AMULET. An amulet is anything worn as a charm or protection against evil, disease, witchcraft, snakebite, poison, and other perils, bodily or spiritual. In fact, the wearing of jewelry and all manner of facial and bodily ornaments had its deepest origin in this superstition. The word amulet derives from the Lat. amuletum, a word found twice in the elder Pliny, and itself a Latinized form of Arab. hamalet, a noun derived from a verb meaning “to carry.” The actual word “amulet” occurs only once in ASV and RSV, in Isaiah 3:20, in a list of condemned feminine trinkets. The Heb. is lahash and means literally “whispering” or “charming,” the hissing of the snake charmer lying behind the metaphor (Ps 58:5; Eccl 10:11; Jer 8:17).

Amulets had many forms, and archeology has abundantly illustrated them. They were gems, cut, carved, or inscribed with magical formulae; stones; lunar discs associated with the worship of Astarte or Ishtar; pierced shells, the origin of the cameo; pearls; teeth, inscribed rolls of papyrus; earrings; signet rings, worn on the body or hung from door and wall for the protection of dwelling place or town.

The ancient world was addicted to the superstition, and it has not yet died out even in Christian and cultured communities. In Rome, Greece, Egypt, and all through Asia Minor and the Middle E the practice is found interwoven with every form of sympathetic magic. A divine hero in some threatening pose was an amulet of victory; a nude goddess, sometimes heavily emphasized, was a charm for childbirth or fertility. The Hitt. colored amulets red, the hue of blood—life’s vital fluid, or blue, a propitious color for protection against the evil eye.

The Hebrews seem not to have resisted the temptation to wear amulets in spite of sporadic efforts to combat the practice (e.g. Hezekiah’s destruction of the brazen serpent [2 Kings 18:4] and Jacob’s earlier cleansing of his household [Gen 35:1-4]). The host at Sinai had enough golden earrings to provide Aaron with the material to fashion the golden calf, itself a symbol of the bull’s strength and a national amulet. Judas Maccabeus was horrified to find amulets under the tunics of his dead soldiers (2 Macc 12:40). The phylacteries, small boxes containing quotations from the law (esp. Exod 13:1-16; Deut 6:4-9; 11:18), which the Pharisees wore on arms and forehead were properly amulets. The word phylactery (Gr. phulakterion) actually means a “safeguard” or “amulet,” an extension of the basic significance of “guard post” or “garrison.” These tiny scrolls were actually thought to ward off evil. The practice was an attempt to spiritualize a custom which others had found to be inveterate. The tufts or tassels, with crimson cords, which were worn at the four corners of the outer garments (Num 15:37-41; Matt 23:5) and the bells which decorated the high priest’s robe may have originated in a similar compromise or sublimation. Christian practice has frequently been invaded by supersition. Witness Calvin’s scorn for the alleged fragments of the cross and the numberless nails of Calvary and other relics of saints and martyrs.