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Bible Dictionaries
Amber
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
or Is a yellow or straw-colored gummy substance, originally a vegetable production, but reckoned in the mineral kingdom. It is found in lumps in the sea and on the shores of Prussia, Sicily, Turkey, etc. Externally it is rough; it is very transparent, and on being rubbed, yields a fragrant odor. It was formerly supposed to be medicinal, but is now employed only in the manufacture of trinkets, ornaments, etc.
The Hebrew word chasmil is translated by the Septuagint and Vulgate electrum, that is, amber, because the Hebrew denotes a very brilliant amber-like metal, composed of silver and gold, which was much prized in antiquity, Ezekiel 1:4,27; 8:2 . Others, as Bochart, refer here to the mixture of gold and brass, of which the ancients had several kinds, some of which exhibited a high degree of luster. Something similar to this was probably also the "fine brass," in Ezra 8:27; Revelation 1:15 .
These files are public domain and are a derivative of the topics are from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary published in 1859.
Rand, W. W. Entry for 'Amber'. American Tract Society Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ats/a/amber.html. 1859.
