Seals

In ancient times seals were used to denote personal ownership of certain objects, and sealing a document with a personal or public seal confirmed the authenticity of the contents. The device was probably first used in Mesopotamia, where thousands of seals and seal impressions were found. The seal was also in common use in the Holy Land. A document written on a clay tablet would be placed in a clay envelope and sealed, while a document written on papyrus or parchment would be rolled and tied with string; a ball of soft clay would then be placed on the knot and sealed (bulla). Seals brought to Palestine from other countries were either made of steatite or of faience. The ancient Hebrew seals were normally made of semi-precious hard stones, carnelian (brought from Egypt or Arabia), rock-crystal, hematite, amethyst, lapis lazuli and local hard limestone. See PRECIOUS STONES

From the 18th century B.C. and especially from the arrival of the Hyksos, the number of seals increases. These are of the scarab type, many of which originate in Egypt. They are elliptical in shape, and decorated on the back with a beetle (scarab) – an insect venerated by the Egyptians.

From the Iron Age, there are many seals inscribed with the owner's name, written in Hebrew, Phoenician or Aramaic. They date mainly to the 8th-6th centuries B.C. The Hebrew seals are also scaraboidal in shape, flat at the bottom and convex on top. Some, however, are conical. These are chiefly of the 7th-6th centuries, and are typical mainly of the Kingdom of Judah.

In the various sites where Iron Age strata have been excavated, numerous seals, and still more seal impressions, have been found. The more famous ones are of persons known from the Bible, such as the "servant of the king" (Asaiah, a servant of Josiah) in II Kings 22:12, and Gedaliah (II Kgs 25:22).

Large numbers of seal impressions have been found on jar-handles on many sites in Judea. These seals bear the inscription lamelek – "of the king" on the upper part of the seal. At the bottom comes one of four names: Hebron, Ziph, Socoh or mmst. Between the lines appears a two-or four-winged symbol of the sun.

At the beginning of the Persian period the seals resemble the ancient Hebrew ones in shape and script, but gradually the square Aramaic script replaces the older ones. The decoration consists of representations of priests. In some places in Judea, seals carrying the name Yahud were found. This was the official name of the province of Judea in the Persian and Hellenistic periods. Other seals have ha'ir, meaning "the City" – Jerusalem, and still others have the name of Jerusalem inscribed on them in full. It is believed that the jars thus stamped were used for the collection of taxes pertaining to the Temple. A very large collection of Hellenistic bullae bearing Phoencian symbols, mythological scenes and portraits of Seleucid monarchs was recently uncovered at Tel Kedesh.

From the Roman period there are two types of seals in Palestine, one found on pottery vessels, the other on documents. The seals of the first group are found on handles of jars, bases of bowls, lamps, etc. In the case of the jars the handles are stamped with official seals, bearing the names of Roman consuls. Seal impressions of the second type, those stamped on documents, are less common.

The significance of the seal and its usage is found on several occasions in the OT. It first appears in Genesis chapter 38 when Judah leaves his seal with Tamar as a pledge. The king's ring, which was the same as his seal, symbolized royal power (Gen 41:42; Est 3:10, 12; 8:2, 8, 10). Books, letters, prophecies and legal deeds of purchase were sealed (I Kgs 21:8; Job 38:14; Is 8:16; 29:11; Jer 32:10-11, 14, 44; Dan 9:24; 12:4, 9). The notables of Jerusalem set their seals to a written deed to keep the laws of the Torah (Neh 9:38; 10:1). A royal seal closed the lion's den into which Daniel was cast (Dan 6:17).

The seal also served in figures of speech, denoting that which was precious and dear (Jer 22:24; Hag 2:23); cf especially the simile in the Song of Soloman 8:6: "Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm", which refers symbolically to the seals which were actually worn around the neck and on the hand.

In the NT nouns and verbs for seal and sealing are used both literally and figuratively. Literally a seal is set upon the stone in front of the tomb where jesus is laid (Matt 27:66). In John, Jesus sets his seal on revelation from God (3:33) and God sets his seal on the Son of man (John 6:27). Abraham receives circumcision as a seal (Rom 4:11), Paul receives the seal of apostleship (I Cor 9:2), and God has sealed Christians with the Holy spirit (II Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13; 4:30), probably in baptism. God's seal is a sign of truth in II Timothy 2:19. The most frequent reference to seals in the NT is to be found in the vision of the book sealed with seven seals and its opening by the Lamb of God in the Book of Revelation (Rev 5:1-2, 5, 9; 6:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12; 7:2-8). There the martyrs from the twelve tribes receive the seal on their forehead. In revelation 20:3 Satan is sealed in a pit during the millennium.