marble is a semi-precious and somewhat costly stone, which is how it appears in the New Testament, as object of trade, named right after wood, copper and iron (Revelation 18:12 only). Still, the wide desire for this material and its limited sources (in the Roman world, that was Italy and Spain) spawned a robust network of international heavy transport, from which numerous other industries greatly benefitted. People steeped in Hebrew traditions would have remembered that Abraham was not simply the biological Father of Many Nations but rather embodied the advanced international trade that has unified the earth and will someday soon bring about the New Jerusalem.

The ultimate origin of our noun μαρμαρος (marmaros) is said to be obscure although in the classics it's commonly used as a synonym of the noun μαρμαρον (marmaron), which denotes any glittering or crystalline stone (see κρυσταλλος, krustallos, crystal, and λιθος, lithos, stone), and although both these words are surprisingly rare in extant literature (three dozen combined occurrences at best), the latter convincingly associates with the verb μαρμαιρω (marmairo), to gleam, sparkle or flash. This verb is comparably rare and formally of unclear origin but informally a perhaps emphatic doubling of some otherwise lost word from a pair of identical and widely attested PIE roots "mar-" or "mer-", from which we get familiar words like mari, maris (sea: hence words like "maritime" and "mariner") and mors, mortis (death: hence words like "murder" and "rigor mortis").

Officially these two PIE roots are not related but unofficially the link has been manifested in the popular mind and explored by the poets of both the European and Semitic language basins: dry land is associated with certainty and knowledge and ultimately life, whereas water is the opposite of that. Hence in Greek mythology, the realm of the dead is accessed via several rivers, most notably the Styx, the Guardian of Oaths (traveling deathward lifts the oath; hence "we have been released from the Law having died to that by which we were bound", Romans 7:6), the Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness, and Oceanus, the world-river which encircles the earth (whose image is an obvious derivation of the third creation day). To some, the word for death θανατος (thanatos), may somewhat resemble or bring to mind the word for sea: θαλασσα (thalassa), from αλς (hals), salt, which was the precisely the substance that drew the life out of anything organic, or made a death all the more painful.

To creative Hebrew speakers, our noun μαρμαρος (marmaros) may have resembled the noun מרבה (marbeh), increase or abundance, from the verb רבב (rabab), to be or become many (hence the familiar word Rabbi). A more natural association, however, probably came with the verb מרר (marar), to be bitter or strong (hence the names Mary and Miriam), which also described the proverbially bitter herb מר (mor), myrrh. The material marble may have reminded somewhat of αλαβαστρον (alabastron).