bedil

בדיל

'bedil' is typically translated as “tin”.

This meaning is somewhat unclear. Bedil is actually the same root word as hebedil, which infers that some kind of metal that requires a separation process. Likewise, contextual evidence indicates a refining process of sorts but seems to imply a process of removing impurities rather than adding elements for alloying. There is nothing here that unambiguously identifies “tin” specifically.

For a thorough examination of various metals in the ancient Hebrew texts and how this ties in with the archaeological record, see metallurgy.


LexID 913