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/type/am'>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 first is named Pishon; it is the one flowing around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
Zillah bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all [cutting] instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
Now Abram was extremely rich in livestock and in silver and in gold.
He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male throughout your generations, whether born in [your] house or bought with [your] money from any foreigner not of your offspring.
And to Sarah he said, Behold, I have given this brother of yours a thousand pieces of silver; see, it is to compensate you [for all that has occurred] and to vindicate your honor before all who are with you; before all men you are cleared and compensated.
So Abraham listened to what Ephron said and acted upon it. He weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: 400 shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.
A land in which you shall eat food without shortage and lack nothing in it; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
Ishbi-benob, who was of the sons of the giants, the weight of whose spear was 300 shekels of bronze, was girded with a new sword, and thought to kill David.
And Hiram sent with the fleet his servants, shipmen who had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. They came to Ophir and got 420 talents of gold and brought it to King Solomon.
She came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels bearing spices, very much gold, and precious stones. When she had come to Solomon, she communed with him about all that was in her mind.
And she gave the king 120 talents of gold and of spices a very great store and precious stones. Never again came such abundance of spices as these the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.
So David gave to Ornan for the site 600 shekels of gold by weight.
And in any place where a survivor [of the Babylonian captivity of the Jews] sojourns, let the men of that place assist him with silver and gold, with goods and beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.
He will flee from the iron weapon, but the bow of bronze shall strike him through.
He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
And I will bring My hand again upon you and thoroughly purge away your dross [as with lye] and take away all your tin or alloy.
But no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong. This [peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord [those in whom the ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced]; this is the righteousness or the vindication which they obtain from Me [this is that which I impart to them as their justification], says the Lord.
Then the Lord said to me, Out of the north the evil [which the prophets had foretold as the result of national sin] shall disclose itself and break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
Silver beaten [into plates] is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; the [idols'] clothing is violet and purple -- "they are all the work of skillful men.
Can iron break the iron from the north and the bronze?
Son of man, the house of Israel has become to Me scum and waste matter. All of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become scum and waste matter, behold therefore, I will gather you [O Israel] into the midst of Jerusalem. read more. As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it in order to melt it, so will I gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will put you in and melt you.
Tarshish [in Spain] carried on traffic with you because of the abundance of your riches of all kinds; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they traded for your wares.
The shields of the mighty men [of Media and Babylon] are [dyed] red; the valiant men are [clothed] in dyed scarlet. The chariots blaze with fire of steel on the day of his preparation [for battle], and the officers' horses prance like a cypress forest [reeling in the wind].
His feet glowed like burnished (bright) bronze as it is refined 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 first is named Pishon; it is the one flowing around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is of high quality; bdellium (pearl?) and onyx stone are there.
Now Abram was extremely rich in livestock and in silver and in gold.
So Abraham listened to what Ephron said and acted upon it. He weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: 400 shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.
You [Lord] blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; [clad in mail] they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
And the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, came to Moses. They told [him], Your servants have counted the warriors under our command, and not one man of us is missing. read more. We have brought as the Lord's offering what each man obtained -- "articles of gold, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, neck ornaments -- "to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord. Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all the wrought articles. And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the Lord from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds was 16,750 shekels. For the men of war had taken booty, every man for himself. And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord.
A land in which you shall eat food without shortage and lack nothing in it; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
When I saw among the spoils an attractive mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.
And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescents and pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and the chains that were about their camels' necks.
And he had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of mail, and the coat weighed 5,000 shekels of bronze. He had bronze shin armor on his legs and a bronze javelin across his shoulders.
Then Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail.
Ishbi-benob, who was of the sons of the giants, the weight of whose spear was 300 shekels of bronze, was girded with a new sword, and thought to kill David.
He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were so many; the weight of the bronze was not found out.
All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.
The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as plentiful as the sycamore trees in the lowlands.
He will flee from the iron weapon, but the bow of bronze shall strike him through.
He will flee from the iron weapon, but the bow of bronze shall strike him through.
Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the stone ore.
He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
Can iron break the iron from the north and the bronze?
Can iron break the iron from the north and the bronze?