Jasper
JASPER, an impure, opaque variety of very fine grained silica (silicon dioxide), allied to chalcedony and flint (q.v.). It is usually red, brown or yellow, but rarely it may be green, blue or black, and the brighter-colored varieties are used as gem stones (e.g. Exod 28:20; Ezek 27:16 [NEB]; Rev 21:19). Even on the thinner edges it is opaque, the reference to “a jasper stone, clear as crystal” in Revelation 21:11 being explained by the ancient jaspis prob. including chrysoprase (q.v.) as well as partially translucent chalcedony. Egyptian jasper is beautifully banded with different shades of brown. It occurs in nodules, like agate (q.v.), both in the Nile Valley and the Libyan desert. Riband (or ribbon) jasper has the colors, generally brown, in broad stripes. Like other varieties of very fine grained silica, jasper is deposited from circulating water, either ground water or hydrothermal solutions of igneous origin.