The Bible contains various passages that mention jewelry and offer guidance on its proper use. Here is an overview of some of the key Bible verses about jewelry:
Genesis 24:22 – Rebekah receives a gold nose ring
When Abraham’s servant meets Rebekah at the well and realizes she is the one meant for Isaac, he gives her a gold nose ring weighing half a shekel, along with two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. This shows jewelry being given as a gift and sign of blessing.
When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.
(Genesis 24:22 ESV)
Exodus 3:22 – Israelites told to ask Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry
As the Israelites prepare to leave Egypt, God tells them to ask their Egyptian neighbors for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. This allowed them to plunder the Egyptians and leave Egypt with many jewels and precious metals.
But each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.”
(Exodus 3:22 ESV)
Exodus 28 – Elaborate priestly garments included jewels
When describing the garments to be made for the priests, God instructs the use of precious stones and metals like gold. The ephod and breastpiece worn by the high priest Aaron were to be made of gold and decorated with 12 gemstones representing the 12 tribes.
And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked. It shall have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges, so that it may be joined together… They shall take the gold and the blue and purple and scarlet yarns and the fine linen, and they shall make the ephod of skilled work.
(Exodus 28:6-8 ESV)
Numbers 31:50 – Offerings of gold jewelry to the Lord
After the battle with the Midianites, the officers bring an offering to the Lord from the gold jewelry taken as plunder, including anklets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads.
And we have brought the Lord’s offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”
(Numbers 31:50 ESV)
Deuteronomy 8:13 – Warning against pride and forgetting God after obtaining silver & gold
Moses warns the Israelites that when they enter the promised land and obtain houses filled with silver and gold, their heart could become proud and forget about the Lord who brought them out of Egypt.
And when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God
(Deuteronomy 8:13-14 ESV)
Job 42:11 – Job receives a ring from friends after trials
After Job endures tremendous losses and trials, his friends try to comfort him and each one gives him a ring made of gold, perhaps as a sign of their friendship and solidarity.
Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. Each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.
(Job 42:11 ESV)
Song of Solomon 1:10-11 – Bride wears jewelry from groom
In this love poem, the bride (believed to symbolize God’s people) delightedly wears the jewelry her groom (symbolizing the Lord) has given her, such as beads of gold and silver.
Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels. We will make for you ornaments of gold, studded with silver.
(Song of Solomon 1:10-11 ESV)
Isaiah 3:18-23 – Judgment for the daughters of Zion includes removal of finery
Isaiah warns the arrogant women of Jerusalem that God will take away their pride and beauty, including their splendid jewelry of ankle chains, headbands, pendants, bracelets and other royal finery.
In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; the signet rings and nose rings; the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags.
(Isaiah 3:18-23 ESV)
Ezekiel 16:8-19 – God adorns Israel with splendid jewelry, but she prostitutes it
In this passage, Jerusalem is portrayed as an unfaithful bride who uses the beautiful jewelry God gave her to make idols and images and offer herself to others. Her gold and silver jewelry that was intended to adorn the Lord’s bride was instead used for wickedness.
“‘I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver…But you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set my oil and my incense before them…and you took your beautiful jewels and my gold and my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore.”
(Ezekiel 16:11-17 ESV)
Hosea 2:13 – God will punish Israel by removing her jewelry
Because Israel turned from God to false idols, God declares he will take back the gifts he had given her, including her jewelry made of gold and silver, as part of his discipline and judgment.
And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the Lord.
(Hosea 2:13 ESV)
1 Timothy 2:9-10 – Women exhorted not to adorn externally but internally
Paul instructs women to avoid wearing expensive clothing and jewelry for show, but rather to put on good deeds and a gentle spirit as more important adornments befitting godliness.
Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.
(1 Timothy 2:9-10 ESV)
1 Peter 3:3-5 – Beauty should come from inner spirit, not external jewelry
Peter also exhorts Christian wives to focus on cultivating inner beauty rather than relying on outward means of adornment like jewelry and nice clothing to make themselves beautiful.
Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.
(1 Peter 3:3-4 ESV)
In summary, the Bible recognizes the use of jewelry and precious metals for adornment, gift giving, worship, and signifying blessings. But it also contains warnings against relying on outward jewelry for one’s beauty or worth, and against misusing jewelry by turning it into objects of pride or idolatry. The key principle is that a godly man or woman’s true beauty comes from inward qualities like a gentle spirit, not merely outward decorations.