H5178a H5178a
Copper or bronze as raw metal and crafted material; in dual form, bronze fetters used to bind prisoners.
One of the most frequently mentioned metals in the Hebrew Bible, nechoshet spans the full range from raw copper ore (Deut 8:9) to the refined bronze used in tabernacle and temple construction. Tubal-cain is credited as the first to forge it (Gen 4:22), and Solomon's temple required enormous quantities (1 Kgs 7:14-47). The dual form nechushtayim appears exclusively for fetters — the paired shackles clamped onto prisoners like Samson (Judg 16:21) and King Zedekiah (2 Kgs 25:7). Spanish and French consistently render 'bronce,' while German distinguishes Kupfer (raw) from Bronze (worked), reflecting the same material spectrum the Hebrew covers in a single word.
1. bronze/copper as metal — The metal bronze or copper in all its applications — raw ore mined from the earth (Deut 8:9), refined material for sacred vessels and architectural overlays (Exod 26:11; 1 Kgs 7:45), and a symbol of strength or stubbornness. Cross-linguistic glosses uniformly converge on a single metallurgical term (bronce, Bronze, bronze), confirming this as the core, undifferentiated sense covering 131 of 139 occurrences. 131×
AR["النُّحَاسِ","نُحاساً","نُحاسٌ","نُحاسٍ","نُحَاسًا","نُحَاسٍ"]·ben["তামার","পিতল","পিতলের"]·DE["Bronze","in-Kupfer"]·EN["bronze"]·FR["bronze"]·heb["נחושת"]·HI["काँसा","काँसे-की","काँसे-के","काँसे-से","ताँबे-की","ताँबे-के","तांबा"]·ID["tembaga"]·IT["bronzo"]·jav["prunggu","prunggu,","prunggu.","tembaga","tembaga.","tembagi"]·KO["놋의","농","농의","놓쇠로","놓쇠의","롭","롭으로","청동"]·PT["bronze","de-bronze"]·RU["меди","медное","медной","медную","медные","медный","медными","медных","медь","медью"]·ES["bronce"]·SW["kwa-shaba","la-shaba","shaba","vya-shaba","wa-shaba","ya-shaba","za-shaba"]·TR["tunç","tunçla"]·urd["تانبے","پیتل-سے","پیتل-کا","پیتل-کی","پیتل-کے"]
Gen 4:22, Exod 26:11, Exod 26:37, Exod 27:2, Exod 27:3, Exod 27:4, Exod 27:4, Exod 27:6, Exod 27:10, Exod 27:11, Exod 27:17, Exod 27:18 (+38 more)
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
2. bronze fetters or shackles — The dual form nechushtayim designating a pair of bronze fetters or shackles used to imprison captives. All eight occurrences describe binding — Samson at Gaza (Judg 16:21), Zedekiah by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kgs 25:7), Manasseh in Assyrian captivity (2 Chr 33:11). Spanish renders 'con bronces' (with bronzes) and Hindi uses a chains-specific term, both capturing the metonymy where the material stands for the instrument of bondage. 8×
AR["إِلَى-نُحَاسٍ","بِ-النُّحَاسِ","بِالسَّلَاسِلِ","بِالنُّحَاسِ","بِالنُّحَاسِ-بِ","سِلْسِلَتِي"]·ben["-পিতলের-শিকলে","-শিকলে","আমার-শৃঙ্খল","পিতলের-শিকল-দিয়ে","পিতলের-শিকলে","পিতলের-শৃঙ্খলে-দিয়ে","শিকলে","শিকলে-"]·DE["Bronze","[נחשתי]","mit-Bronze-fetters","zu-Bronze-fetters"]·EN["my-bronze-chains","to-bronze-fetters","with-bronze-fetters","with-bronze-shackles"]·FR["avec-bronze-fetters","bronze","à-bronze-fetters"]·heb["ב-ה-נחושת","ב-נחושתיים","ל-נחושתיים","נחושתי"]·HI["जंजीरों-से","पीतल-की-बेड़ियों-से","ब-पीतल","बेड़ियों-में","में-बेड़ियों","मेरी-जंजीरों-को"]·ID["dengan-rantai-perunggu","dengan-rantai-tembaga","ke-belenggu","rantai-rantaiku"]·IT["a-bronzo-fetters","bronzo","con-bronzo-fetters"]·jav["dhateng-rantai-tembaga","ing-rante-kuningan","kaliyan-rante-tembaga","kanthi-ranté-gangsa","mawi-ranthè-tembaga","ngangge-rantai-tembaga","rante-tembaga-kawula"]·KO["그-청동-사슬들-로","내-쇠사슬-을","놋쇠에","놓쇠로","에-그-청동-사슬들로","에-놓쳐-쇠","에서-놓쇠들","청동-사슬로"]·PT["com-bronze","com-bronzes","com-grilhões-de-bronze","em-bronzes","em-cadeias-de-bronze","em-correntes","minha-cadeia","nos-bronzes"]·RU["бронзовыми-оковами","в-оковы","в-оковы-бронзовые","в-оковы-медные","оковами","оковы-мои","цепями"]·ES["a-bronces","con-bronces","con-cadenas-de-bronce","mis-cadenas"]·SW["baּnchushtaּyim","katika-pingu-za-shaba","kwa-minyororo-ya-shaba","minyororo-yangu"]·TR["-ile-bron zincirler","tunclara","ve-bağladılar-onu","zincirlerimi","zincirlerle","zincirlerle-bron"]·urd["بیڑیوں-میں","زنجیروں-سے","زنجیروں-سے-پیتل-کی","میری-زنجیر","میں-زنجیروں-پیتل-کی","پیتل-کی-زنجیروں-سے"]
Related Senses
H4325 1. water, waters (582×)H6965b 1. Qal: to rise, arise, get up (432×)H3701 1. silver (the metal) (391×)H2091 1. gold (the metal) (389×)H0068 1. stone, rock (material/object) (267×)H0216 1. light (general / metaphorical) (116×)H6083 1. dust, dry earth, soil (108×)H8313 1. burn, set fire to (94×)H2734 1. anger was kindled (82×)G5204 1. water (80×)H2822 1. darkness, absence of light (80×)H1270 1. iron (metal, tools, weapons; fig. strength/hardness) (76×)G5457 1. light (illumination) (71×)G0450 1. rise, stand up (physical) (69×)G3037 1. stone / rock (59×)H6965b 2. Qal: to stand firm, endure, be valid (50×)H6697 1. rock, cliff, crag (49×)H3001 1. be dry, wither (intransitive) (45×)H6999a 2. burn sacrifice on altar (Hifil) (45×)H5553 1. rock, cliff (physical feature) (43×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
I. נְחֹ֫שֶׁת137 n.m. 1 K 7:45 (cf. AlbrechtZAW xvi (1896), 108; f. 1 Ch 18:8) copper, bronze (NH = BH; Ph. נחשׁת; Palm. נחשא Lzb 322; Syriac ܢܚܳܫܳܐ 𝔗 נְחָשָׁא, Arabic نُحَاسٌ Ethiopic ናሕስ (so also OEth. DHMEpigr. Denkm. aus Abess. (1894), 52); WMMAs. u. Eur. 127 cites Egyptian teḥost, copper (= tenḥost), as loan-wd. from נְחשֶׁת + fem. art.);—נ׳ abs. Gn 4:22 +; cstr. Ex 38:29; sf. נְחָשְׁתִּי La…