Hebrew word · H3536

כִּבְשָׁן

kivshan

kiln

A kiln or furnace: an industrial structure for firing pottery or bricks, burning lime, or smelting. It appears only four times in the Hebrew Bible.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 24, 2026

What it means

kiln (pottery or lime), smelting forge, furnace

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: A kiln or furnace: an industrial structure for firing pottery or bricks, burning lime, or smelting. It appears only four times in the Hebrew Bible.
Against the English: KJV, BSB, WEB and NASB say "furnace." ESV says "kiln" and NLT "brick kiln." "Kiln" is closer to the ancient object. To a modern ear "furnace" suggests a home heating unit or Daniel's "fiery furnace" (which is a different Aramaic word, ʾattun).
How it drifted: "Furnace" was a good general word in 1611 for any enclosed industrial fire. Today it mostly means a household boiler or carries hell imagery.
Used elsewhere in the period: In Gen 19:28 Abraham sees the smoke of Sodom rising "like the smoke of the kiln" (a different word for smoke, the same kiln). In Exod 9:8, 10, Moses throws "soot of the kiln" into the air to bring boils on Egypt. Ancient kilns and smelters (for example the copper-smelting sites in the Arabah south of the Dead Sea) produced dense, sooty, continuous columns of smoke.

Range of meaning: A kiln or furnace for industrial firing: pottery, lime or bricks, possibly smelting. It occurs four times: Gen 19:28; Exod 9:8, 10 (Moses throws 'soot of the kiln' into the air and it becomes boils on Egypt); Exod 19:18 (Sinai's smoke 'like the smoke of the kiln').
Against the English: 'Furnace' is the standard rendering and is not wrong. A modern reader may picture a household heating unit, though. The ancient picture is an open-topped industrial kiln sending up an unbroken black column of smoke.
How it drifted: In modern English, 'furnace' mostly means a home heating appliance, so the image of a kiln mouth belching smoke has faded.
Used elsewhere in the period: In the Hebrew Bible it is used only in scenes of God's direct, visible action: plague on Egypt, fire at Sinai, ruin at Sodom. The Greek translation (Septuagint) renders it kaminos. That word comes back in Rev 9:2 ('smoke like the smoke of a great furnace').

Genesis · 1

Genesis 19:28 הַכִּבְשָֽׁן׃ <the> furnace

He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw the smoke rising from the land like smoke from a furnace.

Here: An industrial kiln for firing pottery or lime, or for smelting. It gives off a constant, dense, dark column of smoke. The whole valley looks like one enormous kiln.

Exodus · 3

Exodus 9:8 כִּבְשָׁ֑ן a furnace

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the furnace; in the sight of Pharaoh, Moses is to toss it into the air.
Exodus 9:10 הַכִּבְשָׁ֗ן the furnace

So they took soot from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on man and beast.
Exodus 19:18 הַכִּבְשָׁ֔ן <the> furnace

Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the LORD had descended on it in fire. And the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.

Here: An industrial kiln (for pottery, lime or smelting) that pours out a thick, dark, steady column of smoke. It is not a house heater and not a picture of hell.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.