Hebrew word · H5154

נְחוּשָׁה

nechushah

bronze

neḥushah means copper or bronze (an alloy of copper and tin). It is a rarer, poetic form of neḥoshet. barzel means iron. As a pair, "iron and bronze" means the toughest possible material.

Appears 10 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) copper, bronze

1a) copper (made from melting copper ore)

1b) bronze (made from copper and alloy)

Aramaic equivalent: ne.chash (נְחָשׁ "bronze" H5174)

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

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 48:4

Range of meaning

neḥushah means copper or bronze (an alloy of copper and tin). It is a rarer, poetic form of neḥoshet. barzel means iron. As a pair, "iron and bronze" means the toughest possible material.

Against the English

KJV's "brass" reflects older English, where "brass" covered any copper alloy. Today brass means copper with zinc, which is not what ancient Israel made. "Bronze" (BSB, WEB) is accurate.

How it drifted

In older English "brass" was the general word for copper alloys. The narrower modern meaning came later.

Used elsewhere in the period

The pair appears in the covenant curses: "your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze" (Lev 26:19; Deut 28:23). It is also in Job 40:18 (Behemoth's bones are tubes of bronze and bars of iron), Mic 4:13 (horn of iron, hooves of bronze), and, close by, Isa 45:2, where God promises Cyrus, "I will break down the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron."

From the study of Psalm 18:34

Range of meaning

Poetic or alternative form of נְחֹשֶׁת, 'copper, bronze.' It stands for hardness and strength (Job 6:12; 40:18; Isa 48:4, 'your brow is bronze').

Against the English

KJV 'steel' is a mistranslation: the word means copper alloy. KJV and YLT 'brass' is acceptable in their English, where 'brass' covered copper alloys in general. Today it suggests the copper-zinc alloy of later times. 'Bronze' (BSB, WEB, modern versions) is right.

How it drifted

In this verse and a few others (2 Sam 22:35; Job 20:24; Jer 15:12) the KJV used 'steel' to convey 'the hardest metal' to its readers. Modern readers take it literally as a description of the material.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 20:24 also has 'a bronze bow' (qešet nĕḥûšâ) as a terrifying weapon. The Septuagint has toxon chalkoun, 'bronze bow,' and the Vulgate arcum aereum.

From the study of Job 20:24

Range of meaning

Copper or bronze. Ancient Hebrew had one word family for the reddish metal and its tin alloy. This form appears mostly in poetry (Lev 26:19; 2 Sam 22:35 / Ps 18:34; Job 28:2; 40:18; 41:27; Isa 45:2; Mic 4:13).

Against the English

KJV has "steel", YLT has "brass", and modern versions have "bronze". Only "bronze" (or "copper") is correct. Steel is a hardened iron alloy, the opposite metal from the one named. Brass is copper with zinc, which the Iron Age Levant did not deliberately make.

How it drifted

In 1611, "brass" was the general English word for copper alloys. "Steel" was the KJV translators' way of saying "the strongest bow" (they used it in Ps 18:34 too). Neither word is accurate today.

Used elsewhere in the period

Iron and bronze appear together as a pair for strength and hardness: Deut 33:25 ("your bolts iron and bronze"); Job 40:18 (Behemoth's bones "tubes of bronze ... bars of iron"); Job 41:27 ("iron as straw, bronze as rotten wood"); Isa 45:2. Excavations show that bronze arrowheads stayed common throughout the Iron Age, alongside iron ones (King & Stager).

Similar words

Where it appears

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 26:19 כַּנְּחֻשָֽׁה׃ like <the> bronze

    I will break down your stubborn pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze,

    Here: "Like bronze." This is a rarer, more poetic form of the usual word for copper or bronze. Ground like a metal plate cannot be ploughed and cannot take in water, so nothing grows.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 22:35 נְחוּשָׁ֖ה bronze

    He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

Job · 4

  1. Job 20:24 נְחוּשָֽׁה׃ bronze

    Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him.

    Here: Bronze, a copper-tin alloy, possibly plain copper. This rarer form of the word is used in poetry. Iron and bronze are the usual Hebrew pair for "hard metals", and between them they cover every kind of weapon.

  2. Job 28:2 נְחוּשָֽׁה׃ copper

    Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.

  3. Job 40:18 נְחוּשָׁ֑ה bronze

    His bones are tubes of bronze; his limbs are rods of iron.

  4. Job 41:27 נְחוּשָֽׁה׃ bronze

    He regards iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 18:34 נְ֝חוּשָׁ֗ה bronze

    He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

    Here: Poetic word for bronze (copper alloy), the standard hard metal of the age. A 'bronze bow' is a bow too stiff for an ordinary man to bend. It is not steel.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 45:2 נְחוּשָׁה֙ bronze

    “I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.

    Here: Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin. Gates of the great Mesopotamian cities were plated or banded with bronze. The word stands for the strongest defences money could buy.

  2. Isaiah 48:4 נְחוּשָֽׁה׃ [was] bronze

    For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.

    Here: "Bronze." A poetic form of the usual word neḥoshet. Together with iron it makes a standard pair meaning "unbreakable." The forehead is metal: it cannot be shamed or pierced.

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 4:13 נְחוּשָׁ֔ה bronze

    Rise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion, for I will give you horns of iron and hooves of bronze to break to pieces many peoples. Then you will devote their gain to the LORD, their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

    Here: Bronze (copper hardened with tin). Hooves that cannot crack or wear down however much they trample.

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