Bottle – Breach Of Trust

Bottle

bot'-'-l (chemeth, no'-dh, nebhel, baqbuq, 'obh; askos): The most literal rendering of all the words for bottle in English Versions of the Bible is "skin," or "wine-skin," the Revised Version (British and American). The primitive bottle among eastern peoples was really a bag made from skins, tanned or untanned, of kid, goat, cow, camel or buffalo--in most cases drawn off of the animal entire, after the legs and head were cut off, and, when filled, grotesquely retaining the shape of the animal. The skins in common use today, as in ancient times no doubt, for holding water milk, butter and cheese, have the hair left on and are far from cleanly-looking. Those used for wine and oil are tanned by means of oak bark and seasoning in smoke, a process that gives a peculiar astringency of flavor to the wine kept in them, and gave rise to the parable of Jesus about putting new wine into old wine-skins (Matthew 9:17; Mark 2:22; Luke 5:37). The fact that the leather underwent distension once and only once under fermentation, and the further fact that the wine-skins became dried and liable to crack from the smoke and dry heat of the tents and houses, gave point to the parable: "No man putteth new wine into old wine-skins; else the wine will burst the skins, and the wine perisheth, and the skins: but they put new wine into fresh wine-skins." All such "bottles" today are liable to crack and become worthless.

Pliny Fisk used fresh goat-skins to carry water, but he says this gave the water a reddish color and an exceedingly loathsome taste. Harmer tells of carrying liquids in smoked skin-bottles, which when rent "were mended by putting in a new piece, or by gathering up the piece, or by inserting a flat bit of wood." Burckhardt says he saw Arabs keeping water for their horses on journeys in "large bags made of tanned camel-skin." They would sew the skins up well on four sides, but would leave two openings, one to admit the air, one to let out the water. Two such bags made a good load for a camel. Edwin Wilbur Rice says the leather or skin-bottles are of different sizes and kinds, usually made from the skin of the goat, rarely ever from that of the sheep, as it is not considered strong enough. But sometimes they are made from the skin of the camel, or the ox, which is then prepared by tanning. When leather bags are sewed up the joinings are smeared with grease, as the skin-bottles of all sorts are, as they grow older, lest the water, or other liquid, ooze through.

Such bottles, being more portable and less breakable than earthenware, were peculiarly well suited to the use of primitive and nomad peoples, as they are to the roving Bedouin of today. The mention of them, however, in such various accounts and connections as those for instance of the story of Hagar (Genesis 21:19), of the Gibeonites (Joshua 9:4), and of David (1 Samuel 25:18) shows that they were in common use among ancient Orientals, pastoral and peasant alike. Tourists still find that they are admirably suited to travelers in waterless districts, or districts where the water is brackish and bad. One of the characteristic figures even in oriental centers like Damascus today is the waterman who sells from his dripping goat- skin water cooled with the snow of Hermon, flavored with lemon, rose, or licorice, temptingly offered up and down the streets by his clapping his brass cups and crying in the most pleading but pleasing tones, "Drink, drink, thirsty. one" (compare Isaiah 55:1). But, as Dr. Mackie, of Beirut, says, "While the bottle is thus highly prized, and the water thus kept in it is a grateful necessity, the luxury of the East belongs to the spring itself, to the draught from the fountain of living waters." Hence, the comparison Jesus made at Jacob's well (John 4:14), and the one blessed terminus of all, the Shepherd's leading (Revelation 7:17). See HDB, under the word.

Of course in the settled life of the Orient water, milk, wine and other liquids are often kept in earthen jars or other receptacles. For such "bottles" see PITCHER; VESSEL. Glass bottles are not mentioned in the Bible; but those now found in tombs, for keeping perfume in, may have been known in Old Testament times.

Figurative:

(1) For the clouds (Job 38:37).

(2) For intoxication, through which, because of their headstrong continuance in sin, Israel shall be helpless to resist the enemy's attack (Jeremiah 13:12).

(3) For sorrow: "Put thou my tears into thy bottle" (Psalms 56:8). "The Psalmist's sorrows were so many that they would need a great wine-skin to hold them all. There is no allusion to the little lachrymatories of fashionable and fanciful Romans: it is a robuster metaphor by far; such floods of tears had the Psalmist wept that a leathern bottle would scarce hold them" (Treasury of David, III, 39). "God treasures His servants' tears as if they were water or wine." Bernard says, "The tears of penitents are the wine of angels" (Dummelow's Comm., 351).

George B. Eager

Bottom

bot'-um: Rendered by several Hebrew words:

(1) sheresh, "root"; Chaldaic, shoresh (Job 36:30, "the bottom of the sea").

(2) qarqa', "soil," "pavement of tesserae" (Amos 9:3).

(3) qetsebh, "cutting," "chop," "extremity" (Jonah 2:6, "the bottoms of the mountains").

(4) rephidhah, "railing," "couch" (Song of Songs 3:10, "the bottom thereof of gold").

(5) cheq, "bosom," "lap" (Ezekiel 43:13,Ezekiel 43:14,Ezekiel 43:17, the Revised Version, margin "hollow").

(6) metsullah, "to be dark," "shadowy place," from primitive root tsalal, "to tumble down," i.e. "settle"; hence, the idea of a valley ("the myrtle-trees that were in the bottom," Zechariah 1:8 the Revised Version, margin "shady place"). The prophet may have been wont to frequent the myrtle grove in the glen or bottoms, in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, for meditation and prayer (BTP, II, 283).

M. O. Evans

Bottomless, Pit

bot'-um-les, (to phrear tes abussou, "the pit of the abyss," Revelation 9:1,Revelation 9:2 the King James Version): In the Revised Version (British and American), he abussos (always an adjective in classical authors = "bottomless") is uniformly rendered "the ABYSS" (which see) (Luke 8:31; Romans 10:7; Revelation 9:11; Revelation 11:7; Revelation 17:8; Revelation 20:1,Revelation 20:3).

Bough

bou.

See BRANCH.

Bought (1)

bout (tawekh, "bisection," "middle"): The best part of a sling that contains the stone, "in the midst of the bought of a sling" (1 Samuel 25:29 King James Version, margin, the King James Version "out of the middle," the Revised Version (British and American) "from the hollow").

Bought (2)

bot (adj. and vb.).

See BUYING.

Bound

See BIND.

Bounds

boundz: gabhal = "to twist" (as a rope), "to make an enclosure" (as by a line) occurs in Exodus 19:12,Exodus 19:23; Psalms 104:9; gebhul = "a cord," hence, "a boundary," "territory" (Exodus 23:31 the King James Version), with its feminine form gebhulah (Deuteronomy 32:8; Isaiah 10:13); choq = "enactment," "appointment" (of time, space, quantity, labor, or usage), hence, "commandment," "decree," "ordinance" (Job 14:5; Job 26:10 the King James Version); in the Greek, horothesia, in the sense of "a limit," "boundary line," occurs in Acts 17:26.

Bountifulness; Bounty

boun'-ti-fool-nes, boun'-ti (haplotes, "singleness," "benevolence," 2 Corinthians 9:11 the King James Version; Tobh, "to be good" (Proverbs 22:9); eulogia, "good speech," "blessing" (2 Corinthians 9:6); gamal, "to treat well" (Psalms 119:17); shoa`, "to be liberal" (Isaiah 32:5); yadh, "hand," "power"): Paul speaks of the church at Corinth "being enriched in everything unto all liberality" (the King James Version "bountifulness," 2 Corinthians 9:11). The offering of the church at Corinth for the Christians of Judea is termed a "bounty," a blessing, liberally given: "and not of extortion" (the King James Version "of covetousness," 2 Corinthians 9:5,2 Corinthians 9:6). The word occurs also in 1 Kings 10:13: "Besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty," literally "according to the hand of King Solomon."

L. Kaiser

Bow

bo.

See ARCHERY.

Bow, In The Cloud

bo: Reference to the promise made to Noah (Genesis 9:13) preserved in the Constellation figures.

See ASTRONOMY, sec. II, 4.

Bow; Bowing

bou, bou'-ing.

See ADORATION; ATTITUDES.

Bowels

bou'-elz (me`ah, plural me`im, rechem, plural rachamim; splagchnion):

(1) Literal: The literal meaning of these words is intestines, then the abdomen, the womb (matrix and uterus). As will be seen there is not much definiteness in the use of these expressions from the standpoint of physiology; but not less so than in modern oriental languages and even in many occidental languages, as popularly used. The remarkable phrases used in 2 Chronicles 21:18,2 Chronicles 21:19, "Yahweh smote him in his bowels" and "His bowels fell out by reason of his sickness," refer to a severe and fatal case of hemorrh oids.

(2) Figurative: In figurative language these words denote deep emotions of various kinds. As in physiology we speak of the "nervus sympathicus," the ancients expressed by these terms "affection," "sympathy" and "mercy," feelings of distress and sorrow, as in Job 30:27 the King James Version; Lamentations 1:20 the King James Version; Lamentations 2:11 the King James Version. In one passage we have to translate me`im by "heart," being the seat of affection and devotion (Psalms 71:6): "Thy law is within my heart" (Psalms 40:8). In the New Testament (Revised Version) the word is only given in Acts 1:18.

H. L. E. Luering

Bowing

bou'-ing (naTah, "to incline," "bulge"): The Psalmist's assailants expected that he would be "like a leaning (the King James Version "bowing") wall" (Psalms 62:3) before their united attack, as when an ill-built, bulging wall gives way under a sudden and heavy fall of rain (compare Ezekiel 13:11; Ezekiel 38:22).

Bowl

bol:

(1) The primitive Hebrews, like the wandering Bedouin of today, probably used bowls of wood, as less breakable than earthenware. Some hollow dish of the sort would be indispensable, even in the lowest stage of nomad life, to receive the milk of the flock, and as the common dish in which to serve the family meal. We have abundant proof, however, that vessels of earthenware of various sorts were in use by the settled peoples of Canaan in the earliest times. Many interesting specimens, characteristic of different peoples and ages, have been found by excavators of the PEF, especially recently by Flinders Petrie and Fred. Bliss at Tell el-Hesy (see Tell el-Hesy (Lachish), by Petrie, and A Mound of Many Cities, by Bliss) and by Macalister and others at Gezer, Taanach, Megiddo, etc. (see PEFS).

It was probably in some such dish--"a bowl fit for lords" (English Versions, "a lordly dish")--that Jael offered. Sisera a draught of sour milk (Judges 5:25; compare Arabic leben), and the bowl into which Gideon wrung the water from his fleece (Judges 6:38) is denoted by the same word (cephel; Septuagint lekane), though this may have been of earthenware instead of wood. Certainly the cephel was a dish of goodly size.

(2) Another word rendered sometimes "bowl" and sometimes "basin" is mizraq. It is used of the large silver bowls presented by "the princes of the congregation" (Numbers 7:13 f). See BASIN. It is also applied by Amos 6:6 to the costly bowls used by the nobles of Samaria in their debaucheries.

(3) A still larger bowl is mentioned by Jeremiah 35:5, the King James Version "pot" (gabhia`). This same word is used of Joseph's cup (Genesis 44:2 f): "Put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth." As used at banquets it corresponds to the crater, from which the drinking cups (kocoth) were replenished. The material seems to have been uniformly silver. But see (4).

(4) Bowl is used in the King James Version to translation gabhia`, "the bowls made like almonds" (Exodus 25:33 the King James Version), as applied to the "cups" (Revised Version), or calyxes, used to ornament the golden candlestick (see TABERNACLE). It seems to have been an elastic term.

(5) The bowl of Zechariah 4:3 (gullah, found also in 5:2 correct text), is represented as the receptacle for oil in the candlestick of the prophet's vision. It is likewise used of "the lamp of life" (Ecclesiastes 12:6) and to designate the bowl- shaped capitals of Jachin and Boaz (1 Kings 7:41,1 Kings 7:42; 2 Chronicles 4:12,2 Chronicles 4:13).

(6) Bowl is found in Isaiah 51:17,Isaiah 51:22 the Revised Version (British and American), "bowl of the cup" (the King James Version "dregs of the cup"). Some think the second word here (qubba`ath koc) is a gloss to explain the unusual preceding word.

(7) In Re where the King James Version has "vial" (phiale) the Revised Version (British and American) has "bowl."

See BASIN.

George B. Eager

Bowman

bo'-man: Israel seems not to have been equal to the surrounding peoples in the use of the bow. The battle of Gilboa was clearly lost through the superior skill of the Philistine bowmen. This seems to have moved David to encourage archery practice in Judah (2 Samuel 1:18; compare Driver in the place cited.). It is thought probable that the revival of Israel's military power under Jeroboam, son of Joash, was due to improvement in archery. Hosea, a contemporary, speaks of the bow as the national weapon of Israel (2 Samuel 1:5,2 Samuel 1:7) . The most skilled bowmen of antiquity were the Assyrians (compare Isaiah 5:28; Isaiah 37:33). From Assyrian reliefs it seems that it was their practice to overwhelm their enemies with the bow, and to use sword and spear only when the foe had been demoralized and put to flight.

See ARCHERY.

George B. Eager

Bowshot

bo'-shot: Found only in Genesis 21:16 in the account of Hagar and her child: "And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot," literally "stretchings of a bow," a typical oriental way of indicating distance.

Box

The passages in which this word occurs are 2 Kings 9:1,2 Kings 9:3 (Hebrew pakh, "cruet," "flask," the Revised Version (British and American) vial) and the synoptic passages Matthew 26:7 the King James Version; Mark 14:3 the King James Version; Luke 7:37 the King James Version (Greek alabastron). "Perfume-boxes" are mentioned in Isaiah 3:20; in the New Testament passages the Revised Version (British and American) renders "alabaster cruse." "Alabaster" was a white stone much used in ornamentation; and out of it small vessels we re made for holding precious ointment. "She brake the cruse" (Mark 14:3), i.e. the seal, not the vessel.

In Isaiah 41:19 and Isaiah 60:13, "box" is found in connection with "tree," as "box-tree" (which see).

Box-Tree

box'-tre (te'ashshur; Isaiah 41:19; Isaiah 60:13, "boxwood" Ezekiel 27:6): A tree of uncertain identity, which must once have been common in the forests of Lebanon. According to Post (HDB, I, 313), "The only species of box found in Bible lands is Buxus longifolia, which is a shrub from 2 to 3 ft. high. It does not grow South of Mt. Cassius and it is unlikely that it did in historical times."

As an alternative to the box the cypress, Cupressus sempervirens--known in Arabic as Sherbin--has been suggested. It is a fine tree and was probably once plentiful, but as it seems to answer to the berosh (see FIR), it cannot well be the te'ashshur. There is nothing certain to go upon.

E. W. G. Masterman

Boxing

See GAMES.

Boy

(yeledh, "child," na`ar, "lad," "youth"; ho pais and he pais): Refers to a child of any age, and is sometimes used of either sex: Joel 3:3; Zechariah 8:5; Matthew 17:18; Luke 2:43; Luke 8:51,Luke 8:54 fem.; Luke 9:42. In the East the word applies also to an adult who is a servant (Matthew 8:6 the Revised Version, margin). The boy occupied a place of special importance in the family life of all ancient people. In Syria the father even was called by the name of his son. He was known as the father of Joseph, or whatever the n ame might be. As is true among all oriental people, while the father had absolute control in his case as well as in the case of the rest of the household, yet the boy received a consideration and advantages not accorded to the daughter. In the Jewish family his religious life began at the fourth year. He was expected to learn the Scriptures at five, the Mishna at ten, and to fulfill the whole law at thirteen. At twelve years he was expected to learn a trade, and attained to something of independence at that age, though he did not come into full rights as a citizen until he was twenty. Among many nations there was special rejoicing at the birth of the boy, and sometimes a feast. One of the most ancient customs was the planting of a cedar tree on this occasion.

See CHILD; FAMILY; SON.

Jacob W. Kapp

Bozcath

boz'-kath (botsqath).

See BOZKATH.

Bozez

bo'-zez (botsets; Bazes, probably from an obsolete root batsats, corresponding to the Arabic batstsa, "to shine" or "to ooze"): The name of the northern of the two cliffs that stand one on each side of the gorge of Michmash (1 Samuel 14:4). It catches the sun during most of the day, while the southern cliff is in the shade. To this circumstance it may owe its name, "shining." "The contrast is surprising and picturesque between the dark coal color of the south side, and the ruddy or tawny tints of the northern cliff, crowned with the gleaming white of the upper chalky strata. The picture is unchanged since the day when Jonathan looked over to the white camping ground of the Philistines, and Bozez must have then shone as brightly as it does now, in the full light of an eastern sun" (Conder, Tent Work, 256).

W. Ewing

Bozkath

boz'-kath (botsqath, "stony"; Septuagint Basedoth): A town in the Shephelah of Judah named between Lachish and Eglon (Joshua 15:39). It was the birthplace of Adaiah the mother of King Josiah (2 Kings 22:1; the King James Version "Boscath"). The site is not identified.

Bozrah

boz'-ra (botsrah, "sheepfold"; Bosorrha, Bosor):

(1) The capital of Edom, a city of great antiquity (Genesis 36:33; 1 Chronicles 1:44; Isaiah 34:6; Isaiah 63:1; Jeremiah 49:13; Amos 1:12). It may be identical with Buceirah, which lies about 7 miles Southwest of Tufileh, on the main road to Petra.

(2) A city in Moab mentioned in Jeremiah 48:24. It is probably identical with Bezer, the city of refuge. It may be represented today by Qusur Bashair, which towers lie some 15 miles Southeast of Dibon. In this case Beth-gamul would be identical with Jemail, 8 miles East of Dibon, and Beth-meon with Ma`in, Southwest of Medebah.

W. Ewing

Bracelet

bras'-let ('ets`adhah, chach, tsamidh, pathil, sheroth): Used to translate a number of Hebrew words, only one of which means a band for the arm ('ets`adhah), as in 2 Samuel 1:10, "the bracelet that was on his arm." In Exodus 35:22, where both men and women are said to have brought as offerings among other "jewels of gold" "bracelets" (the Revised Version (British and American) "brooches"), another word (chach) is used, meaning most likely nose-rings (see RING). The bracelet asked of Judah by Tamar as a pledge ("Thy signet, and thy b., and thy staff that is in thy hand," Genesis 38:18,Genesis 38:25 the King James Version) was probably the cord of softly-twisted wool for the shepherd's headdress (pathil; the Revised Version (British and American) "cord"). The bracelets ("two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold") which Abraham's servant gave to Rebekah stand for still another word (tsamidh). These "bracelets" are always spoken of as "bracelets for the hands," or as "put upon the hands" (Genesis 24:47, compare Ezekiel 16:11; Ezekiel 23:42). Isaiah, predicting the day when Yahweh will smite the haughty daughters of Zion, who "walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet," says, "In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets .... the bracelets" (Ezekiel 3:19, sheroth) etc., where some translate "twisted ornaments," leaving it uncertain as to just what is specifically meantú In 2 Samuel 1:10 the bracelet appears with the crown as one of the royal insignia. In 2 Kings 11:12, according to Wellhausen, W. R. Smith (OTJC2, 311n.) and oth ers, we should read, "Then he brought out the king's son, and put the crown upon him and gave him bracelets" ... for "testimony" ... See DB.

Today, as of old, the bracelet is multiform and a favorite ornament in the East. It is made of gold, silver, copper, brass, glass and even enameled earthenware, and in many designs: flat band, plain ring, interlinked rings, as well as of twisted wires, connected squares, solid or perforated, with or without pendants (Mackie).

When owned by women, bracelets had the special the commendation, along with other jewelry, of being inalienable--not to be taken by the husband in case of divorce, nor seized and sold for his debts. "Even now," says Rice (Orientalisms, etc., 41), "in Moslem lands a woman may be divorced without legal process, at the freak of her husband, but she can carry away undisputed any amount of gold, silver, jewels, precious stones, or apparel that she has loaded on her person; so she usually wears all her treasures on her person, not knowing when the fateful word may be spoken."

George B. Eager

Brag

(megalaucheo, "proud brags"): Occurs only in the Apocrypha (2 Macc 15:32), not being sufficiently dignified to be given a place in the canonical Scriptures by the King James translators (compare Judith 16:5).

Braided; Braiding

brad'-ed, brad'-ing (to plegama, "that which is plaited," 1 Timothy 2:9; he emploke, "a plaiting," 1 Peter 3:3): Used with reference to Christian women in two passages where the apostles emphasized the superiority of good works and spiritual grace over outward adornment.

See EMBROIDERY.

Bramble

bram'-b'-l.

See THORNS.

Bran

(ta pitura): The women of Babylon are described as burning "bran for incense" in their unchaste idolatrous worship (Baruch 6:43).

Branch ;bough

bransh: Represented by very many words in the Hebrew.

(1) zemorah used especially of a vine branch. The spies "cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes" (Numbers 13:23). See also Ezekiel 15:2; Nahum 2:2. "They put the branch to their nose" (Ezekiel 8:17), refers to some unknown idolatrous practice, as does also Isaiah 17:10, "thou plantest pleasant plants, and settest it with strange slips," or "vine slips of a strange (god)" the Revised Version, margin.

(2) yoneqeth, literally "a sucker." "The tender branch thereof will not cease" (Job 14:7). Used figuratively of Israel, Psalms 80:11 (the Revised Version (British and American) "shoots"); Ezekiel 17:22 the King James Version; Hosea 14:6, and of the wicked, Job 8:16 (the Revised Version (British and American) "shoots"), 15:30.

(3) kippah, Job 15:32. Isaiah 9:14; Isaiah 19:15, the Revised Version (British and American) has "palm-branch," "Therefore Yahweh will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day" (9:14).

(4) netser (of the same Hebrew root, according to many commentators, as Nazareth), literally "a little shoot springing from the root" ("out of a shoot from her roots," Daniel 11:7), which may be planted out to grow (Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 60:21), or may be rooted out and thrown away (Isaiah 14:19).

(5) tsemach. The "branch" of Messianic prophecy. See PROPHECY. "In that day shall the branch (m "shoot" or "sprout") of Yahweh be beautiful and glorious" (Isaiah 4:2); "a shoot out of the stock of Jesse" (Isaiah 11:1); "a righteous branch" (Jeremiah 23:5; Jeremiah 33:15): "my servant the Branch" (Zechariah 3:8); "the man whose name is the Branch" (Zechariah 6:12).

(6) qanah, is used for the "branches" of the golden candlesticks (Exodus 25:32; Exodus 37:18 ff). Literally, qanah means a "reed." There are a number of words, less frequently used, meaning "branch":

(7) baddim (plural only used; Ezekiel 17:6; Ezekiel 19:14).

(8) dalith (plural only used; Jeremiah 11:16).

(9) maTTeh (Ezekiel 19:11).

(10) ca`iph (Isaiah 18:5; ce`appah (plural) (Ezekiel 31:6); car`appah (Ezekiel 31:5)).

(11) `anaph (Malachi 4:1; Psalms 80:11); `anaph (Daniel 4:14,Daniel 4:21); `eneph (Ezekiel 36:8).

(12) pu'rah, "a bough" (Isaiah 10:33); po'roth (pl. only) (Ezekiel 31:5,Ezekiel 31:8).

(13) tsammereth, "foliage" or "boughs of trees," literally "locks" or "fleece" of trees (Ezekiel 17:3; Ezekiel 31:3).

(14) qatsir (collective) (Job 14:9), "boughs" (Psalms 80:11), "branches."

(15) shibbeleth, the two olive branches of Zechariah 4:12.

(16) soqch, root meaning "to interweave" (Judges 9:49); sokhah (Judges 9:48), "boughs."

(17) sarigh (pl. only, sarighim), "branches" (of the vine) (Genesis 40:10; Joel 1:7). Represented in Greek in the New Testament:

(1) baion (John 12:13), "a palm branch."

(2) klados (Matthew 13:32; Matthew 21:8; Matthew 24:32; Mark 4:32; Mark 13:28; Luke 13:19; Romans 11:16,Romans 11:17,Romans 11:18,Romans 11:19,Romans 11:21).

(3) klema, a slip or cutting of the vine, especially one cut off to be grafted into another plant (John 15:2,John 15:4,John 15:5,John 15:6).

(4) stibos (= stoibas), a "twig" or "bough" (Mark 11:8).

E. W. G. Masterman

Brand

In the double signification of an object on fire and of objects used to feed a fire. The first meaning is expressed by 'udh, "a bent stick" for stirring fire (Amos 4:11; Zechariah 3:2; compare Isaiah 7:4); the second by lappidh, in Judges 15:4,Revelation 14:5. A third meaning is found in ziqah, indicating the brand as a spreader of fire (Proverbs 26:18).

Branding

See PUNISHMENTS.

Brasen

bra'-z'-n.

See BRASS.

Brass; Brazen

bras (nechosheth): The use of the word brass has always been more or less indefinite in its application. At the present time the term brass is applied to an alloy of copper and zinc or of copper, zinc and tin. The word translated "brass" in the King James Version would be more correctly rendered bronze, since the alloy used was copper and tin (Exodus 27:4). In some passages however copper is meant (Deuteronomy 8:9), as bronze is an artificial product. This alloy was known in Egypt in at least 1600 BC. It was probably known in Europe still earlier (2000 BC), which helps to answer the question as to the source of the tin. Bronze was probably of European origin and was carried to Egypt. At a later period the Egyptians made the alloy themselves, bringing their copper from Sinai, Cyprus or northern Syria (see COPPER), and their tin from the Balkan regions or from Spain or the British Isles (see TIN). When the Children of Israel came into the promised land, they found the Canaanites already skilled in the making and use of bronze instruments. This period marked the transition from the bronze age to the iron age in Palestine Museums possessing antiquities from Bible lands have among their collections many and varied bronze objects. Among the most common are nails, lamps, hand mirrors, locks, cutting instruments, etc. Within comparatively recent times brass, meaning an alloy of copper and zinc, has been introduced into Syria. The alloy is made by the native workmen (see CRAFTS). Sheet brass is now being extensively imported for the making of bowls, vases, etc. Bronze is practically unknown in the modern native articles

Figurative: "Brass," naturally, is used in Scripture as the symbol of what is firm, strong, lasting; hence, "gates of brass" (Psalms 107:16), "hoofs of brass" (Micah 4:13), "walls of brass" (Jeremiah is made as a "brazen wall," Jeremiah 1:18; Jeremiah 15:20), "mountains of brass" (Daniel 2:35, the Macedonian empire; the arms of ancient times were mostly of bronze). It becomes a symbol, therefore, of hardness, obstinacy, insensibility, in sin, as "brow of brass" (Isaiah 48:4); "they are brass and iron" (Jeremiah 6:28, of the wicked); "all of them are brass" (Ezekiel 22:18, of Israel).

James A. Patch

Bravery

brav'-er-i: tiph'arah or `tiph'ereth = "beauty," "glory," "honor" and "majesty," hence, "splendor of bravery." "The bravery of their tinkling ornaments" (Isaiah 3:18 the King James Version), "the beauty of their anklets" (American Standard Revised Version). Compare bravado, bravura.

Brawler

brol'-er (Qere midhyanim; Kethibh midhwanim, "quarrelsomeness"; amachos, "not fighting"): Spoken of the quarrelsome woman; "a contentious (the King James Version "brawling") woman" (Proverbs 21:9). He who seeks the office of a bishop should be "no brawler" (paroinos the King James Version "given to wine," Titus 1:7); "not contentious" (the King James Version "not a brawler," 1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 3:2).

Bray

bra (nahaq, "to bray," of the ass; kathash, "to pound in a mortar"): This word occurs with two distinct meanings:

(a) The harsh cry of the ass (Job 6:5). Job argued that as the sounds instinctively uttered by animals denote their wants, even so his Words were but the natural expression of his longing for some adequate explanation of his sufferings, or, failing this, for death itself. Used figuratively of Job's mockers (Job 30:7).

(b) "To beat small in a mortar," "to chastise." Proverbs 27:22 refers to a more elaborate process than threshing for separating grain (the English Revised Version "corn") from its husk and impurities; used figuratively of a thorough but useless course of discipline; or still more probably with reference to the Syrian custom of braying meat and bruised corn together in a mortar with a pestle, "till the meat and grain become a uniform indistinguishable pulp" (see The Expositor Times, VIII, 521).

M. O. Evans

Brazen

bra'-z'-n.

See BRASS.

Brazen Sea

See SEA, THE MOLTEN.

Brazen Serpent

See NEHUSHTAN.

Breach

brech: Represented by

(1) perets = "a tear," "a rending asunder," "a break," hence, figuratively "enmity," "disruption," "strife" (Genesis 38:29; Judges 21:15; 2 Samuel 5:20; 1 Chronicles 15:13; Nehemiah 6:1; Job 16:14; Psalms 106:23; Isaiah 30:13; Isaiah 58:12);

(2) shebher = "fracture," "affliction," "bruise," "destruction" (Leviticus 24:20; Jeremiah 14:17; Lamentations 2:13; Psalms 60:2);

(3) bedheq = "a gap" or "leak" (in a building or ship) occurring in 2 Kings 12:5–8,2 Kings 12:12; 2 Kings 22:5;

(4) tenu'ah = "alienation," "breach of promise" (Numbers 14:34 the King James Version);

(5) miphrats = "a break" (in the shore), and hence, "a haven" (Judges 5:17, the Revised Version (British and American) "creeks").

Frank E. Hirsch

Breach Of Covenant

brech, kuv'-e-nant, kuv'-e-nant.

See CRIMES.

Breach Of Ritual

rit'-u-al.

See CRIMES.

Breach Of Trust

See CRIMES.