(3.) In Isaiah 3:19, the rendering of a Hebrew word meaning chains, i.e.,
twisted or chain-like bracelets.
(4.) In Exodus 35:22 it designates properly a clasp for fastening the dress
of females. Some interpret it as a nose-ring.
(5.) In Genesis 38:18, 25, the rendering of a Hebrew word meaning
“thread,” and may denote the ornamental cord with which the signet was
suspended from the neck of the wearer.
Bracelets were worn by men as well as by women (Cant. 5:14, R.V.).
They were of many various forms. The weight of those presented by
Eliezer to Rebekah was ten shekels (Genesis 24:22).
- BRAMBLE (1.) Hebrew atad, Judges 9:14; rendered “thorn,” Psalm 58:9.
The LXX. and Vulgate render by rhamnus, a thorny shrub common in
Palestine, resembling the hawthorn.
(2.) Hebrew hoah, Isaiah 34:13 (R.V. “thistles”); “thickets” in 1 Samuel
13:6; “thistles” in 2 Kings 14:9, 2 Chronicles 25:18, Job 31:40; “thorns” in
2 Chronicles 33:11, Cant. 2:2, Hos. 9:6. The word may be regarded as
denoting the common thistle, of which there are many species which
encumber the corn-fields of Palestine. (See THORNS.)
- BRANCH a symbol of kings descended from royal ancestors (Ezekiel
17:3, 10; Daniel 11:7); of prosperity (Job 8:16); of the Messiah, a branch
out of the root of the stem of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1), the “beautiful branch”
(4:2), a “righteous branch” (Jeremiah 23:5), “the Branch” (Zechariah 3:8;
6:12).
Disciples are branches of the true vine (John 15:5, 6). “The branch of the
terrible ones” (Isaiah 25:5) is rightly translated in the Revised Version “the
song of the terrible ones,” i.e., the song of victory shall be brought low by
the destruction of Babylon and the return of the Jews from captivity.
The “abominable branch” is a tree on which a malefactor has been hanged
(Isaiah 14:19). The “highest branch” in Ezekiel 17:3 represents Jehoiakim
the king.
- BRASS which is an alloy of copper and zinc, was not known till the
thirteenth century. What is designated by this word in Scripture is
properly copper (Deuteronomy 8:9). It was used for fetters (Judges 16:21;
2 Kings 25:7), for pieces of armour (1 Samuel 17:5, 6), for musical