Nose-Ring

The Hebrew word  (plural, ) is used for both earrings and nose-rings, but where the latter is referred to the word  is added (Isa. iii. 21); or it is indicated in another way that the ring is intended for the nose (as in Gen. xxiv. 30, 47, et al.). Nose-rings were worn only by women, and the first mention of them occurs in the narrative of Eliezer and Rebekah, where the former gave the latter a golden nose-ring of half a shekel's weight (Gen. xxiv. 47, R. V.; comp. A. V.). That in certain instances golden nose-rings are specifically referred to suggests that nose-rings sometimes were made of baser metals. The nose-ring is mentioned in the proverb, "A fair woman without discretion is like a golden nose-ring in a swine's snout" (Prov. xi. 22, Hebr.). That nose-rings were still worn by Jewish women in the time of the Talmudists is evidenced by the regulation forbidding women to wear them on Sabbath in public (Shab. vi. 1). Noserings are mentioned in the Mishnah (Kelim xi. 8) as ornaments that are capable of becoming unclean.

E. G. H. M. Sel.