Jasper (ἴ ασ π ις, from Assyr. aspû)
The king on the heavenly throne is like a jasper stone (Revelation 4:3); the luminary of the New Jerusalem is like a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal (21:11); and the first foundation stone of the wall is a jasper. The jasper of mineralogy is an opaque, compact variety of quartz, variously coloured-red, brown, yellow, or green. As this stone does not answer the description ‘clear as crystal,’ some think that the diamond is meant (Smith’s DB [Note: B Dict. of the Bible.] s.v.), while others suggest the opal (EBi [Note: Bi EncyclopAEdia Biblica.] s.v.). The ἴ ασ π ις of the LXX [Note: XX Septuagint.] (Exodus 28:20) may have been the dark green jasper, which was known to the Egyptians and the early Greeks.
James Strahan.