Source:Hamblin:Steel in the Book of Mormon:FairMormon paper:“steel” translates “nechushah/nechosheth” which is copper or bronze

Hamblin: "'steel' translates 'nechushah/nechosheth' which is copper or bronze"

Parent page: Book of Mormon/Metals/Steel

Hamblin: "'steel' translates 'nechushah/nechosheth' which is copper or bronze"

An important question is what, precisely, is meant by “steel” in the Book of Mormon. Based on linguistic layer two (Jacobean English of the KJV Bible), “steel” translates “nechushah/nechosheth” which is copper or bronze (often “brass” in KJV). Certainly the Book of Mormon does not refer to twenty-first century “steel,” since the Bessemer steel process upon which modern steel-making is based was not invented until 1846.....Among the meanings of “steel” in Webster’s 1828 dictionary is “extreme hardness.” For the verbal form, one of the meanings is “to make hard or extremely hard,” while one of the meanings of “steeled” is “hardened,” “steeliness” means “great hardness,” one of the meanings of “steeling” is “hardening,” and one of the meanings of “steely” is “hard, firm.” The term steel is still used this way in modern English, such as saying someone has “steely eyes” or a “will of steel.” The concept of “steel” (the metal) seems to derive from “steel” meaning hard or strong, not the other way around.[1]

Notes

  1. William Hamblin, "Steel in the Book of Mormon," FairMormon Perspectives