בדיל, Num. xxxi, 22; Isa. i, 25; Ezek. xxii, 18, 20; xxvii, 12; a
well-known coarse metal, harder than lead. Mr. Parkhurst observes, that
Moses, in Num. xxxi, 22, enumerates all the six species of metals. The
Lord, by the Prophet Isaiah, having compared the Jewish people to
silver, declares, “I will turn my hand upon thee, and purge away thy
dross, and remove all בדיליך, _thy particles of tin_:” where Aquila,
Symmachus, and Theodotion have κασσίτερον σου, and the Vulgate _stannum
tuum_, “thy tin;” but the LXX. ἀνόμους, _wicked ones_. This
denunciation, by a comparison of the preceding and following context,
appears to signify that God would, by a process of judgment, purify
those among the Jews who were capable of purification, as well as
destroy the reprobate and incorrigible, Jer. vi, 29, 30; ix, 7; Mal.
iii, 3; Ezek. xii, 18, 20. In Ezek. xxvii, 12, Tarshish is mentioned as
furnishing כדיל; and Bochart proves from the testimonies of Diodorus,
Pliny, and Stephanus, that Tartessus in Spain, which he supposes the
ancient Tarshish, anciently furnished tin. As Cornwall in very ancient
times was resorted to for this metal, and probably first by the
Phenicians, some have thought that peninsula to be the Tarshish of the
Scriptures; a subject which, however, from the vague use of the word, is
involved in much uncertainty. See TARSHISH.
well-known coarse metal, harder than lead. Mr. Parkhurst observes, that
Moses, in Num. xxxi, 22, enumerates all the six species of metals. The
Lord, by the Prophet Isaiah, having compared the Jewish people to
silver, declares, “I will turn my hand upon thee, and purge away thy
dross, and remove all בדיליך, _thy particles of tin_:” where Aquila,
Symmachus, and Theodotion have κασσίτερον σου, and the Vulgate _stannum
tuum_, “thy tin;” but the LXX. ἀνόμους, _wicked ones_. This
denunciation, by a comparison of the preceding and following context,
appears to signify that God would, by a process of judgment, purify
those among the Jews who were capable of purification, as well as
destroy the reprobate and incorrigible, Jer. vi, 29, 30; ix, 7; Mal.
iii, 3; Ezek. xii, 18, 20. In Ezek. xxvii, 12, Tarshish is mentioned as
furnishing כדיל; and Bochart proves from the testimonies of Diodorus,
Pliny, and Stephanus, that Tartessus in Spain, which he supposes the
ancient Tarshish, anciently furnished tin. As Cornwall in very ancient
times was resorted to for this metal, and probably first by the
Phenicians, some have thought that peninsula to be the Tarshish of the
Scriptures; a subject which, however, from the vague use of the word, is
involved in much uncertainty. See TARSHISH.