International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Flint

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Flint


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flint (חלמישׁ, ḥallāmı̄sh (; ; ; ), צר, cōr (; ), צר, cēr (), צוּר, cūr (; ), צרים, curı̄m ( f); κόχλαξ (= κάχληξ, káchlēx “pebble”), kóchlax (1 Macc 10:73)): The word ḥallāmı̄sh signifies a hard stone, though not certainly flint, and is used as a figure for hardness in , “Therefore have I set my face like a flint.” A similar use of cōr is found in , “As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead,” and , “Their horses' hoofs shall be accounted as flint”; and of ṣela‛ in , “They have made their faces harder than a rock.” The same three words are used of the rock from which Moses drew water in the wilderness: ḥallāmı̄sh (; ); cūr (; ; ; ); ṣela‛ (; ; ). Cūr and ṣela‛ are used oftener than ḥallāmı̄sh for great rocks and cliffs, but cūr is used also for flint knives in , “Then Zipporah took a flint (the King James Version “sharp stone”), and cut off the foreskin of her son,” and in f, “Yahweh said unto Joshua, Make thee knives of flint (the King James Version “sharp knives”), and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.” Surgical implements of flint were used by the ancient Egyptians, and numerous flint chippings with occasional flint implements are found associated with the remains of early man in Syria and Palestine. Flint and the allied mineral, chert, are found in great abundance in the limestone rocks of Syria, Palestine and Egypt. See ROCK.