Seal: Commonly a ring engraved with some device
(Genesis 38:18,25) Jezebel "wrote
letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal"
(1 Kings 21:8)
Seals are frequently mentioned in Jewish history
(Deuteronomy 32:34; Nehemiah 9:38)
(Nehemiah 10:1; Esther 3:12; The Song of Solomon 8:6)
(Isaiah 8:16; Jeremiah 22:24; 32:44) etc. Sealing a
document was equivalent to the signature of the owner of the seal.
"The use of a signet-ring by the monarch has recently received a
remarkable illustration by the discovery of an impression of such a
signet on fine clay at Koyunjik, the site of the ancient Nineveh. This
seal appears to have been impressed from the bezel of a metallic
finger-ring. It is an oval, 2 inches in length by 1 inch wide, and
bears the image, name, and titles of the Egyptian king Sabaco"
(Rawlinson's Hist. Illus. of the O.T., p. 46) The actual signet-rings
of two Egyptian kings (Cheops and Horus) have been discovered.
(See SIGNET)
The use of seals is mentioned in the New Testament only in connection
with the record of our Lord's burial
(Matthew 27:66) The tomb was sealed
by the Pharisees and chief priests for the purpose of making sure that
the disciples would not come and steal the body away
(Matthew 27:63,64) The
mode of doing this was probably by stretching a cord across the stone
and sealing it at both ends with sealing-clay. When God is said to
have sealed the Redeemer, the meaning is, that he has attested his
divine mission
(John 6:27) Circumcision is a seal, an attestation of
the covenant
(Romans 4:11) Believers are sealed with the Spirit, as
God's mark put upon them
(Ephesians 1:13; 4:30) Converts are by Paul styled
the seal of his apostleship, i.e., they are its attestation
(1 Corinthians 9:2)
Seals and sealing are frequently mentioned in the book of Revelation
(Revelation 5:1; 6:1; 7:3; 10:4; 22:10)
