The market of Tyre was supplied with bright or pol- ished iron by the merchants of Dan and Javan (Ezek, xxvii, 19), Some, as the Sept, and Vulg., render this "wTought iron:" so De Wette "geschmiedetes Eisen," The Targum has " bars of iron," which would correspond with the stricturce of Pliny (xxxiv, 41), But Kimchi {Lex. s, V,) expounds nVo^', 'ashofh, as "pure and pol- ished" ( = Span, acero, steel), in which he is supported by R, Sol, Parchon, and by Ben-Zeb, who gives "gliinz- eiid" as the equivalent (comp. the Homeric a'iQoJv mdr]- poc, II. vii, 473). If the Javan alluded to were Greece, and not, as Bochart {Phaleg, ii, 21) seems to think, some place in Arabia, there might be reference to the iron mines of Macedonia, spoken of in the decree of yEmilius Paulus (Livy, xlv, 29) ; but Bochart urges, as a very strong argument in support of his theory, that, at the time of Ezekiel's prophecy, the Tyrians did not depend upon Greece for a supply of cassia and cinnamon, which are associated with iron in the merchandise of Dan and Javan, but that rather the contrary was the case, Pliny (xxxiv, 41) awards the palm to the iron of Serica, that of Parthia being next in excellence. The Chalybes of the Pontus were celebrated as workers in iron in very ancient times (/Esch, Prom. 733), They were identified by Strabo with the Chaldaii of his day (xii, 549), and the miires which they worked were in the mountains skirting the sea-coast. The produce of their labor is supposed to be alluded to in Jer, xv, 12, as being of su- perior quality. Iron mines are still in existence on the same coast, and the ore is found " in small nodular mass- es in a dark yellow clay which overlies a limestone rock'- (Smith's Diet, of Class. Geog. s. v, Chalybes),
IRON
658
IRON
From the earliest times we meet with manufactures in iron of the utmost variety {some articles of which seem to be anticipations of what are commonly sup- posed to be modern inventions). Thus iron was used for chisels (Deut.xxvu, 5), or something of the kind; for axes (Deut. xix, 5 ; 2 Kings vi, 5, 6 ; Isa. x, 34 ; comp. Homer, //. iv, 485) ; for harrows and saws (2 Sam. xii, 31 ; 1 Chron. xx, 3) ; for nails (1 Chron. xxii, 3), and the fastenings of the Temple; for weapons of war (1 Sam. xvii, 7 ; Job xx, 24), and for war chariots (.Josh, xvii, 16, 18; Judg. i. 19; iv,3, 13). The latter were plated or'studded with it, or perhaps armed with iron scythes at the axles, like the curnis fulcati of the ancient Ro- mans. Its usage in defensive armor is implied in 2 Sam. xxiii, 7 (compare Rev. ix, 9), and as a safeguard in peace it appears in fetters (Psa. ev, 18), prison gates (Acts xii, 10), and bars of gates or doors (Psa. cvii, 16; Isa. xlv, 2), as well as for surgical purposes (1 Tim. iv, 2). Sheet-iron was used for cooking utensils (Ezek. iv, 3 ; compare Lev. vii, 9), and bars of hammered iron are mentioned in Job xl, 18 (though here the Sept. per- versely renders aiSrtpoQ X'^'''''C' " cast-iron"). We have also mention of iron instruments (Numb.xxxv,7) ; barb- ed irons, used in hunting (Job xii, 7) ; an iron bed- stead (Deut, iii, 11) ; iron weights (shekels) (1 Sam. xvii, 7) ; iron tools (1 Kings vi, 7: 2 Kings vi, 5) ; horns (for symbolical use, 1 Kings xxii, 11) ; trees bound with iron (Dan. iv, 15) ; gods of iron (Dan. v, 4), etc. It was used by Solomon, according to Josephus, to clamp the large rocks with which he built up the Temple mount (.1)?^ XV, 11, 3), and by Hezekiah's workmen to hew out the conduits of Gihon (Ecclus. xlviii, 17). Im- ages were fastened in their niches in later times by iron brackets or clamps (Wisd. xiii, 15). Agricultural im- plements were early made of the same material. In the treaty made by Porsena was inserted a condition like that imposed on the Hebrews by the Philistines, that no iron should be used except for agricultural purposes (Pliny, xxxiv, 39). It does not follow from Job xix, 24, that it was used for a writing implement, though such may have been the case (comp. Isa. xvii, 1), any more than that adamant was employed for the same purpose (Jer. xvii, 1), or that shoes were shod with iron and brass (Deut. xxxiii, 25). Indeed, iron so frequently occurs in poetic figures that it is difficult to discriminate between its literal and metaphorical sense. In such pas- sages as the following, in which a ^^yolce of iron" (Deut. xxviii, 48) denotes hard service; "a rod of iron" (Psa. ii, 9), a stern government ; " a pillar of iron" (Jer. i, 18), a strong sujiport; "and threshing instmments of iron" (Amos i, 3), the means of cruel oppression ; the hardness and heaviness (Ecclus. xxii, 15) of iron are so clearly tlie prominent ideas, that, though it may have been used for the instruments in question, such usage is not of neces- sity indicated. '• The./wrnwfc of iron" (Deut, iv, 28 ; 1 Kings viii, 51) is a figure which vividly expresses hard bondage, as represented by the severe labor which at- tended tlic operation of smelting. Iron is alluded to in the following instances: Under the same figure, chas- tisement is denoted (Ezek. xxii, 18, 20, 22) ; reducing the earth to total barrenness by turning it into iron (Deut. xxviii, 23); strength, by a l)ar of it (.Job xl, 18) ; afflic- tion, by iron fetters (Psa. cvii, 10) ; prosperity, by giving silver for irr>n (Isa. Ix, 17); political strength (Dan. ii, 33) ; oi)stinacy, by an iron sinew in the neck (Isa. xlviii, 4) ; giving supernatural fortitude to a prophet, making him an iron pillar (Jer. i, 18) ; destructive power of em- pires, by iron teeth (Dan. vii, 7); deterioration of char- acter, by becoming iron (Jer. vi, 28; Ezek. xxii, 18), which resembles the idea of the iron age; a tiresome burden, by a mass of iron (Ecclus. xxii, 15) ; the great- est obstacles, by walls of iron (2 ^lacc. xi, 9) ; the cer- tainty with which a real enemy will ever show his ha- tred, by the rust returning upon iron (Ecclus. xii, 10). Iron seems used, as by the Hebrew poets, metonymically for the sword (Isa. x, 34), and so the Sept. und'erstands "'/*"X'"P«- 'A'he following is selected as a beautiful