Ruby

Ruby (Hebrew odem or peninim, the precise identification uncertain) was among the precious stones valued in the ancient Near East. The first stone in the high priest's breastplate (Exodus 28:17) was an odem, traditionally translated ruby or carnelian, set in the first row. Lamentations 4:7 compares the Nazarites, whose bodies had been more ruddy than rubies (peninim), in their former purity, with their darkened state in the desolation of the exile. Proverbs 3:15 and 8:11 use rubies as the measure against which wisdom is incomparably greater: "She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her." The precise identification of the Hebrew gemstone terms with modern stones remains debated by scholars.