ju'-el, joo'-el: An ornament of gold, silver or of precious stones in the form of armlet, bracelet, anklet, nose-ring, etc. Oriental dress yields itself freely to such adornment, to which there are many allusions in Scripture. a frequent term in Hebrew is keli ("utensil," "vessel"), coupled with mention of "gold" or "silver" or both (Ge 24:53;Ex 3:22;11:2;12:35;35:22;1Sa 6:8,15, etc.; the Revised Version (British and American) in2Ch 32:27translations "vessels"). InSo 1:10, where the King James Version has "rows (of jewels)," the Revised Version (British and American) has "plaits (of hair)"; inSo 7:1, the word is from a root chalah, meaning "to adorn." In 3 instances in the King James Version "jewel" represents the Hebrew nezem (Pr 11:22;Isa 3:21;Eze 16:12); the American Standard Revised Version changesPr 11:22to "ring" Septuagint here = "earring"), and both the English Revised Version and the American Standard Revised Version have "ring" inEze 16:12. The familiar phrase inMal 3:17, "in that day when I make up my jewels," becomes in the English Revised Version, "in the day that I do make, even a peculiar treasure" (margin "or, wherein I do make a peculiar treasure"), and in the American Standard Revised Version, "even mine own possession, in the day that I make" (margin "or, do this").
See, further, ORNAMENT; DRESS; STONES, PRECIOUS.
James Orr