The Seal & the Signet · The Symbolism of Scripture
The Seal & the Signet
A seal is not a lock. It fastens nothing: it is a signature in wax whose breaking is visible. And the signet God pulls off one king in Jeremiah, He puts back on that king’s own grandson in Haggai.
What It Stands For
a signature, not a fastening
The Hebrew chotham (H2368) is glossed in three words: a signature-ring. The Greek sphragis (G4973) is a signet as fencing in or protecting from misappropriation, and by implication the stamp it leaves. Both point the same way: the seal is about identity and ownership.
“What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.Tamar asks for the one item a man cannot later deny is his.
so that as the signet alone was probably more than an equivalent for the kid, it is not easy to conjecture why the other things were given in addition, except by supposing the perforated seal was attached by a ribbon to the staff.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
Genesis 38:18
For to seal, is to put a distinguishing mark upon a thing. Whoever seals a thing, puts a mark on it, lest it be confounded with any other.
Augustine of Hippo· Tractates on the Gospel of John 25, 416Latin, fifth century
John 6:27
Augustine gives the definition the whole symbol runs on, and he gives it while commenting on Jesus: to seal is to put a distinguishing mark upon a thing, lest it be confounded with any other.Adam Clarke supplies the commercial practice behind Paul’s use of it:
It was customary among all nations, when a person purchased goods of any kind, to mark with his seal that which he had bought, in order that he might know it, and be able to claim it if mixed with the goods of others; to this custom the apostle may here allude but it was also customary to set a seal upon what was dedicated to God, or what was to be offered to him in sacrifice.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832Wesleyan
Ephesians 1:13
Goods in a warehouse, mixed with other men’s goods, marked so the buyer can pick out his own. That is the picture behind “ye were sealed”, and it is worth keeping when the language starts sounding mystical.
Taken Off, and Put Back On
Jeremiah 22, Haggai 2, and the two generations between
“As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “even if you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on My right hand, I would pull you off.The most valuable thing a king could be compared to, and the sentence is that it would still come off.
| When | Who | What is said | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the last days of Judah | Coniah: Jehoiachin, king of Judah | “Though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence.” | Jeremiah 22:24 |
| Two generations | The line runs on regardless | “Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel.” | Matthew 1:12 |
| After the return from exile | Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel | “Will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet.” | Haggai 2:23 |
On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will take you, My servant, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and I will make you like My signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of Hosts.”The last verse of Haggai's book. Of all the images available, the prophet chooses this one.
I will make thee as a signet - God reverses to Zerubbabel the sentence on Jeconiah for his impiety.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1847Presbyterian
Haggai 2:23
And will make thee as a signet - I will exalt thee to high dignity, power, and trust, of which the seal was the instrument or sign in those days. Thou shalt be under my peculiar care, and shalt be to me very precious.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832Wesleyan
Haggai 2:23
Barnes states it in one line, and the line is checkable in ten minutes: Haggai reaches for Jeremiah’s word on purpose. What makes it more than a literary echo is the genealogy — Zerubbabel is Jeconiah’s grandson, and both men stand in Matthew’s list of the ancestors of Jesus, four verses apart. John Wesley takes the image where the New Testament takes it:
He is indeed the signet on God's right-hand. For all power is given to him, and derived from him. In him the great charter of the gospel is signed, and sanctified, and it is in him, that all the promises of God are yea and amen.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765Wesleyan
Haggai 2:23
Wesley’s reading of Zerubbabel as pointing beyond himself to Christ is a reading, and an old one; Haggai names Zerubbabel and stops there. The genealogical fact underneath it (that the line disowned in Jeremiah 22 is the line Matthew traces) is not a reading.
A Seal Is Not a Lock
a den, a tomb, and what the sealing was actually for
A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that nothing concerning Daniel could be changed.The verse gives the purpose: 'that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.' Against the king, not against Daniel.
So they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard.Stone, seal, watch: the same three steps, six centuries later.
Sealing the stone - The sepulchre was made sure by affixing the large stone to the entrance in such a way that it could not be removed without detection. It was sealed. In what way this was done cannot now be certainly told. The cave in which Daniel was cast was fastened in the same manner, and sealed with the kings signet Dan 6:17, perhaps by fastening the stone in its place with cords, and bringing them together and uniting them with wax, and impressing on that the seal of the king.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1847Presbyterian
Matthew 27:66
Cords across the stone, wax where they met, the signet pressed into the wax. A determined man could still move the stone — he simply could not do it without everyone knowing. Adam Clarke notices whom the seal was really aimed at, which is the sharpest observation on the page:
Made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch - Or rather, made the tomb secure by the guard, and by sealing the stone. I follow Kypke, in construing μετα της κουστωδιας, with ησφαλισαντο. The guard was to take care that the disciples should not steal him away; and the seal, which was probably the seal of the governor, was to prevent the guards from being corrupted so as to permit the theft.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832Wesleyan
Matthew 27:66
The guard watched the disciples; the seal watched the guard. And Hippolytus, in the third century, had already set the two scenes side by side:
"And they brought a stone and set at the mouth of the den and the king sealed it with his signet ring," [Daniel 6:17] that the matter may not be changed regarding Daniel. And this was a malicious deed, for the satraps were cautious, lest secretly the king command Daniel to be drawn out of the den and so they thought fit to seal the stone.
Hippolytus of Rome· Commentary on Daniel 3.27, 204Greek, third century
Daniel 6:17
stone . . . sealed--typical of Christ's entombment under a seal (Mt 27:66). Divinely ordered, that the deliverance might be the more striking.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
Daniel 6:17
Chrysostom's argument: the seal is evidence for the resurrectionHomily 89 on Matthew
“Everywhere deceit recoils upon itself, and against its will supports the truth. And observe. It was necessary for it to be believed that He died, and that He rose again, and that He was buried, and all these things are brought to pass by His enemies.”
He then works through what the request in Matthew 27:63-64 concedes (that Jesus said He would rise, that He was dead, that He was buried) and finishes:
“So then the proof of His resurrection has become incontrovertible by what ye have put forward. For because it was sealed, there was no unfair dealing. But if there was no unfair dealing, and the sepulchre was found empty, it is manifest that He is risen, plainly and incontrovertibly.”
Whether a reader finds the argument conclusive, the structure of it is worth having: the precautions were taken by people with every motive to prevent a resurrection story, and each precaution removed one ordinary explanation.
Where It Points
a mark, and a first instalment
Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”The seal is put on the Son before it is put on anyone else.
placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come.Two commercial words in one short verse: sealed, and given an earnest.
Who also hath sealed us - Stamping his image on our hearts, thus marking and sealing us as his own property. And given us the earnest of his Spirit - There is a difference between an earnest and a pledge. A pledge is to be restored when the debt is paid; but an earnest is not taken away, but completed.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755Wesleyan
2 Corinthians 1:22
Wesley’s distinction is the most useful sentence written on this word, and the lexicon backs it: arrabon (G728) is part of the purchase-money given in advance as security for the rest. A pledge is a different kind of thing and goes back; an earnest is the same substance as what is still owed, and is never returned: it is completed.
And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.'The earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession': the transaction named end to end.
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.The consequence Paul actually draws: not anxiety about the seal, but care not to grieve the One who is it.
The word used here (from σφραγίζω sphragizō) means to seal up; to close and make fast with a seal, or signet; as, e. g., books, letters, etc. that they may not be read. It is also used in the sense of setting a mark on anything, or a seal, to denote that it is genuine, authentic, confirmed, or approved, as when a deed, compact, or agreement is sealed. it is thus made sure; and is confirmed or established.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1847Presbyterian
2 Corinthians 1:22
Set me as a seal over your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as unrelenting as Sheol. Its sparks are fiery flames, the fiercest blaze of all.The one place the image is used of love, and it asks to be worn on the heart AND on the arm.
Set me - These are undoubtedly the words of the bride. Let thy heart be constantly set upon me.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765Wesleyan
Song of Solomon 8:6
Set me as a seal upon thine heart - It was customary in the Levant and other places to make impressions of various kinds upon the arms, the breast, and other parts.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832Wesleyan
Song of Solomon 8:6
Two places, and they are not the same request. The heart is where a seal is kept; the arm is where it is seen. Asking for both is asking to be loved privately and owned publicly: which is also, exactly, what Revelation 7 does with the image.
“Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have sealed the foreheads of the servants of our God.”In the forehead: the least concealable place on a person.
What Scripture says outright
- Daniel 6:17
The verse gives the purpose of the seal itself: that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. It is against interference.
- Ephesians 1:14
Paul names the transaction out loud: an earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession.
- John 6:27
“Him hath God the Father sealed.” The mark is on the Son, said plainly by Jesus.
What readers have heard in it
Readings, named as such.
- Haggai 2:23
That Zerubbabel here is a figure of Christ. Wesley reads it so and the genealogy invites it; Haggai names Zerubbabel and says no more.
- Revelation 7:3
Every identification of the seal in the forehead with a visible rite or a particular group. The verse says a seal, a place, and a purpose, and the study of the 144,000 carries the question.
- Song of Solomon 8:6
That the verse describes a literal tattoo. Clarke records the Levantine practice as background; the verse asks to be set as a seal, which is a comparison.
The Voices
with the work named
Adam Clarke is indispensable here three times: the merchant marking goods in a warehouse, the Levantine practice behind Song 8:6, and the observation that the seal on the tomb was aimed at the guards rather than the disciples. Albert Barnes reconstructs how a stone was actually sealed, and names the Haggai–Jeremiah reversal in a single line. Wesley draws the distinction between an earnest and a pledge that the whole New Testament use of the word depends on. Augustine supplies the definition. Hippolytus had put the den and the tomb together by the early third century, and Chrysostom turned the precautions of Jesus’ opponents into an argument.
Where to Go Next
Where the seal is the whole scene
Who does the sealing
Where the picture goes on
Its neighbours in the index
The Symbolism of Scripture gathers every picture the Bible thinks in. This one sits with: