Aramaic word · H5174

נְחָשׁ

nechash

bronze

Copper and its tin alloy, bronze. Ancient languages did not keep separate words for copper and bronze. It is used for the dream statue's belly and thighs (2:32, 35, 39, 45), the bands on the tree stump (4:15, 23), and the fourth beast's bronze claws (7:19).

A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?

Appears 9 times in 9 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

copper, bronze

Aramaic of ne.chu.shah (נְחוּשָׁה "bronze" H5154)

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 Daniel 5:4

Range of meaning

Copper and its tin alloy, bronze. Ancient languages did not keep separate words for copper and bronze. It is used for the dream statue's belly and thighs (2:32, 35, 39, 45), the bands on the tree stump (4:15, 23), and the fourth beast's bronze claws (7:19).

Against the English

KJV and YLT have 'brass'. Today brass means a copper-zinc alloy, which was not deliberately made in this period. Modern versions rightly say 'bronze'.

How it drifted

In 1611 'brass' was a general word for copper alloys, bronze included. The word later narrowed to copper-zinc alloy, so the KJV now reads as an anachronism.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Hebrew relative neḥōshet is used for the temple's bronze sea and pillars (1 Kgs 7). Daniel's statue lists metals in falling value, a pattern also found in Hesiod's ages of gold, silver, bronze and iron (Works and Days 109–201) and in Persian Zoroastrian traditions.

Where it appears

Daniel · 9
  1. Daniel 2:32 נְחָֽשׁ׃ bronze

    The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze,

  2. Daniel 2:35 נְחָשָׁ֜א bronze the

    Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were shattered and became like chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that had struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

    Here: The bronze of the belly and thighs (v.32), the third kingdom (v.39). It is copper or a copper-tin alloy, not modern brass.

  3. Daniel 2:39 נְחָשָׁ֔א bronze the

    But after you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule the whole earth.

  4. Daniel 2:45 נְחָשָׁ֤א bronze the

    And just as you saw a stone being cut out of the mountain without human hands, and it shattered the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, so the great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

    Here: "The bronze," the third kingdom (2:39). This is copper or a copper-tin alloy, not modern brass.

  5. Daniel 4:15 וּנְחָ֔שׁ and bronze

    But leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth.

    Here: Copper or its tin alloy, bronze. Paired with iron it makes a picture of an unbreakable binding.

  6. Daniel 4:23 וּנְחָ֔שׁ and bronze

    And you, O king, saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying: ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and graze with the beasts of the field till seven times pass him by.’

    Here: 'And bronze': copper or its tin alloy. Iron with bronze is a stock pairing for something strong and lasting.

  7. Daniel 5:4 נְחָשָׁ֥א <the> bronze

    As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

    Here: 'The bronze.' This is copper or its tin alloy, bronze. It is third in the list, as in the dream statue's belly and thighs (2:32).

  8. Daniel 5:23 נְחָשָׁ֨א <the> bronze

    Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.

    Here: 'The bronze.' KJV's 'brass' is an older English word for this metal.

  9. Daniel 7:19 נְחָ֔שׁ bronze

    Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others—extremely terrifying—devouring and crushing with iron teeth and bronze claws, then trampling underfoot whatever was left.

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