Genesis 2:12

Gen 2:12 And the gold of that land [is] good: there [is] bdellium and the onyx stone.

Ver. 12. And the gold of that land is good.] But pale, because it feareth, saith one, wittily, those many that lie in wait for it. {Sed melius est pallens aurum, quam fulgens aurichalcum.} {a} The common cry is, "Who will show us any good?" {Psa 4:6} That will I, saith God to Moses, when he gave him a glimpse of his glory. {Exo 33:19} and I will "show thee, O man, what is good," &c. {Ostendam tibi omne bonum} {Mic 6:8-9} As for gold, how good soever in itself, it is to men but an imaginary good at best: for it is opinion which setteth the price upon it: brass or leather, {forma publica percussum} saith Seneca, that is, stamped for coin, may pass as well as gold; it did so some time in the Roman provinces; and here in England also, in the time of the barons’ wars. Yea, gold oft proves to the possessors a real evil. {Pro 1:19-20} It doth always so, when it gets within them, {b} as it did within the covetous Pharisees, so that they "said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence". {as Job 31:24} Pindar saith, it was an opinion of the people concerning Rhodes, that Jupiter rained down gold upon that city, so rich it was; yet is it now in slavery to the Turk. America is said to have as much gold ore as other earth: yet are the Americans bound by the proud Spaniard to be both popish and poor upon pain of death. Susiana, the country here called Havilah, the gold whereof is so good, had its name from Shushan or Susa, the palace of the kings of Persia, the stones whereof were joined together with gold, saith Cassiodorus: yet is it now called, in the Persian tongue, Valdac, from the poverty of the place. "Trust not," therefore, "in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy". {1Ti 6:17}

And the onyx-stone.] Precious stones are but earth blemished and impure. {terra maculae et immunditiae.}

{a} Bernard.

{b} τα ενοντα

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:12 The magnificence and fertility of the garden are pictured as spreading to the surrounding regions through the rivers flowing out from it. The four rivers possibly imply that the garden’s bounty flowed out to the four corners of the earth. • Gold and onyx were later used for decorating the Tabernacle, the Temple (Exod 25:3-9; 1 Chr 29:2), and the priests’ clothing (Exod 28:9-14, 20). • Resin was used in sacred incense (Exod 30:34).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, precious stone, or pearl. Pliny saith it is the name of a tree.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 12. There is bdellium (בדלח bedolach) and the onyx stone, אבן השהם eben hashshoham.] Bochart thinks that the bedolach or bdellium means the pearl-oyster; and shoham is generally understood to mean the onyx, or species of agate, a precious stone which has its name from ονυξ a man's nail, to the colour of which it nearly approaches. It is impossible to say what is the precise meaning of the original words; and at this distance of time and place it is of little consequence.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. bdellium] LXX ἄνθραξ: Lat. bdellium. In Num_11:7, “manna” is compared with “bdellium”; where the LXX gives κρύσταλλος. Possibly it may be identified with an aromatic transparent resin, obtained from balsam (balsamodendron mukul), and found in Arabia as well as in India, Bactria and Africa. The Hebrew name b’dôlaḥ is probably a foreign word. Another rendering, “pearls” (which are abundantly found in the Persian Gulf), would be more poetical, and possibly more appropriate for comparison, with “manna”; but we can only conjecture.

the onyx stone] or beryl. Hebrew Shoham mentioned elsewhere, Exo_25:7, Job_28:16. A precious stone is clearly intended; possibly = “carbuncle.” Assyriologists have identified it with an Assyrian word Samdu; but what Samdu was, is not known. Sayce conjectures “turquoise”; Haupt “pearl.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the gold of that land is good,.... Arabia was famous for gold: Diodorus Siculus (x) speaks of gold in Arabia, called "apyrus", which is not melted by fire out of small filings, as other; but as soon as dug is said to be pure gold, and that in the size of chestnuts, and of such a flaming colour, that the most precious stones are set in it by artificers for ornament: and in Colchis and Scythia, as Strabo (y) relates, there are rivers which produce gold; and from whence came the fable of the golden fleece, the Argonauts went to Colchis for:

there is the bdellium, and the onyx stone; the first of these is either an aromatic gum; the tree, according to Pliny (z), is black, and is of the size of an olive tree, has the leaf of an oak, and its fruit is like capers; it is found in Arabia, India, Media, and Babylon; but the best, according to him, is in Bactriana, and, next to that, the bdellium of Arabia: or else it is a precious stone, and which the Jewish writers (a) commonly take to be crystal; and, according to Solinus (b), the best crystal is in Scythia. Bochart (c) would have it that the pearl is meant, because of its whiteness and roundness, for which the manna is compared to it, Num 11:7 and the rather because of the pearl fishery at Catipha, taking Havilah to be that part of Arabia which lies upon the Persian gulf. The latter, the onyx, is a precious stone, which has its name from its being of the colour of a man's nail; and, according to Pliny (d), the onyx marble is found in the mountains of Arabia, and the ancients thought it was nowhere else; and he speaks elsewhere of the Arabian onyx precious stone, and of the sardonyx, as in the same country (e); and some think that is here meant; though the word is sometimes by the Septuagint rendered the emerald; and the best of these, according to Solinus (f) and Pliny (g), were in Scythia. (After the global destruction of Noah's flood, it is doubtful that the location of these places could be determined with degree of certainty today. Ed.)

(x) Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 133. (y) Geograph. l. 1. p. 31. & l. 11. p. 344. (z) Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 9. (a) Jarchi in Numb. xi. 7. David de Pomis Tzemach David, fol. 8. 3. (b) Polyhistor. c. 25. (c) Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 5. c. 5. p. 675, &c. (d) Nat. Hist. l. 36. c. 7. (e) lb. l. 37. c. 6. (f) Polyhistor. ut supra. (c. 25) (g) Ut supra, (Nat. Hist. l. 36.) c. 5.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Good, i.e. better than ordinary.

Bdellium, which signifies either a precious gum, of which see Num 11:7, or gems and pearls. Once for all observe, that many of the Hebrew words or names of stones, trees, birds, and beasts, are even to the Hebrew doctors and others, both ancient and modern interpreters, of uncertain signification, and that without any considerable inconvenience to us, who are free from the obligations which the Jews were formerly under of procuring such stones, and abstaining in their diet from such beasts and birds as then were sufficiently known to them; and if any were doubtful, they had one safe course, to abstain from them.

The onyx stone, a kind of precious stone, of which see Exo 25:7; 28:9,20.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. Bdellium — The word הבדלח occurs only here and in Num_11:7. The Septuagint renders it by ανθραξ in this passage, and by κρυσταλλος in Numbers. Gesenius, following Bochart and the rabbins, takes the word collectively in the sense of pearls. The English version, bdellium, follows Josephus, the Vulgate, and the Greek versions of Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus, and is as probably correct as any. Bdellium is a transparent, waxlike resin, now found on the trunks of trees in India.

Onyx stone — Some render beryl; others, sardonyx. Some precious stone is meant, but it is impossible to determine its identity.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

והבדולח, Rabbi Saadyah gaon, as well as Ibn Ezra say that it is a small spherical white gemstone. This is supported by the reference to כעין הבדולח in Numbers 11,7 where the Torah describes the appearance of the manna. The same scholars believe that this stone is formed by what were originally small drops of dew which had descended on that river. This is the reason why this “stone” is round, just as a drop of dew. Seeing that each individual such stone is so small that it is useless as an effective tool in commerce and industry, this is the reason why the word אבן is not mentioned in connection with בדולח, as opposed to the שהם gemstone which is specifically described as a “stone.” The latter is a large stone, and many different kinds of vessels are made out of its material. Due to its cost, these vessels are found only in the homes of kings and wealthy individuals. The shoham stones on the epaulets of the High Priest had the names of the twelve tribes etched into them. (Exodus 28,9) This gemstone was chosen in preference to others as it is more precious than most, and is found in an almost pure form, not containing any flaws due to discolouration. This river flows in an easterly direction and does not continue through the ארץ חוילה, but flows around it and then enters the sea on its eastern shores. The reason most people called this river Pishon is because its waters help seeds irrigated by them to expand and produce substantial crops. Etymologically, the word פישון, is a derivative of the word פוש found in Jeremiah 50,11 כי תפושו כעגלה דשה, “when you stamped like a heifer treading grain.” Onkelos renders the word פרו, “be fruitful” as פושו in Genesis 1,28.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.