CORAL
A hard calcareous, marine production, produced by the labors of millions of insects, and often resembling in figure the stem of a plant, divided into branches. It is of various colors, black, white, and red. The latter is the most valuable. It is ranked by Job 28:18, and Ezekiel 27:16, among precious stones. It abounds in the Red sea; and the islands of the South seas are often coral reefs, covered over with earth. The word "rubies" in Proverbs 3:15; Proverbs 1:8; Proverbs 1:20; Proverbs 1:31, is thought by many to mean ornaments of coral.