Commonly a ring engraved with some device (Genesis 38:18, 25). Jezebel "wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal" (1 Kings 21:8). Seals are frequently mentioned in Jewish history (Deuteronomy 32:34; Nehemiah 9:38; 10:1; Esther 3:12; Cant. 8:6; Isaiah 8:16; Jeremiah 22:24; 32:44, etc.). Sealing a document was equivalent to the signature of the owner of the seal. "The use of a signet-ring by the monarch has recently received a remarkable illustration by the discovery of an impression of such a signet on fine clay at Koyunjik, the site of the ancient Nineveh. This seal appears to have been impressed from the bezel of a metallic finger-ring. It is an oval, 2 inches in length by 1 inch wide, and bears the image, name, and titles of the Egyptian king Sabaco" (Rawlinson's Hist. Illus. of the O.T., p. 46). The actual signet-rings of two Egyptian kings (Cheops and Horus) have been discovered. (see SIGNET.)

The use of seals is mentioned in the New Testament only in connection with the record of our Lord's burial (Matthew 27:66). The tomb was sealed by the Pharisees and chief priests for the purpose of making sure that the disciples would not come and steal the body away (ver. 63, 64). The mode of doing this was probably by stretching a cord across the stone and sealing it at both ends with sealing-clay. When God is said to have sealed the Redeemer, the meaning is, that he has attested his divine mission (John 6:27). Circumcision is a seal, an attestation of the covenant (Romans 4:11). Believers are sealed with the Spirit, as God's Mark put upon them (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30). Converts are by Paul styled the seal of his apostleship, i.e., they are its attestation (1 Corinthians 9:2). Seals and sealing are frequently mentioned in the book of Revelation (5:1; 6:1; 7:3; 10:4; 22:10).

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) Any aquatic carnivorous mammal of the families Phocidae and Otariidae.

2. (n.) An engraved or inscribed stamp, used for marking an impression in wax or other soft substance, to be attached to a document, or otherwise used by way of authentication or security.

3. (n.) Wax, wafer, or other tenacious substance, set to an instrument, and impressed or stamped with a seal; as, to give a deed under hand and seal.

4. (n.) That which seals or fastens; esp., the wax or wafer placed on a letter or other closed paper, etc., to fasten it.

5. (n.) That which confirms, ratifies, or makes stable; that which authenticates; that which secures; assurance.

6. (n.) An arrangement for preventing the entrance or return of gas or air into a pipe, by which the open end of the pipe dips beneath the surface of water or other liquid, or a deep bend or sag in the pipe is filled with the liquid; a drain trap.

7. (v. t.) To set or affix a seal to; hence, to authenticate; to confirm; to ratify; to establish; as, to seal a deed.

8. (v. t.) To mark with a stamp, as an evidence of standard exactness, legal size, or merchantable quality; as, to seal weights and measures; to seal silverware.

9. (v. t.) To fasten with a seal; to attach together with a wafer, wax, or other substance causing adhesion; as, to seal a letter.

10. (v. t.) Hence, to shut close; to keep close; to make fast; to keep secure or secret.

11. (v. t.) To fix, as a piece of iron in a wall, with cement, plaster, or the like.

12. (v. t.) To close by means of a seal; as, to seal a drainpipe with water. See 2d Seal, 5.

13. (v. t.) Among the Mormons, to confirm or set apart as a second or additional wife.

14. (v. i.) To affix one's seal, or a seal.