Original Word: בְּדִיל
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: bdiyl
Pronunciation: beh-DEEL
Phonetic Spelling: (bed-eel')
KJV: + plummet, tin
NASB: tin, alloy
Word Origin: [from H914 (בָּדַל - separated)]

1. alloy (because removed by smelting)
2. by analogy, tin

plummet, tin

From badal; alloy (because removed by smelting); by analogy, tin -- + plummet, tin.

see HEBREW badal

Word Origin
from badal
Definition
alloy, tin, dross
NASB Translation
alloy (1), line* (1), plumb* (1), tin (4).

בְּדִיל noun [masculine] alloy, tin, dross (originally that which is separated from precious metal; compare Plin^{Hist. Nat. xxiv. 16, xxxiii. 9}) — ׳בּ absolute Numbers 31:22 4t.; Plural suffix בְּדִילָ֑יִךְ Isaiah 1:25; —

1 alloy, Isaiah 1:25 figurative of evil of Jerusalem, which ׳י will remove (הֵסִיר; "" סִגָ֑יִךְ).

2 tin (plumbum album) Numbers 31:22 (P; + זָהָב, כֶּסֶף, נְחשֶׁת, בַּרְזֶל, עֹפָ֑רֶת); figurative of Israel Ezekiel 22:18 (+ נְחשֶׁת, בַּרְזֶל, עוֺפֶרֶת); in simile Ezekiel 22:20 (+ id. + כֶּסֶף); as article of commerce brought to Tyre from Tarshish Ezekiel 27:12 (+ כֶּסֶף, בַּרְזֶל, עוֺפֶרֶת).

3 plummet, הָאֶבֶן הַבְּדִיל (appositive) Zechariah 4:10.

Material and Historical Background

בְּדִיל appears six times in the Old Testament and denotes a soft, silvery metal known and worked throughout the Ancient Near East. It was obtainable within the Levant by smelting mixed ores and was also imported from distant ports, especially Tarshish (Ezekiel 27:12). Alloyed with copper, it formed bronze, a strategic resource for tools, weapons, and temple fittings. Because its melting point is lower than that of harder metals, it separated out early in the refining process; the residue that floated to the surface became a vivid metaphor for impurity.

Occurrences and Contexts

• Numbers 31:22 lists it among the metals Israel’s soldiers collected after victory over Midian. The items were to “pass through fire,” illustrating that even spoils of war required purification before consecration.
• Isaiah 1:25 employs the term figuratively: “I will turn My hand against you; I will thoroughly purge your dross; I will remove all your alloy.” The prophet uses the refining furnace to portray the Lord’s resolve to cleanse Zion from covenant infidelity.
• Ezekiel 22:18 and Ezekiel 22:20 widen the image. Judah’s leaders are compared to mixed scrap tossed into a furnace—“they are dross from silver”—underscoring how moral corruption forfeits the honor of being God’s precious possession.
• Ezekiel 27:12 notes that Tyre’s merchants bartered “silver, iron, tin, and lead,” reminding readers that international trade enriched the Phoenician city but could not shield her from divine judgment announced later in the oracle.
• Zechariah 4:10 pictures Zerubbabel holding a builder’s measuring line made of this metal. The verse reassures post-exilic Judah that the Lord delights “when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel,” signaling that temple reconstruction, however modest, proceeds under divine favor.

Symbolism of Refinement and Judgment

Because בְּדִיל surfaces during smelting, Scripture uses it to dramatize how the Lord exposes hidden sin. The furnace represents covenant testing; impurities rise and are removed so the remaining metal may shine. Isaiah presents refinement as mercy—discipline that restores. Ezekiel presents it as indictment—proof that the whole nation, leaders and people alike, have become refuse. Together the passages affirm God’s unwavering holiness and His commitment to a purified people.

Economic and Liturgical Significance

The presence of this metal in spoils (Numbers 31) and trade (Ezekiel 27) indicates its recognized value. Yet it was never accepted unaltered for sanctuary use. Everything destined for holy service had to endure fire, teaching Israel that what belongs to God must be cleansed. The principle informs New Testament exhortations such as 1 Peter 1:7, where faith is “of greater worth than gold,” refined by trials so that it “may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Christological Trajectory

Old Testament imagery of refining anticipates the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, who “gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession” (Titus 2:14). The impurities removed in the furnace foreshadow the sin borne away at Calvary. Believers, now united to the risen Lord, continue to experience the Father’s refining hand, not as wrath but as sanctifying love.

Ministry Applications

1. Personal Holiness: Pastors and teachers may call believers to submit willingly to God’s refining process, trusting His purpose to “remove all alloy.”
2. Corporate Purity: Church discipline, properly exercised, reflects the prophetic burden of Ezekiel—maintaining the congregation’s witness by confronting sin.
3. Hope in Hardship: Trials are not random; they are the divine crucible designed to reveal genuine faith, steady courage, and Christlike character.
4. Encouragement in Small Beginnings: Zechariah’s plumb line counsels ministries that appear insignificant. What matters is alignment with God’s standard, not human scale.

Archaeological and Cultural Notes

Excavations at Timna and Khirbet en-Nahhas show Late Bronze and Iron Age smelting installations where metalworkers separated copper, tin, and slag. Such sites illuminate prophetic analogies: the furnace, bellows, and crucible were everyday realities, making the prophets’ words both vivid and understandable to their audiences.

Related Biblical Themes

Refining: Proverbs 17:3; Malachi 3:2–3

Divine Discipline: Hebrews 12:5–11

Impurity and Dross: Psalm 119:119; Jeremiah 6:28–30

Sanctification: John 17:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:23

Summary

בְּדִיל functions in Scripture as more than a reference to a useful metal. It anchors theological reflections on holiness, judgment, restoration, and perseverance. From the smelting floors of ancient mines to the prophetic furnaces of Isaiah and Ezekiel, and finally to the plumb line of Zechariah, the term reminds God’s people that He will have a refined, tested, and fully consecrated community, fit for His dwelling forever.

בְּדִ֣יל בְּדִילָֽיִךְ׃ בדיל בדיליך׃ הַבְּדִ֖יל הַבְּדִ֛יל הבדיל וּבְדִ֨יל וּבְדִיל֙ ובדיל bə·ḏî·lā·yiḵ bə·ḏîl beDil bəḏîl bediLayich bəḏîlāyiḵ hab·bə·ḏîl habbeDil habbəḏîl ū·ḇə·ḏîl ūḇəḏîl uveDilInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts