Silver ("OS, keseph, often rendered "money"). There is no mention of this metal in Scripture until the time of Abraham. IJefore that time brass and iron ap- l)ear to have l>een the oidy metals in use (^Gen. iv, 22). Abraham was rich in gold and silver, as well as in tiocks and herds, and silver in his day was in general circula- tion as money. It was uncoined, and estimated always by weight. Coined money was not in use among the Israelites until an advanced jjcriod of their history. Tlie llomaiis are said to have liad only cop|)er money until within live years of the tirst Punic war, when they began to coin silver (Pliny, Jlist. Sat. xxx, 3). Their coins were extensively introduced into Judica after it became a lioman province.— Kitto.
In early times, according to the Hible, silver was used for ornaments ((Jen. xxiv, 53), for cups (xliv, 2), for the sockets of the pillars of the tabernacle (Kxod. xxvi, 19, etc.), their hooks and tidets, or rods (xxvii, 10), and their capitals (xxxviii, 17) ; for dishes, or chargers, and bowls (Numb. vii. 13), trumpets (x, 2), candlesticks (1 Chron. xxviii, 15), tables (ver. It!), basins (ver. 17), chains (Isa. xl, 19), the settings of ornaments (Prov. XXV, 11), studs (Cant, i, 11), and crowns (Zech. vi, 11). Images for idolatrous worship were made of silver or overlaiil with it (Kxod. xx. 23; Hos. xiii, 2; Hab. ii, 19; ISar. vi, 39). and the manufacture of silver shrines for Diana was a trade in Kphesus (Acts xix, 24). But its chief use was as a medium of exchange, and through- out the Old Test, we find ke.tep/i, "silver," used for mon- ey, like the Fr. aryeiit. To tliis general usage there is but one excejition. See Metai- Vessels and orna- ments of goM and silver were common in Kgypt in the times of Osirtasen I ami Tliothmes III. the contempo- raries of Joseph and Moses (Wilkinson, . I //c. h'yypl. iii, 225). In the Homeric |M>ems we find indications of the constant application of silver to purposes of ornament aud luxurA-. It was used for basins {pd. i, 137; iv, 53),
goblets (//. xxiii, 741), baskets {Od. iv, 125), coffers (//. xviii, 413), sword-hilts ( i, 219; Od. viii, 404), door- handles (i, 442), and clasps for the greaves (//. iii, 331). Door-posts ((>(/. vii, 89) and lintels (/6/(/. 90) glittered with silver ornaments; baths (iv, 128), tables (x, 355), bows (//. i, 49; xxiv, 005), scabbards (.xi, 31), sword-belts (xviii, 598), belts for the shield (ibid. 480), chariot-poles (v, 729), and the naves of wheels (ibid.) were adorned with silver; women braided their hair with silver- thread (xvii, 52), and cords appear to have been made of it (Od. X, 24); while we constantly tind that swords (//. ii, 45; xxiii, 807) and sword-belts (xi, 237), thrones, or chairs of state (^Od. viii, 05), and bedsteads (xxiii, 200) were studded with silver, Thetis of the silver feet was i)robably so called from the silver ornaments on her sandals (//. i, 538). The practice of overlaying silver with gold, referred to in Homer (^Od. vi, 232; xxiii, 159), is nowhere mentioned in the liible, though infe- rior materials were covered with silver (Prov. xxvi, 23).
Silver was brought to Solomon from Arabia (2 Chron. ix. 14) and from Tarsliish (ver. 21), whicli supplied the markets of Tyre (Ezek. xxvii, 12). From Tarshish it came in the form of plates (Jer. x, 9), like those on which the sacred books of the Singhalese are written to this day (Tennent, Ceylon, ii, 102). The silver bowl given as a prize by Achilles was the work of Sidoniau artists (//. xxiii, 743; comp. Od. iv, 018). In Homer (//. ii, 857), Alybe is called the birthplace of silver, and was probably celebrated for its mines. But S]iain ap- pears to have been the chief source whence silver was obtained by the ancients. Possibly the hills of Pales- tine may have afforded some supply of this metal. '• When Volney was among the Druses, it was men- tioned to him that an ore affording silver and lead had been discovered on the declivity of a hill in Lebanon" (Kitto, Pliys. JJiM. o/Palesfine.'p. 73).
F'or an account of the knowledge of obtaining and refining silver possessed by the ancient Hebrews, see Mine. The whole operation of mining is vividly de- picted in Job xxviii, 1-11, and the process of purifying metals is frequently alluded to in Psa. xii, 0 ; Prov. xxv, 4, while it is described with some minuteness in Ezek. xxi, 20-22. Silver mixed with alloy is referred to in Jer. vi, 30, and a tiiier kind, either purer in itself or more thoroughly purified, is mentioned in Prov. viii, 19. — Smith. There is a beautiful allusion in the prophecy of Malachi to the refining of this precious metal. The Lord of hosts is represented "sitting as a refiner and purifier of silver" (Mai. iii. 3). In the process of refin- ing silver, the workman sits with his eye steadily fixed on the surface of the molten metal, and the operation is only known to be complete when he sees his own image reflected in it. So in this passage we have a beautiful figure descrijjtive of Ciod's purpose in placing his people in the furnace of affliction, while he is, as it were, seated by their side, his all-seeing eye being steadily intent on the work of purifying, and his wisdom and love en- gaged on their behalf until his own glorious image is reflected on their souls, and the work of ]nirifying is fully accomplished. The way in which silver is spokea of in the book of .lob (xxviii, 1), " Surely there is a vein for the silver and a place for gold where they fine it," affords one of the many instances of the scientific ac- curacy of Scripture. An eminent geologist has re- marked on the distinction here drawn, and which the discoveries of modern science have made clear, between the '•(Y(« of silver" and " ihist of gold," indicating that there are mineg of the one aiul not of the other (Murchi- son, Sihirid, p. 457).