Hebrew word · H5509

סִיג

lesug

dross

From a root meaning 'to turn away' or 'move back': what is separated or drawn off. In metalworking it is the dross or slag, the impurities (mostly base-metal oxides) that separate from precious metal in the fire and are thrown away. Used figuratively for what is worthless.

Appears 8 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) a moving back or away

2) dross (usually of silver)

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 Ezekiel 22:18

Range of meaning

From a root meaning 'to turn away' or 'move back': what is separated or drawn off. In metalworking it is the dross or slag, the impurities (mostly base-metal oxides) that separate from precious metal in the fire and are thrown away. Used figuratively for what is worthless.

Against the English

'Dross' is accurate but rare in modern English. Many readers will not know it means the scum or slag left after refining. NLT-style paraphrases ('slag', 'worthless waste') make the picture clearer.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 1:22, 'your silver has become dross' (kaspēk hāyâ lesîgîm), and 1:25, 'I will smelt away your dross'. Proverbs 25:4, 'take away the dross from the silver'. Proverbs 26:23 has the same pair of words, kesep sîgîm, often understood as a silver-like glaze over a clay pot. Psalm 119:119 says God discards the wicked 'like dross'.

From the study of Isaiah 1:25

Range of meaning

Dross: the scum, slag or base metal that separates from silver in smelting. It is worthless and gets skimmed off and thrown away. The word is used figuratively for worthless people (Psalm 119:119, 'all the wicked of the earth you discard like dross').

Against the English

'Dross' is accurate in KJV, WEB, BSB and ESV. NLT's 'slag' is also good. Translations that turn the whole verse into abstract 'impurities' lose the metalworking picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

Proverbs 25:4–5 links dross directly to government: 'Take away the dross from the silver… take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.' Isaiah 1:25–26 follows the same logic. Ezekiel 22:18–19 calls the house of Israel dross. Psalm 119:119 treats the wicked as dross.

Where it appears

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 119:119 סִגִ֗ים dross<es>

    All the wicked on earth You discard like dross; therefore I love Your testimonies.

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 25:4 סִיגִ֣ים dross<es>

    Remove the dross from the silver, and a vessel for a silversmith will come forth.

  2. Proverbs 26:23 סִ֭יגִים dross<es>

    Like glaze covering an earthen vessel are burning lips and a wicked heart.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 1:22 לְסִיגִ֑ים <into> dross<es>

    Your silver has become dross; your fine wine is diluted with water.

  2. Isaiah 1:25 סִיגָ֑יִךְ dross<es> your

    I will turn My hand against you; I will thoroughly purge your dross; I will remove all your impurities.

    Here: Dross is the scum and slag that separates from silver during smelting. The word points straight back to v. 22, 'Your silver has become dross.' What the city became, God will now melt away. The plural, 'your drosses', suggests all the worthless matter in the mix.

Ezekiel · 3

  1. Ezekiel 22:18 לְסִ֑יג סִגִ֥ים <into> dross, dross<es>

    “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of silver.

    Here: 'Into dross.' The preposition 'into' with 'become' marks a change of state. Israel has turned into the waste that is skimmed off and thrown away when metal is refined.

  2. Ezekiel 22:19 לְסִגִ֑ים <into> dross<es>

    Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem.

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