Hebrew word · H913

בְּדִיל

bedil

tin

Tin, listed among the metals in Numbers 31:22 and as a Tarshish trade good in Ezekiel 27:12. In Ezekiel 22:18, 20 it appears in a list of the base metals in the crucible. The plural here probably means the alloys or base metals mixed into silver.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) alloy, tin, dross

1a) of Israel (metaph.)

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 1:25

Range of meaning

Tin, listed among the metals in Numbers 31:22 and as a Tarshish trade good in Ezekiel 27:12. In Ezekiel 22:18, 20 it appears in a list of the base metals in the crucible. The plural here probably means the alloys or base metals mixed into silver. It may be connected to badal, 'to separate': the part that gets separated off.

Against the English

KJV and WEB say 'tin', ESV 'alloy', BSB and NIV 'impurities'. 'Tin' is literally possible but makes modern readers think of tin cans. 'Impurities' gets the point but loses the picture of silver that has been deliberately cut with cheaper metal.

How it drifted

In 1611 'tin' was a meaningful base metal in the refining picture. Today it sounds trivial. The point is that the silver has been adulterated, made to look valuable when it is not.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezekiel 22:18–20: 'They are all bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are the dross of silver.' Numbers 31:22–23 has metals, tin included, passed through fire to be made clean. That is a purification rule where fire separates and cleanses, much as here.

From the study of Ezekiel 27:12

Range of meaning

Tin, and sometimes an alloy or the dross separated in smelting (Isa 1:25, 'I will remove all your alloy'). It is probably related to bādal, 'to separate'. It appears in metal lists such as Num 31:22 and Ezek 22:18, 20.

Against the English

'Tin' is the standard and accurate rendering. Modern readers may not realise how precious tin was. It was not cheap tin-can metal: without it there was no bronze.

Used elsewhere in the period

Num 31:22 lists 'gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin and lead' for purification by fire. Ezekiel himself uses 'bronze, tin, iron and lead in the furnace' as an image of Israel turned to dross (Ezek 22:18–20). In the Mediterranean, tin came from distant sources in the Iron Age, including the Iberian Atlantic region, and supply was a constant concern.

Where it appears

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 31:22 הַבְּדִ֖יל the tin

    Only the gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 1:25 בְּדִילָֽיִךְ׃ slag<s> your

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

    Here: Elsewhere bedil names tin as a metal (Numbers 31:22; Ezekiel 27:12). Here the plural seems to mean the base metals mixed into the silver, the cheap metal that cheapens it. The word may be connected to the root badal, 'to separate': it is what gets separated out.

Ezekiel · 3

  1. Ezekiel 22:18 וּבְדִ֨יל and tin

    “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: 'And tin', a base metal that has to be separated out from precious metal.

  2. Ezekiel 22:20 וּבְדִיל֙ and tin

    Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you.

  3. Ezekiel 27:12 בְּדִ֣יל tin

    Tarshish was your merchant because of your great wealth of goods; they exchanged silver, iron, tin, and lead for your wares.

    Here: Tin, the scarce metal that had to be alloyed with copper to make bronze. That made it strategically valuable and hard to obtain in the eastern Mediterranean.

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 4:10 הַבְּדִ֛יל <the> tin

    For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven eyes of the LORD, which scan the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”

    Here: 'The tin', placed beside 'the stone' to describe it: 'the tin stone'. Elsewhere bedil is the metal tin (Num 31:22; Ezek 27:12). Whether the object is a plumb weight, a metal-inlaid or inscribed foundation stone, or something else is debated.

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