Difference between revisions of "Flint"

<p> [[Flint]] n. </p> 1. In natural history, a sub-species of quartz, of a yellowish or bluish gray, or grayish black color. It is amorphous, interspersed in other stones, or in nodules or rounded lumps. Its surface is generally uneven, and covered with a rind or crust, either calcarious or argillaceous. It is very hard, strikes fire with steel, and is an ingredient in glass. 2. A piece of the above described stone used in firearms to strike fire. 3. Any thing proverbially hard as a heart of flint.

<p> <strong> FLINT </strong> . See [[Mining]] and Metals. </p>

<p> ''''' flint ''''' ( חלמישׁ , <i> ''''' ḥallāmı̄sh ''''' </i> (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 8:15; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 32:13; &nbsp;Job 28:9; &nbsp;Psalm 114:8 ), צר , <i> ''''' cōr ''''' </i> (&nbsp;Exodus 4:25; &nbsp;Ezekiel 3:9 ), צר , <i> ''''' cēr ''''' </i> (&nbsp;Isaiah 5:28 ), צוּר , <i> ''''' cūr ''''' </i> (&nbsp;Job 22:24; &nbsp;Psalm 89:43 ), צרים , <i> ''''' curı̄m ''''' </i> (&nbsp;Joshua 5:2 f); κόχλαξ (= κάχληξ , <i> ''''' káchlēx ''''' </i> "pebble"), <i> ''''' kóchlax ''''' </i> (1 Macc 10:73)): The word <i> ''''' ḥallāmı̄sh ''''' </i> signifies a hard stone, though not certainly flint, and is used as a figure for hardness in &nbsp; Isaiah 50:7 , "Therefore have I set my face like a flint." A similar use of <i> ''''' cōr ''''' </i> is found in &nbsp;Ezekiel 3:9 , "As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead," and &nbsp;Isaiah 5:28 , "Their horses' hoofs shall be accounted as flint"; and of <i> ''''' ṣela‛ ''''' </i> in &nbsp;Jeremiah 5:3 , "They have made their faces harder than a rock." The same three words are used of the rock from which Moses drew water in the wilderness: <i> ''''' ḥallāmı̄sh ''''' </i> (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 8:15; &nbsp;Psalm 114:8 ); <i> ''''' cūr ''''' </i> (&nbsp;Exodus 17:6; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 8:15; &nbsp;Psalm 78:20; &nbsp;Isaiah 48:21 ); <i> ''''' ṣela‛ ''''' </i> (&nbsp;Numbers 20:8; &nbsp;Nehemiah 9:15; &nbsp;Psalm 78:16 ). <i> ''''' Cūr ''''' </i> and <i> ''''' ṣela‛ ''''' </i> are used oftener than <i> ''''' ḥallāmı̄sh ''''' </i> for great rocks and cliffs, but <i> ''''' cūr ''''' </i> is used also for flint knives in &nbsp;Exodus 4:25 , "Then [[Zipporah]] took a flint (the King James Version "sharp stone"), and cut off the foreskin of her son," and in &nbsp;Joshua 5:2 f, "Yahweh said unto Joshua, Make thee knives of flint (the King James Version "sharp knives"), and circumcise again the children of [[Israel]] the second time." Surgical implements of flint were used by the ancient Egyptians, and numerous flint chippings with occasional flint implements are found associated with the remains of early man in Syria and Palestine. Flint and the allied mineral, chert, are found in great abundance in the limestone rocks of Syria, [[Palestine]] and Egypt. See [[Rock]] . </p>

<p> ( '''''חִלָּמִושׁ''''' , ''Challassish','' from its ''Smoothness,'' &nbsp;Psalms 104:8; &nbsp;Isaiah 50:7; "rock," &nbsp;Job 28:9; frequently with the accompaniment '''''צוּר''''' , a rock, &nbsp;Deuteronomy 8:15; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 32:13; once for '''''צר''''' itself, &nbsp;Ezekiel 3:9; "sharp stone," &nbsp;Exodus 4:25), 'any hard stone, especially of a silicious character, as quartz or granite; but in mineralogical science it is applied only to silicious nodules. In the three passages first cited above the reference is to God's bringing water and oil out of the naturally barren rocks of the wilderness for the sake of his people. In Isaiah the word is used metaphorically to signify the firmness of the prophet is resistance to his persecutors. So also in, &nbsp;Isaiah 5:28 we have ''Like Flsnt,'' in reference to the hoofs of horses. In 1 Mace. 10:73, '''''Κόχλαξ''''' is translated flint, and in &nbsp;Wisdom of [[Solomon]] 11:4 the expression '''''Ἐκ''''' '''''Πέτρας''''' '''''Ἀκροτόμου''''' is adopted from &nbsp;Deuteronomy 8:15 (Sept.). (See Rock). 'Flints abound in nearly' all the plains and valleys through which the Hebrews marched during thee forty years of wandering.' In the northward desert, low hills' of chalk occur, as well as frequent tracts of chalky soil, for the most part overspread with flints. In the western desert Burckheardt saw some large pieces of flint perfectly oval three to four feet in length, and about a foot and a half in breadth. This desert presents to the traveller's view its immense expanse of dreary country, covered with black flints, with here and there some hilly chains rising fromthe plain. (See [[Desert]]). </p>