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

[Micha Berger via Mesorah]

On Wed, Jun 21, 2017 at 06:28:51PM +0000, Mandel, Seth wrote:
: 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?

Wikipedia has an unsourced claim that in Shakespearean English, "brass"
included any bronze alloy or copper.

But this would make more sense of Henry V, act III, scene 1, where
King Henry talks of "the brass cannon". Older cannons were often made
of Bronze. (Then case iron, and finally steel.)

http://www.agincourt600.com/2015/06/08/did-henry-v-take-guns-with-him-on-his-campaign-of-1415
(from the Tower of London) discusses bronze cannons. (And Henry V,
which is why Google turned it up for me.)

It may be that the KJV set a norm that wasn't widely questioned even as
the English changed. There is even less interest than in Eve's apple
or whether what is prohibited is murder or killing (or in King James'
English: killing or slaying).

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             The greatest discovery of all time is that
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