Carbuncle
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Exod 28:18; 39:11) - the name comes from a root meaning to burn or shine like lightning and denotes a rare dark-red precious stone found even in the source's day in the East Indies. In sunlight it loses some of its bright red color and resembles a burning coal, from which its name arose. Scripture names the carbuncle as the first stone in the second row of the high priest's breastplate. Ezekiel 28:13 includes it among stones symbolizing the glory, beauty, majesty, and purity of the eternal habitations God has prepared in heaven for believers. The name was later applied to pyrope, a red garnet.