ONICE (Latin onyx). — A term that in the Vulgate denotes both a perfume and a precious stone.
In Ex. 30:34 it is the perfume of the odoriferous nail (blatta byzantina; Hebrew lēhēlētō), which is found as the operculum of certain mollusks or shells; together with other substances, it was used for the sacred thymiamo.
In Ex. 38:13 it translates the Hebrew lēhēm, elsewhere rendered as sardonyx, sardius, berillus, chrysopras. It is a red gem set in the ephod and in the breastplate of the high priest (cf. Ex. 25:7; 28:9, etc.). In Gen. 2:12 it is said that the region of Hévila was rich in such precious stones, whose high value can be discerned from the comparison with wisdom (Iob 28:16). Angelo Penna