Tin: Heb. bedil (Num. 31:22; Ezek. 22:18, 20), a metal well known in
ancient times. It is the general opinion that the Phoenicians of
Tyre and Sidon obtained their supplies of tin from the British
Isles. In Ezek. 27:12 it is said to have been brought from
Tarshish, which was probably a commercial emporium supplied with
commodities from other places. In Isa. 1:25 the word so rendered
is generally understood of lead, the alloy with which the silver
had become mixed (ver. 22). The fire of the Babylonish Captivity
would be the means of purging out the idolatrous alloy that had
corrupted the people.