[Mesorah] coda for All that glitters may not be...

[Mandel, Seth via Mesorah]

Regarding my post of a couple of days ago about what exactly n’hoshet means, I have heard nothing that would call my conclusion into question.  So: given that before 1750 no one could possibly have translated nechoshet as anything other than “brass” in English, the question is when and where it was changed?

I have reviewed a whole bunch of translations:
Brass    JPS 1917; American Standard Edition 1901
Bronze    Revised Standard Edition 1952; the New RSE 1989; New KJV 1982, New International Edition 1978; Good News Bible 1976; Holman Christian Standard 2004; New American Standard Bible 1995; New Century Edition 1991; New International Version 1978
Copper    Young's Literal Translation 1862, Darby Bible 1890; Common English Bible 2011;
R. A. Kaplan, Rabbi M. Stern 1957, AJ Rosenberg 1985; New JPS 1985
RSR Hirsch 27:2 "un belege ihn mit Kupfer...  Kupfer verarbeitest du tzu allen feinen Geräthen." 1867

This shows that all the non-Jewish English translations changed to "bronze" sometime in the 20th Century..

But RSRH changed it already in 1867 to "copper," and every single Jewish translation since then has done the same
The only outliers are the three non-Jewish translations that use “copper.”, two from the 19th Century and one from 2011.
I am sure the impetus for all was to change the translation to show specifically exactly what the material was.  However, there does not seem to be any source for what exactly it was, and so I think they all used their best guesses.  I would bet that the source for RSRH’s change is the German Biblical scholarship that was already flourishing at his time.  The scholarship included both what is called “Biblical Criticism,” which refers to using standard literary critical tools on the text of the Bible and also Biblical lexicography.  The standard Biblical lexicon used today outside of frum circles is the BDB Lexicon, which itself is based on the Hebräisches und Chaldäisches Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament of Wilhelm Gesenius in 1834.  There can be no doubt that RSRH was familiar with the scholarship and perhaps with the Lexicon itself; his Übesetzung und Erklärung des Pentateuchs was put out starting in 1867.  The Gesenius Lexicon translated it as “Kupfer, Bronze.”
If the identity of n’hoshet were amatter of halokho l’doros, I am sure we would have some evidence from Chazal or the rishonim what the exact material was.  But, in fact, it makes no difference as far the halokho goes for the BhM.  The Rambam states explicitly
 הל' בית הבחירה א,כ  המנורה וכליה והשולחן וכליו ומזבח הקטורת וכל כלי השרת אין עושין אותן אלא מן המתכת בלבד, ואם עשו אותם של עץ או עצם או אבן או של זכוכית פסולין. היו הקהל עניים, עושין אותן אפילו של בדיל, ואם העשירו, עושין אותן של זהב. אפילו המזרקות והשפודין והמגרפות של מזבח העולה והמידות אם יש כוח בציבור עושין אותן של זהב, אפילו שערי העזרה מחפין אותן זהב אם מצאה ידם.
So even kelim that in the Mishkan were made of n’hoshet were made of gold, at least in the BhM of Herod. This is not just from the general statement, but true of specific kelim:
Referring to the kelim used for the large mizbeach, which in the Mishkan was made out of acacia wood overlaid with n’hoshet, the pasuk says:
שמ' כז:ג וְעָשִׂיתָ סִּירֹתָיו לְדַשְּׁנוֹ, וְיָעָיו וּמִזְרְקֹתָיו וּמִזְלְגֹתָיו וּמַחְתֹּתָיו, לְכָל-כֵּלָיו תַּעֲשֶׂה נְחֹשֶׁת.
But when the Rambam mentions the issue elsewhere, he says:
הל' כלי המקדש א,יב  הכפות והקערות שמקבלין בהן המנחות וכן המזרקות שמקבלין בהן הדם ושאר כלי השרת כולן של כסף ושל זהב היו, ומותר לעשותן של שאר מתכות כמו שביארנו..
The only place where it makes a difference what metal was used is regarding the m’norah, which in both the Mishkan and BhM was made from gold.  The halokho is that it is kosher if made from other metals, but the details of its construction (including the g’vi‘im and kaftorim etc.) are only required when made from gold; when made from other metals, they were not made, nor were other requirements binding, see Hil.Beit haB’Hirah 3:4).
Finally, there is one exception to this rule about metals in the BhM:
הל' בית הבחירה ה,ד כל שער מהן היה רוחבו עשר אמות וגובהו עשרים אמה, והיו לו דלתות מחופות זהב, חוץ משער מזרחי שהיה נחושת דומה לזהב, ושער זה הוא הנקרא שער העליון והוא שער ניקנור.
And, in this case, it is highly probable that n’hoshet did not mean copper or bronze but rather brass, since it is the only one of these metals of which it can be said that (when polished) it appears similar to gold.
So, regardless of what was used in the Mishkan, we have evidence that brass was called “נחושת” in at least one part of the BhM.




Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/mesorah-aishdas.org/attachments/20170621/3363e415/attachment-0005.htm>