6. njB i» used repeatedly by P of the ' branches ' of the golden candlestick in the tabernacle, Ex 25" 37'8 etc.
In NT four Gr. words are tr. ' branch.' 1. Patov, Jn 12" (cf. 1 Mac 13"). Palm Sunday ia called in the Greek Church ^ KvpiaK^ tC>v ^aXav. 2. K\d5os, Mt 13'" etc., used figuratively of descend- ants, e.g. of Israel as the ' natural branches,' Ro iln.M.is.u.ai (cf. Sir 23" 40'»). 3. KXvfw., used especially of a vine-branch, Jn 15""*, where Christ is the vine and His disciples are the branches, i, (TTi^is, Mk 11", a ir' \ey. It is remarkable that Matthew, Mark, and John, in describing Jesus' triumphal entry into Jems., each use a different word for ' branch,' namely, xXiSos, m^is, and ^ofo» respectively. J. A. Selbik.
BRAND.— 1. Zee 3' 'a b. plucked out of the fire ' (TK 'Hd, perhaps orig. a bent stick used to stir the fire. Ox/. Heb. Lex. ; tr* ' firebrand,' Is 7* ' these two tails [i.e. stumps] of smoking fire- brands ' ; and Am 4" ' a firebrand' [RV ' brand,' to keep up connexion with Zee] plucked out of the burning'). 2. Jg 15' ' when he had set the brands on fire (T?'?, tr* ' firebrand' 15*). Samson's 'tire- brand ' was a stick of wood wrapped with some absorbent material and saturated with oil (Moore, Judges, p. 341). It is the same Heb. word that is used of the ' lamps ' (RV ' torches '), which Gideon's men carried in their pitchers, Jg 7". The name of Deborah's husband, Lappidoth (Jg 4*), is a plu. of the same word. See Lamp. For Branding, see Crimes and Ptjnishments.
J. Hastings.
BRASS (nfnj, xoXtis). — Brass is composed of copper and zinc in the proportion of 2 of the former to 1 of the latter. The word is of frequent use in the Bible, but it is uncertain whether in any in- stance it means the alloy just described, as brass is very rarely found amongst the remains of early cities; while, on the other hand, weapons and implements of copper and bronze are abimdant, associated with those of stone and, less frequently, of iron. The expression in Dt 8* ' a land . . . out of whose hiUa thou mayest dig brass,' shows that the word was used for copper. That the latter was worked largely in Arabia Petraea is well known (see MINES, Mining). The abundance of bronze, which is an alloy of copper and tin, amongst the early nations both of Asia and Europe is Uie more remarkable as tin is of rare occurrence ; but its value in giving hardness and other qualities to copper was dis- covered more than 2000 years B.C. "rhus knives, hatcheis, hammers, spears, and other articles, both of copper and of bronze, have been discovered amongst the ruins of Chalda;adating back to about B.C. 2286. * The use of copper, bronze, and other metals was known to the ancient Egyptians before the Exodus, and they appear to have understood the art both of hardening bronze and of making it flexible to a degree unknown to us.t The art of making bronze is clearly referred to by Homer in his description of the fasliioning of the shield of Achilles by Vulcan (//. xviii. 474, where copper and tin [Karalrepos] are both melted in the furnace) ; and amongst the ruins of Troy, brought to light by the memor- able labours of Schliemann, battle-axes, lances, knives, arrow-heads, and various ornaments both of copper and of bronze, were discovered, together with the moulds of mica-schist and sandstone in winch some of these weapons were cast.J Co[)per and bronze celts have been discovered by di Cesnola
• Rawlinson Anc. J/onor. 1. 96 (ed. 1879X
t Wilkinson, Anc. Egi/p. iii. 241, 253; Perrot and Chipiei, llist. A lie. i:g:/p. Art, ii. 378(1883). ErcinB considers that when the earliest bo»Sl(S of OT were written, gold, silver, iron, tin, lead, braas. and bronze were known ; Aiic. Bronze ImjileiiumU, p. 6.
! .Schliemann, IKm, vii. 433-435 ; Troja,, p. 100. Troy ma captured by the Greeks about B.O. 1184.
BRAVERY
BREAD
315
In Cyprus amongst the remains of PhcEnician settlers,* and tlieyare abundant in Europe and tlie Britibh Islea as^tociated \ntli remains of pre-historic man.
Bible References. — In the Bible 'brass' (i.«. copper or bronze) ia referred to both actually and symbolicallj' ; and it may be desirable to consider tne passages under these two heads —
{A) Actual. — 1. In Gn 4-'^ Tubal-cain is described OS the ' forger of every cuttinjr instrument of brass and iron,' KVm ' copjier and iron.' Tliis is the earliest record of the use of these metals. Some doubt has been thrown by Evans on the word irun, and he suggests that it has been introduced at a later period during transcription, and that it does not necessarily belong to the aue in which Tubal-cain lived.t 2. In Ex 38-"' the altar of bumt-oti'ering overlaid with brass ; also the laver and vessels of brass. The brass of the olVering was 70 talents and 2400 shekels (v.^). 3. In Nu 21' Moses makes a serpent of brass, and sets it upon a standard, i. Dt 8* ' A land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills tliou mayestdig brass' t (copper). 5. In 1 S 17° Goliath of Gath clad in armour of brass. 6. In 2 S 8' King David took ' exceeding much brass' from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer. 7. In 1 K 7" Hiram of Tyre 'a worker in brass.' 8. In 2 K 25"", Jer 52" tlie brazen vessels and pillars of the house of the Lord broken and carried away by the Chaldajans. 9. In I Ch IS" 'Cymbals of brass.' 10. In Job 2S>:' • Brass (cornier) ia molten out of stone.' 11. In Mt lO* ' Provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in yonr purses.' 12. In Rev 9^ ' Idols of brass.'