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TIN

The original Hebrew word b^edhilʹ means that which is separated or removed from precious metals by smelting. The word is used at Isaiah 1:25: “I shall smelt away your scummy dross as with lye, and I will remove all your waste products [b^edhilʹ].” The first reference to tin, soon after the Exodus, includes it among the valuable spoils of war taken from the Midianites. (Num. 31:2, 22) There were no tin mines in Palestine; the heavy dark oxide of tin called “cassiterite” came from river sands in Tarshish and England. (Ezek. 27:12) Of the six products of the ancient metallurgist’s furnace, tin had the lowest melting point of all, only 449° F. (232° C.). (Ezek. 22:18, 20) Tin, it appears, was used to make plummets, for at Zechariah 4:10 (which speaks of the “plummet”) the Masoretic text reads “the stone [or, weight], the tin.” In Amos 7:7, 8 the Hebrew word translated “plummet” may mean tin or lead. Tin’s greatest usefulness, however, was as a hardening agent; 2 to 18 percent tin alloyed with copper has been found in ancient specimens of bronze.