Brass:

By: Emil G. Hirsch , Theodore F. Seward

A composition of copper and zinc. The application of the word in the Bible is uncertain, as instruments of copper and bronze were often used where brass is mentioned. Copper, bronze, and other metals were known to the Egyptians before the Exodus. In the Old Testament brass is referred to both actually and symbolically. In Ex. xxxviii. 2-8 the altar of burnt offering is overlaid with brass. All the vessels of the altar are made of brass. In Num. xxi. 9 Moses makes a serpent of brass. In I Sam. xvii. 5 Goliath is clad in an armor of brass. In II Sam. viii. 8 King David takes "exceeding much brass" from Betah and Berothai. In I Kings vii. 7 is the reference to Hiram, king of Tyre, "a worker in brass." In II Kings xxv. 13, 14; Jer. lii. 17, brazen vessels and pillars are carried away by the Chaldeans; and in I Chron. xv. 19 the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, are appointed to sound with "cymbals of brass."

Brass is often referred to symbolically in Hebrew Scripture: Deut. xxviii. 23, "Thy heaven that is over thee shall be brass" (without clouds and rain); Job vi. 12, "Is my flesh brass?" (enduring, insensible); Dan. ii. 32, "Belly and thighs of brass" (expressing brilliancy); Dan. x. 6, "His feet like in color to burnished brass."