{B) Symbolical. — 1. {Dazzling heat and drought) Dt 28^ ' Thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass.' 2. (Strength, resistance) Job 6" 'Is my flssh of brass'? 'his (behemoth's §) bones are as ■tubes of brass,' Job 40'" RV ; he (leviathan ||) 'counteth brass as rotten wood,' Job 41". Z. (Power) Ps 107" ' He hath broken the gates of brass ' j Is 45' 'I will break in pieces the doors of brass.' 4. (Richness) Is 60" ' For wood (I will bring) brass.' 8. (Brilliancy) Dn 2»» ' His belly and thighs of brass' (Nebuchadrezzar's image) ; On 10' 'His feet like in colour to burnished brass' (Daniel's vision) ; also Rev l'". 6. (One destitute of love) 1 Co 13' ' Sounding brass or a clanging cymbal,' RV.
E. Hull.
BRAVERY. — Although b. is used in the modem sense of courage as early as in any other, it had two other meanings wliich have now been lost. 1. Connected probably with ' bra"' etymologically, it expressed boasting, as ' No Aliin is an Atheist, however he pretend it, and serve the Company with his Braveries' — Donne (1631) ; and esp. a military display, as ' The whole Campe (not per- ceiving that this was but a bravery) fled amaine ' — Raleigli (1614), Hist, of World, lii. 93. 2. It ex- pressed 8i)len(iour, often pa.ssing into ostentation (so still focallj'), as ' The braverie of this world . . . likened is to flowTe of grasse ' — Tusser (1573). This is the meaning of b. in Is 3" 'the b. of their tinkling ornaments' (n-iNrn Amer. RV ' beauty '). Cf . Shaks. Taming of Shretv, IV. iii. 57 —
* Witli Marti ftod fans and double chang^e of bravery.'
Bravely occurs Jth 10* ' (Judith) decked herself bravely (^itoWuiriffaro <i<t>6Spa) to allure the eyes of all men that should see her.' It is the general sense of 'finely,' ' h.indsomcly.' Cf. Celia's lesting words in As You Like It, m. iv. 43 : ' O, that's a
* Bronu w» al«o ased by the rh'enlciana tor works of art in r*Tj early timet ; Perrot and Chipicz, Uiut. nf Art in Phanieia and Cuprut, li. 2 (1885X
t A ne. Bronu Imp. pp. 6, 8 ; ••« alao WUklnion, Aim. Savpt.
111. U\. r rr , vwy
\ Terrot and Ohipiez, fupra nt. U. 878.
I Bippopotamu*. g Orooodlle.
brave man I he wTites b. verses, speaks b. words, swears b. oaths, and breaks them bravely ' ; and Scot. ' braw,' ' brawly.' J. Hastings.
BRAWLER. — To brawl in its earliest use, and till the beg. of the 17th cent., was simply to quarrel or fight (without the ' noisily and in- decently ' of Johnson) ; and this seems to be the meaning in AV. Brawl as subst. occurs Sir 27" ' tlicir brawls make one stop his ears' (ii.6.xn, RV 'strife'). Brawling as subst. Sir 31^; as adj. Fr21» 25-'' 'a b. (RV 'contentious') woman' (ovn? ''5'!!'> tr'' ' contentious wonjan ' 27'° ; cf. ' contentious man ' 26-'). Brawler occurs in AV 1 Ti 3', Tit 3» (Gr. a^x<"> KV ' contentious '). RV gives ' braw- ler ' for AV 'given to wine' 1 Ti 3*. Tit 1' (Gr. ■r6.foi.voi, RVm ' quarrelsome over wine ').
J. Hastings.
BRAY. — There are two distinct words, and both occur.
1. To make a harsh cry, once nsed of horses and other animals (cf. Job 30' ' Among the bushes they bray,' spoken of Job's mockers who are ' dogs of tlie flocK,' and Ps 42' Geneva Bible, ' As the hart braj'eth for the rivers of water,' retained in AVm), now used only of the ass : Job 6° ' Doth the wild ass b. when he hath grass ? '
2. To beat small, to pound, still in use but frecj. (if not always) with ret. to its (only) occurrence in AV, Pr 27^, which is Coverdale's tr" (1535) ' Though thou shouldest bray a foole with a pestell in a morter like otemeell, yet wil not his loolislinesse go from him.' Cf. Stubbes (1583), ' The word, of God is not preached vnto them, and as it were braied, punned, interpreted, and ex- pounded.' J. Hastings.
BRAZEN SEA.— See Sea. BRAZEN SERPENT.
—See Serpent.
BREACH.— A b. may be either (1) the breaking itself, or (2) the result of the breaking. 1. Nu 14** 'Ye shall know my b. of promise' (nx'jn, RV ' alienation,' RVm ' revoking of my promise ') ; 2 S 6" ' the Lord had made a b. upon Uzzali ' (j-i? pcrez, RV ' had broken forth,' cf. Gn 38"") ; Job 16'* ' He breaketh me with b. upon b.' (perez). 2. A place that is broken, as Is 30", ' a b. reiuly to fair (perez) ; Lv 24^ ' IJ. for b., eye for eye, tooth for tooth ' ("q!^ shehher) : or the gap that is thus made (the mod. use), as Am 4' 'Ye shall go out at the b", every one straight before her' (perez) ; Jg 5" ' Asher continued on the seashore, and abode in his b~ ' (nrp miphrdz, RV ' creeks,' i.e. gaps in the shore, Vulg. partus, Wyclif ' havens' ; the Heb. word occurs only here, see Moore in loc.) ; La 2" ' thy b. (shehher) is great like the sea, who can heal thee?' For B. of Covenant .see Crimks.