Amber

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

חשמל ,  Ezekiel 1:4;  Ezekiel 1:27;  Ezekiel 8:2 . The amber is a hard inflammable bitumen. When rubbed it is highly endowed with that remarkable property called electricity, a word which the moderns have formed from its Greek name ηλεκτρον . But the ancients had also a mixed metal of fine copper and silver, resembling the amber in colour, and called by the same name. From the version of  Ezekiel 1:4 , by the LXX, Και εν τω μεσω αυτου ως υρασις ηλεκτρου εν μεσψτον πυρος , "And in the midst of it as the appearance of electrum in the midst of the fire," it appears that those translators by ηλεκτρον , could not mean amber, which grows dim as soon as it feels the fire, and quickly dissolves into a resinous or pitchy substance; but the mixed metal above mentioned, which is much celebrated by the ancients for its beautiful lustre, and which, when exposed to the fire like other metals, grows more bright and shining. St. Jerom, Theodoret, St. Gregory and Origen think, that, in the above cited passages from Ezekiel, a precious and highly polished metal is meant.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

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 .

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Hebrew; Chasmal .  Ezekiel 1:4;  Ezekiel 1:27;  Ezekiel 8:2. Not our amber, a bituminous substance or fossil resin, but a metal. Smooth polished brass (Gesenius). Compare  Ezekiel 1:7, brass in a glow or white heat;  Ezra 8:27 margin;  Revelation 1:15, "His feet like unto glowing brass" ( Chalcolibanus ; from Libben , "whiten;" brass in a white heat), "as if made red hot in a furnace.". Else a composed of gold and silver, symbolizing the dazzling brightness of God's glory. From Hebrew Mal (or else Melala , "gold") Nechash , "smooth brass."

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (n.) Ambergris.

(2): (n.) The balsam, liquidambar.

(3): (n.) A yellowish translucent resin resembling copal, found as a fossil in alluvial soils, with beds of lignite, or on the seashore in many places. It takes a fine polish, and is used for pipe mouthpieces, beads, etc., and as a basis for a fine varnish. By friction, it becomes strongly electric.

(4): (a.) Resembling amber, especially in color; amber-colored.

(5): (n.) Amber color, or anything amber-colored; a clear light yellow; as, the amber of the sky.

(6): (a.) Consisting of amber; made of amber.

(7): (v. t.) To scent or flavor with ambergris; as, ambered wine.

(8): (v. t.) To preserve in amber; as, an ambered fly.

King James Dictionary

AM'BER, n. In  1 Kings 10:2-10 , the Arabic is rendered spices. The Arabic word is rendered by Castle, amber, a marine fish, a shield made of skins, crocus and fimus.

A hard semi-pellucid substance, tasteless and without smell, except when pounded or heated, when it emits a fragrant odor. It is found in alluvial soils, or on the sea shore, in many places particularly on the shores of the Baltic, in Europe, and at Cape Sable, in Maryland, in the United States. The ancient opinion of its vegetable origin seems now to be established, and it is believed or known to be a fossil resin. It yields by distillation an empyreumatic oil, and succinic acid, which sublimes in small white needles. Its color usually presents some tinge of yellow. it is highly electrical, and is the basis of a varnish.

AM'BER, a. Consisting of, or resembling amber.

AM'BER, To scent with amber.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

AMBER ( chashmal ,   Ezekiel 1:4;   Ezekiel 1:27;   Ezekiel 8:2 ). The translation ‘amber’ is much questioned, a metallic substance being generally considered more probable. Prof. Ridgeway ( Encyc. Bibl., s.v .) has, however, shown that amber may well have been known to Ezekiel. The amber commonly seen is the opaque yellow variety from the Baltic, a resinous substance changed by long submersion in the sea. It is a favourite ornament, in necklaces and bracelets, in the Orient, especially among Jewesses, and is credited with medicinal virtues.

E. W. G. Masterman.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

This probably refers, not to the mineral now called 'amber, which is highly electric, as its Greek and Latin names imply — ἤλεκτρον, electrum; but to a mixed metal, such as the ancients described as composed of four parts of gold and one of silver. The Hebrew word is chashmal, and is associated with fire, and refers simply to its colour and brightness.  Ezekiel 1:4,27;  Ezekiel 8:2 .

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Amber.  Ezekiel 1:4;  Ezekiel 1:27;  Ezekiel 8:2. Most likely the substance called "amber" in our versions is not that which is now known by that name. It is rather a metal. Some have believed it a mixture of brass (or copper) and gold, or brass with a gold-like brilliancy.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Amber. (Hebrew, chasmal ), occurs only in  Ezekiel 1:4;  Ezekiel 1:27;  Ezekiel 8:2. It is usually supposed that the Hebrew word, chasmal (denotes a metal) and not the fossil resin called Amber .

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Ezekiel 1:4 (c) This seems to be a type of the golden glow which surrounds the person of GOD and presents to us in a graphic way the marvelous glory of His person. Human words do not very well describe divine glories.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Ezekiel 1:4,27 8:2 Revelation 1:15 2:18

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Ezekiel 1:4 1:27 Ezekiel 8:2

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

The substance thus designated in the Authorized Version is in Hebrew called Chasmil and was probably a composition of several sorts of metal, since even the term by which the word is rendered by the Greeks frequently signifies a composition of gold and silver. The ancients were acquainted with the art of amalgamating various species of metal; and the Latin aurichalcum is said to have possessed the brightness of gold and the hardness of copper, and might not improbably have been our present platina, which has been re-discovered in the Ural mountains, after having long been known as an American fossil. It is not improbable that this was the metal termed 'fine copper' ( Ezra 8:27).

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A fossil resin, generally yellow and semi-transparent, derived, it is presumed, from certain extinct coniferous trees; becomes electric by friction, and gives name to electricity, the Greek word for it being electron  ; has been fished up for centuries in the Baltic, and is now used in varnishes and for tobacco pipes.