נְחֹ֫שֶׁת

From the study of Exodus 27:19

Range of meaning

Copper, and also bronze, the alloy of copper with tin (sometimes arsenic). Hebrew has one word for both. It can also mean things made of the metal, such as fetters (Judg 16:21) or a mirror.

Against the English

KJV 'brass'; modern versions 'bronze'. Brass in the modern sense is copper alloyed with zinc, which was not in common use in Iron Age Israel. In 1611 English, 'brass' was a loose word for copper alloys in general.

How it drifted

In English, 'brass' narrowed to mean copper-zinc alloy, so the KJV word now names a different metal from the one meant.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint renders it chalkos ('copper/bronze'). Copper was mined and smelted in the Arabah at Timna and Faynan from the late Bronze Age into the Iron Age. At Timna, archaeologists found a small shrine with a cloth covering and a copper serpent.

From the study of 2 Chronicles 33:11

Range of meaning

Nǝḥōšet means 'copper' or 'bronze', and by extension things made of it. The dual (pair) form nǝḥuštayim means 'a pair of bronze [fetters]': a two-cuff shackle, usually on the ankles.

Against the English

KJV and WEB 'fetters' leave out the bronze, which is lost in English. ESV/NASB 'chains of bronze' or 'bronze chains' and BSB/NIV 'bronze shackles' keep it. 'Shackles' or 'fetters' is closer to the paired form than 'chains'.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same form is used for blinded Samson (Judg 16:21), for Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, led to Babylon (2 Kgs 25:7; Jer 39:7; 52:11), and for Jehoiakim (2 Chr 36:6). Later Jewish legend (Targum to Chronicles; Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin 10) built on the 'bronze': it tells of Manasseh shut inside a heated bronze image, where he cried to his idols in vain and then to God.

From the study of Exodus 35:5

Range of meaning

Copper, or a copper alloy (chiefly bronze, copper with tin). It could also mean things made of it, such as fetters or bronze objects. Context decides which. Copper was mined and smelted in the Wadi Arabah (Timna, Faynan) in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages.

Against the English

The KJV's 'brass' was a broad word in 1611 that covered copper alloys generally. Modern readers hear brass as copper-zinc alloy, the material of doorknobs and trumpets, which was not in common use in Israel's world. 'Bronze' (BSB, WEB, ESV, NIV) or 'copper' is better.

How it drifted

English 'brass' later narrowed to mean copper-zinc alloy specifically, while the KJV wording stayed the same.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used for the tabernacle's outer altar, its grating and utensils, the basin, and the courtyard sockets and pegs (Exod 27; 38). Also the bronze serpent (Num 21:9) and Solomon's bronze works (1 Kgs 7).