Reference: Metals
Fausets
Gold of Havilah is mentioned as early as Ge 2:11. The first worker of instruments of copper ("brass") and iron was Tubal-cain (Ge 4:22). Abram was rich in silver and gold (Ge 13:2). Instruments before Tubalcain (born according to Hebrew chronology 500 years after Adam and contemporary with Enoch from Seth; 1,000 according to Septuagint chronology) were apparently of flint, bone, and hard wood, such as uncivilized nations now use. Races that have degenerated into barbarism fall back upon flint; then advance to bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, harder than either: and then brass; and lastly iron. The oldest European races used only flint weapons, which are found in the gravel; but this is no proof they were unknown to Adam's early descendants. Isolation would soon reduce the distant emigrants to savagery. Silver was used for commerce, as "money" (Ge 23:16; 17:12; 20:16), gold for ornament.
Gold, silver, brass, iron, tin, and lead were among the spoils taken front Midian (Nu 31:22). In Job 20:24 for "steel" translated brass. Also Ps 18:34, "a bow of steel" should be brass, which, or bronze, was used to strengthen arms, as for instance the Egyptians' bows. But God so taught David to war relying on Him that, no weapon could prevail against him; so Isa 54:17. In Jer 15:12, "shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?" the metal meant is copper mixed with iron by the Chalybes near the Pontus far N. of Palestine; i.e., can the Jews, however iron-like, break the hardier steel-like northern Chaldees (Jer 1:14). Common iron, as then prepared, was inferior to the Chalybian iron and brass combined. Thus explaining, we solve Henderson's difficulty that KJV makes iron not so hard as brass, and we need not transl, as he does "can one break iron, even northern iron, and brass?"
In Na 2:3, "the chariots will be with flaming torches," translated rather "with fire flashing scythes," literally, "with the fire (glitter) of scythes" or steel weapons fixed at right angles to the axles, and turned down, or parallel, inserted into the felly of the wheel. (On Ezr 1:4 "amber," Re 1:15 "fine brass". (See AMBER.) The first payment of gold is in 1Ch 21:25. (See ARAUNAH.) Gold was imported from Ophir, Sheba, Parvaim, and Uphaz (1Ki 9:27-28; 10/2'>10:2,10; 2Ch 3:6; Jer 10:9). The hills of Palestine yielded copper (De 8:9). Job 28 hints at the fact that gold is more superficial, iron lodes yield more the deeper you go: "there is a vein (a mine from whence it goes forth, Hebrew) for the silver, and a place for gold (which men) refine (it is found in the sands of rivers, and its particles have a superficial range in mines); iron is taken out of the dust (or earth, ore looking like it), and copper is molten out of the stone."
Copper is easier found and wrought than iron, so was in earlier use. Copper alloyed with tin formed brindle, of which Napier (Metal. of Bible) thinks the domestic vessels, the arms, etc., in Scripture were made, as it tarnishes less, takes a finer polish, and admits of a keen, hard edge (2Sa 21:16). Israel derived their skill in metallurgy from the Egyptians. Tin (bdiyl) was doubtless imported through the Phoenicians from Cornwall to Tarshish, and thence to Palestine (Eze 27:12; 22:18-20; Isa 1:25); the Assyrian bronze bowls, having one part tin to ten copper, now in the British Museum, consist of metal probably exported 3,000 years ago from the British isles. (See BOWLS.)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold.
"And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.
To Sarah he said, "Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; behold, it is your vindication before all who are with you, and before all men you are cleared."
Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, commercial standard.
a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
Then Ishbi-benob, who was among the descendants of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, was girded with a new sword, and he intended to kill David.
And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon. They went to Ophir and took four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
So she came to Jerusalem with a very large retinue, with camels carrying spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart.
She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a very great amount of spices and precious stones. Never again did such abundance of spices come in as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.
So David gave Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site.
'Every survivor, at whatever place he may live, let the men of that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.'"
"He may flee from the iron weapon, But the bronze bow will pierce him.
He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
"I will also turn My hand against you, And will smelt away your dross as with lye And will remove all your alloy.
"No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me," declares the LORD.
Then the LORD said to me, "Out of the north the evil will break forth on all the inhabitants of the land.
Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, And gold from Uphaz, The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith; Violet and purple are their clothing; They are all the work of skilled men.
"Can anyone smash iron, Iron from the north, or bronze?
"Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are the dross of silver. "Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because all of you have become dross, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. read more. 'As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath and I will lay you there and melt you.
"Tarshish was your customer because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth; with silver, iron, tin and lead they paid for your wares.
The shields of his mighty men are colored red, The warriors are dressed in scarlet, The chariots are enveloped in flashing steel When he is prepared to march, And the cypress spears are brandished.
His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.
Smith
Metals.
The Hebrews, in common with other ancient nations, were acquainted with nearly all the metals known to modern metallurgy, whether as the products of their own soil or the results of intercourse with foreigners. One of the earliest geographical definitions is that which describes the country of Havilah as the land which abounded in gold, and the gold of which was good.
Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold,
silver, as will be shown hereafter, being the medium of commerce, while gold existed in the shape of ornaments, during the patriarchal ages. Tin is first mentioned
and lead is used to heighten the imagery of Moses' triumphal song.
Whether the ancient Hebrews were acquainted with steel, properly so called, is uncertain; the words so rendered in the Authorized Version,
2Sa 22:35; Job 20:24; Ps 18:34; Jer 15:12
are in all others passages translated brass, and would be more correctly copper. The "northern iron" of
is believed more nearly to correspond to what we call steel [STEEL] It is supposed that the Hebrews used the mixture of copper and tin known as bronze. The Hebrews obtained their principal supply from the south of Arabia and the commerce of the Persian Gulf.
See Steel
The great abundance of gold in early times is indicated by its entering into the composition of all articles of ornament and almost all of domestic use. Among the spoils of the Midianites taken by the Israelites in their bloodless victory when Balaam was slain were earrings and jewels to the amount of 16,750 shekels of gold,
equal in value to more than $150,000. Seventeen hundred shekels of gold (worth more than $15,000) in nose jewels (Authorized Version "ear-rings") alone were taken by Gideon's army from the slaughtered Midianites.
But the amount of treasure accumulated by David from spoils taken in war is so enormous that we are tempted to conclude the numbers exaggerated. Though gold was thus common, silver appears to have been the ordinary medium of commerce. The first commercial transaction of which we possess the details was the purchase of Ephron's field by Abraham for 400 shekels of silver.
The accumulation of wealth in the reign of Solomon was so great that silver was but little esteemed.
Brass, or more properly copper, was a native product of Palestine.
De 8:9; Job 28:2
It was plentiful in the days of Solomon, and the quantity employed in the temple could not be estimated, it was so great.
No allusion is found to zinc; but tin was well known. Arms,
2Sa 21:16; Job 20:24; Ps 18:34
and armor,
were made of copper, which was capable of being so wrought as to admit of a keen and hard edge. Iron, like copper, was found in the hills of Palestine. Iron-mines are still worked by the inhabitants of Kefr Hunch, in the sought of the valley of Zaharani.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there.
Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold.
Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, commercial standard.
"You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters.
Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, approached Moses, and they said to Moses, "Your servants have taken a census of men of war who are in our charge, and no man of us is missing. read more. "So we have brought as an offering to the LORD what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD." Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all kinds of wrought articles. All the gold of the offering which they offered up to the LORD, from the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels. The men of war had taken booty, every man for himself. So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it to the tent of meeting as a memorial for the sons of Israel before the LORD.
a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it."
The weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the neck bands that were on their camels' necks.
He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was clothed with scale-armor which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze. He also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders.
Then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with armor.
Then Ishbi-benob, who was among the descendants of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, was girded with a new sword, and he intended to kill David.
"He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
Solomon left all the utensils unweighed, because they were too many; the weight of the bronze could not be ascertained.
All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None was of silver; it was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon.
The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the lowland.
"He may flee from the iron weapon, But the bronze bow will pierce him.
"He may flee from the iron weapon, But the bronze bow will pierce him.
He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
"Can anyone smash iron, Iron from the north, or bronze?
"Can anyone smash iron, Iron from the north, or bronze?