Copper , hence, something made of that metal, i.e. coin , a fetter ; figuratively, base (as compared with gold or silver)
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H5178 names copper or bronze and, by extension, objects made from that metal, including vessels, weapons, bars, armor, and shackles. 3, bronze is among the materials Israel may offer for the sanctuary, placing created wealth and skilled work in service to worship.
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Full entry for נְחֹשֶׁת (H5178) · Open the biblical lexicon
H5178 names copper or bronze and, by extension, objects made from that metal, including vessels, weapons, bars, armor, and shackles. 3, bronze is among the materials Israel may offer for the sanctuary, placing created wealth and skilled work in service to worship.
The BSB source-word alignment has 140 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include bronze (31), of bronze (22), the bronze (22), and bronze (12), a bronze (6).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 4:22. Its strongest book concentrations include Exodus (39), 2 Chronicles (14), Jeremiah (14), 1 Kings (13).
H5178 names copper or bronze and, by extension, objects made from that metal, including vessels, weapons, bars, armor, and shackles. In Exod. 25. 3, bronze is among the materials Israel may offer for the sanctuary, placing created wealth and skilled work in service to worship. In Deut. 8. 9, copper in the promised land's hills belongs to God's abundant provision and to Israel's warning against proud self-sufficiency.
In Judg. 16. 21, Samson is bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind after the Philistines seize him. H5178 opens teaching on material stewardship, craftsmanship, strength, and captivity. It does not make bronze inherently holy or corrupt, promise mineral wealth to believers, or turn every polished-metal image into a coded description of divine nature.
H5178 ranges from raw copper and bronze to sanctuary furnishings, instruments, defensive works, armor, chains, and poetic comparisons. The material's durability and shine support images, but most occurrences describe concrete objects.
This is the offering you are to accept from them: gold, silver, and bronze;
Bronze is listed with gold and silver among materials the Israelites may freely contribute for the sanctuary.
A land where you will eat food without scarcity, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and whose hills are ready to be mined for copper.
The promised land contains iron in its rocks and copper in its hills, a gift that accompanies the warning not to forget the Lord in prosperity.
Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison.
The Philistines blind Samson, bind him with bronze shackles, and force him to grind in prison after his strength is compromised.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Copper's material inferiority makes it symbolize baseness, degradation, or bondage when used figuratively.
Copper's material inferiority makes it symbolize baseness, degradation, or bondage when used figuratively.
copper, hence, something made of that metal, i.e. coin, a fetter; figuratively, base (as compared with gold or silver) BDB: copper Usage: brasen, brass, chain, copper, fetter (of brass), filthiness, steel.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 140 lexical occurrence verses.
נְחֹשֶׁת is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
H5178 shows that material strength has no independent moral direction. Bronze can become an altar, basin, cymbal, gate, helmet, idol, or shackle. Exodus welcomes it as a freely offered material shaped for sanctuary service, honoring both creation and craftsmanship. Deuteronomy names copper-bearing hills as covenant provision but immediately guards Israel against saying its own power produced wealth.
Judges places the same durable metal around Samson's feet as an instrument of humiliation and forced labor. The issue is never a mystical property in bronze. It is the purpose, authority, and worship governing its use. Faithful communities can value mining, craft, music, architecture, and technology while asking whether their material practices honor God and neighbors.
They must also notice when impressive strength becomes coercion. Biblical metal imagery may communicate endurance or brilliance, but it should remain tied to the passage rather than turned into a universal code. Created matter is gift and responsibility under the Creator.
Exod.25.3
H5178 is a Hebrew noun for copper or bronze and can stand metonymically for articles made from it. Object nouns, construct phrases, and comparisons clarify whether the text refers to raw material, a furnishing, armor, bars, chains, or visual brilliance.
New Testament visions sometimes compare feet or other features to refined bronze, while sanctuary and judgment imagery inherit Israel's material world. Those comparisons convey contextual qualities without establishing a periodic table of fixed spiritual meanings.