ὕαλος. This word occurs Rev. xxi, 18, 21; and the adjective
ὑάλινος, Rev. iv, 6; xv, 2. Parkhurst says that in the later Greek
writers, and in the New Testament, ὕαλος denotes the artificial
substance, _glass_; and that we may either with Mintert derive it from
ἕλη, _splendour_, or immediately from the Hebrew הל, _to shine_. There
seems to be no reference to glass in the Old Testament. The art of
making it was not known. Our translators have rendered the Hebrew word
מראת, in Exodus xxxviii, 8, and Job xxxvii, 18, “looking-glass.” But the
making mirrors of glass coated with quicksilver, is an invention quite
modern. The word _looking-glass_ occurs in our version of Ecclesiasticus
xii, 11, “Never trust thine enemy; for like as iron rusteth, so is his
wickedness. Though he humble himself, and go crouching, yet take good
heed and beware of him, and thou shalt be unto him as if thou hadst
washed a looking-glass, and thou shalt know that his rust hath not been
altogether wiped away.” This passage proves, by its mention of rust,
that mirrors were then made of polished metal. The word ἔσοπτρον, or
_mirror_, occurs in 1 Cor. xiii, 12, and James i, 23. Dr. Pearce thinks
that in the former place it signifies any of those transparent
substances which the ancients used in their windows, and through which
they saw external objects obscurely. But others are of opinion that the
word denotes a mirror of polished metal; as this, however, was liable to
many imperfections, so that the object before it was not seen clearly or
fully, the meaning of the Apostle is, that we see things as it were by
images reflected from a mirror, which shows them very obscurely and
indistinctly. In the latter place, a mirror undoubtedly is meant; “For
if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man
beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and
goeth his way, and straightway he forgetteth what manner of man he was:”
but in the former, 1 Cor. xiii, 12, semi-transparent glass such as that
which we see in the ancient glass vases of the Romans is obviously
intended. Specimens of Roman glass may be seen in collections of
antiquities, and some have been dug up at Pompeii; but in all it is
cloudy and dull, and objects can only be seen through it with
indistinctness. From this we may fully perceive the force of the
Apostle’s words, “now we see through a glass darkly.”
ὑάλινος, Rev. iv, 6; xv, 2. Parkhurst says that in the later Greek
writers, and in the New Testament, ὕαλος denotes the artificial
substance, _glass_; and that we may either with Mintert derive it from
ἕλη, _splendour_, or immediately from the Hebrew הל, _to shine_. There
seems to be no reference to glass in the Old Testament. The art of
making it was not known. Our translators have rendered the Hebrew word
מראת, in Exodus xxxviii, 8, and Job xxxvii, 18, “looking-glass.” But the
making mirrors of glass coated with quicksilver, is an invention quite
modern. The word _looking-glass_ occurs in our version of Ecclesiasticus
xii, 11, “Never trust thine enemy; for like as iron rusteth, so is his
wickedness. Though he humble himself, and go crouching, yet take good
heed and beware of him, and thou shalt be unto him as if thou hadst
washed a looking-glass, and thou shalt know that his rust hath not been
altogether wiped away.” This passage proves, by its mention of rust,
that mirrors were then made of polished metal. The word ἔσοπτρον, or
_mirror_, occurs in 1 Cor. xiii, 12, and James i, 23. Dr. Pearce thinks
that in the former place it signifies any of those transparent
substances which the ancients used in their windows, and through which
they saw external objects obscurely. But others are of opinion that the
word denotes a mirror of polished metal; as this, however, was liable to
many imperfections, so that the object before it was not seen clearly or
fully, the meaning of the Apostle is, that we see things as it were by
images reflected from a mirror, which shows them very obscurely and
indistinctly. In the latter place, a mirror undoubtedly is meant; “For
if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man
beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and
goeth his way, and straightway he forgetteth what manner of man he was:”
but in the former, 1 Cor. xiii, 12, semi-transparent glass such as that
which we see in the ancient glass vases of the Romans is obviously
intended. Specimens of Roman glass may be seen in collections of
antiquities, and some have been dug up at Pompeii; but in all it is
cloudy and dull, and objects can only be seen through it with
indistinctness. From this we may fully perceive the force of the
Apostle’s words, “now we see through a glass darkly.”