Agate

Agate renders the Hebrew shebo in most English translations, identifying it as one of the twelve precious stones set in the breastplate of the high priest (Exodus 28:19; 39:12), where it occupied the third stone of the third row. The precise identification of the Hebrew gemstone terms is uncertain, as ancient and modern lapidary nomenclature differs considerably, and some scholars suggest the underlying stone may have been a different variety entirely. Agate in modern usage refers to a banded, translucent chalcedony occurring in a variety of colors.

The stone also appears in eschatological contexts. Isaiah 54:12 lists agate (or carbuncle, depending on the translation) among the precious stones with which the walls of the renewed Jerusalem would be built — a passage the New Testament's vision of the heavenly Jerusalem in Revelation 21 develops and transforms. Ezekiel 27:16 mentions agate among the merchandise that Syria traded with Tyre, indicating its commercial value in the ancient Near Eastern economy.