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בַּרְזֶל

iron

‘iron’ is one of 3 main senses fuller range ↓

H1270 Strong's Hebrew
barzel Transliteration
/bar-zel'/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 76 appearances

Compare with another word →

About this entry

At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.

“iron” is the headline sense of the Hebrew noun ברזל (barzel). Scripture first uses it in Genesis 4:22. It appears 70 verses across 21 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its moderately common vocabulary. Carrying more than one sense, it rewards its full sense range. From the same root come ברזות, פרזל and ברזלי. For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
head
Modern gloss
iron
Strong's 1890 sometimes compressed multiple senses — or homonymous roots — under one number, and used 19th-century English phrasing that no longer carries the same connotation. The modern gloss reflects current BDB scholarship; open the Lexicon Entry tab for the full sense breakdown. Download share card

About this word

Strong's H1270 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.

These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →

70
distinct verses
The word appears in 70 distinct verses.
21 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 21 of 39 Old Testament books.
Genesis 4:22
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in Genesis 4:22.
Micah 4:13
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Micah 4:13.
#523
by frequency
Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 523 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 70 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 12 · 17%
  • Historical 27 · 39%
  • Wisdom 12 · 17%
  • Prophets 19 · 27%

By traditional corpus

Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 70 distinct verses.

  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 36 verses · 51%
  • Writings (Ketuvim) 22 verses · 31%
  • Torah (Pentateuch) 12 verses · 17%

How translations render this word

Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).

  • King James Version: Iron 62×, Any iron 2×
  • American Standard Version: Iron 61×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Iron 59×, Axe 2×, Have iron 2×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: Iron 70×, Iron tool 2×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H1270 across 76 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Iron” 62×
  • “Any iron” 2×

Plus 12 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

American Standard Version Public Domain

Renders H1270 across 75 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Iron” 61×

Plus 14 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

Berean Standard Bible Public Domain

Renders H1270 across 73 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Iron” 59×
  • “Axe” 2×
  • “Have iron” 2×

Plus 10 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 3 further occurrences.

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H1270 across 77 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Iron” 70×
  • “Iron tool” 2×

Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.


7 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB

What do BDB’s symbols mean?

BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:

Symbol Meaning
𝔊 the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX)
𝔙 the Vulgate (the Latin translation)
𝔖 the Syriac version (the Peshitta)
𝔗 the Targum (the Aramaic translation)
ψ the Psalms
√ root (the underlying root or stem)
‖ parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel)
† the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited

The 7 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.

  • 1. iron, lit.:
    • a. iron-ore, stone containing iron, Dt 8:9; Jb 28:2; e.g. Deuteronomy 8:9
    • b. as raw material (to be worked) Gn 4:22; 1 Ch 22:3, 14, 16; 29:2(×2), 7 2 Ch 2:6, 13; 24:12; Is 44:12; e.g. Genesis 4:22
    • c. as article of commerce Ez 27:12, 19; e.g. Ezekiel 27:12
    • d. as material of furniture, utensils, implements, etc., עֶרֶשׂ ב׳ Dt 3:11, רֶכֶב ב׳ Jos 17:16, 18; Ju 1:19, 4:3, 13, כְּלֵי ב׳ Jos 6:19, 24 cf. 1 K 6:7; Nu 35:16, עֵט־ב׳ Jb 19:24 & fig. Je 17:1, חֲרִצֵי הַבּ׳ 2 S 12:31 = 1 Ch 20:3, מַגְזְרוֹת הַבּ׳ 2 S 12:31 cutting instr. of iron, vid. Am 1:3, כַּבְלֵי ב׳ ψ 149:8 (‖ זִקִּים), נֵשֶׁק ב׳ Jb 20:24, קַרְנֵי ב׳ 1 K 22:11 = 2 Ch 18:10, קִיר ב׳ & מַחֲבַת ב׳ Ez 4:3; בְּרִיחֵי ב׳, i.e. of Babylon, ag. Cyrus Is 45:2; cf. 1 S 17:7 & Is 60:17(×2) (fig.) e.g. Deuteronomy 3:11
  • 2. tool of iron Dt 27:5; Jos 8:31; Pr 27:17(×2) Ec 10:10 Is 10:34 (metaph.); head of an axe Dt 19:5 2 K 6:5, 6; so weapon 2 S 23:7; Jb 41:19; cf. also Nu 31:22; Jos 22:8 where iron as spoil of war. e.g. Deuteronomy 27:5
  • 3. iron in fig. of unwatered earth Dt 28:23; of Egyptian bondage, כּוּר הַבּ׳ Dt 4:20; 1 K 8:51; Je 11:4; of oppression עֹל ב׳ Dt 28:48; Je 28:14 cf. v 13; of strength Je 15:12(×2); cf. ב׳ מִנְעָלֶיךָ Dt 33:25 & Mi 4:13 קֶרֶן ב׳; of prophet, firm through Yahweh’s might, עַמּוּד ב׳ Je 1:18; of distress, בְּרִיחֵי ב׳ ψ 107:16 cf. v 10 of judgments of י׳, & 105:18; שֵׁבֶט ב׳ ψ 2:9; of evildoers, Je 6:28; Ez 22:18, 20; simile of scorching sky Lv 26:19; מְטִיל ב׳ of bones of hippopotamus Jb 40:18; גִּיד ב׳ of obstinate neck of Isr. Is 48:4. e.g. Deuteronomy 28:23

Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.


Word origin

n.m. Ez 27:19 iron (c. ל afform.; from piercing? NH id., Aramaic id., פַּרְזֶל, ܦܰܪܙܠܴܐ Ph. ברזל, Assyrian parzillu COTGloss, (Arabic فِرْزِلٌ fetter is loan-word))—always abs. ב׳ Gn 4:22 + 74 times (בַּרְזֶל֑ Gn 4:22 etc.);—

— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.

Derived from ברזות (Birzôwth) (H1269) — Birzavith.

Part of speech: Noun Masculine TWOT: 283a


Jastrow Dictionary

A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.

בַּזֵּל

  • (Pa. of בזל, √בז, v. בְּזָא II) to scatter, to distribute by shaking (cmp. בְּדַר Pa. 2). Sabb. 66ᵇ וליבַּזּוּלֵיה וכ׳ Ms. M. a. oth. (ed. לברזוליה, לברזליה) let him shake it (the ant in the tube) to pieces and carry it off.

בַּרְזֶל

  • iron, iron tool. Gen. R. s. 75 לובשי ב׳ clad in iron armor; a. fr.—צאן ב׳ flock sold to payment in terms under the condition that the young be divided until the payment in full has taken place. Bekh. II, 4, v. וָלָד.—(נכסי) עבדי צאן ב׳ mort-main, wife’s estate held by her husband, which, in case of her death or divorce, he must restore in specie, being responsible whith all his landed property for loss or deterioration. Yeb. VII, 1; a. fr.; v. נְכָסִים.

בַּרְזֶל ²

  • Targ. I Kings XXII, 12; a. e.—Sabb. 66ᵇ קול ב׳ (Ms. M. קל פ׳). V. פַּרְזְלָא

A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.


Forms in the corpus

The 44 distinct written forms H1270 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.

Form Parsing Example Uses
בַּרְזֶל֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Deuteronomy 28:48 7
בַּרְזֶ֑ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Samuel 17:7 6
בַּרְזֶ֔ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Deuteronomy 3:11 4
בַּרְזֶֽל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Deuteronomy 27:5 4
הַ/בַּרְזֶל֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Deuteronomy 19:5 4
הַ/בַּרְזֶ֖ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Amos 1:3 3
בַרְזֶ֑ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Kings 22:11 2
בַרְזֶ֔ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Deuteronomy 8:9 2
בַרְזֶ֖ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 2 Samuel 23:7 2
בַּרְזֶ֖ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Jeremiah 17:1 2
בַּרְזֶ֛ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Jeremiah 1:18 2
בַּרְזֶ֥ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Deuteronomy 33:25 2
הַ/בַּרְזֶ֗ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ecclesiastes 10:10 2
הַ/בַּרְזֶ֜ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 2 Samuel 12:31 2
הַ/בַּרְזֶֽל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Kings 8:51 2
וּ/בַרְזֶ֑ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Genesis 4:22 2
בַרְזֶ֣ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Psalms 107:16 1
בַרְזֶ֧ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Numbers 35:16 1
בַרְזֶֽל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Psalms 149:8 1
בַרְזֶל֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 2 Chronicles 24:12 1
בְּ/בַרְזֶ֣ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Proverbs 27:17 1
בַּ/בַּרְזֶ֑ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Isaiah 10:34 1
בַּ/בַּרְזֶ֜ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 2 Chronicles 2:14 1
בַּ֝רְזֶ֗ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Psalms 105:18 1
בַּ֭רְזֶל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Job 28:2 1
בַּרְזֶ֗ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Joshua 17:16 1
בַּרְזֶ֡ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Jeremiah 28:14 1
בַּרְזֶ֣ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Proverbs 27:17 1
בַּרְזֶ֤ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ezekiel 27:19 1
בַּרְזֶ֧ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Jeremiah 15:12 1
הַ/בַּרְזֶ֔ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Numbers 31:22 1
וְ/הַ/בַּרְזֶ֔ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Joshua 6:24 1
וְ/לַ/בַּרְזֶ֖ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 22:16 1
וְ/לַ/בַּרְזֶל֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 22:14 1
וּ/בְ/בַרְזֶ֛ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Joshua 22:8 1
וּ/בַ/בַּרְזֶ֗ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 2 Chronicles 2:7 1
וּ/בַרְזֶ֔ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Joshua 6:19 1
וּ/בַרְזֶ֖ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 29:7 1
וּ/בַרְזֶ֣ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 22:3 1
וּ/בַרְזֶ֤ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ezekiel 22:18 1
וּ/בַרְזֶ֨ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ezekiel 22:20 1
וּ/בַרְזֶֽל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Psalms 107:10 1
כַּ/בַּרְזֶ֔ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Leviticus 26:19 1
לַ/בַּרְזֶ֔ל Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 29:2 1

Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H1270, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.

Derives from

Derived from this word

Proper names from this root

People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.

Compare all same-root words → 2 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.


Septuagint verse parallels

This word appears in 66 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 70 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.

Read these verses in the Septuagint

This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.

Reading settings

Reading text

Shown beneath each verse's original-language words.

Old Testament
Old Testament edition

Read the OT as the Masoretic Hebrew (MT) or the Greek Septuagint (LXX).

English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

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