Tin

Easton, 1897

Heb. bedil (Numbers 31:22; Ezekiel 22:18, Ezekiel 22:20), a metal well known in ancient times. It is the general opinion that the Phoenicians of Tyre and Sidon obtained their supplies of tin from the British Isles. In Ezekiel 27:12 it is said to have been brought from Tarshish, which was probably a commercial emporium supplied with commodities from other places. In Isaiah 1:25 the word so rendered is generally understood of lead, the alloy with which the silver had become mixed (Isaiah 1:22). The fire of the Babylonish Captivity would be the means of purging out the idolatrous alloy that had corrupted the people.