Anvil (Hastings' Dictionary)
The word occurs with this meaning only in Is 41'. The anvil of the East is a boot-shaped piece of metal inserted in a section of oak or walnut log. Larger or smaller, it is used by tinsmiths, shoemakers, silver- smiths, and blacksmiths. The description of the metal worker in Is 4 1"-' is one that miglit have been taken from the Arab workshop of the present day.
As the Oriental artisan has only a few sinijile tools at liis command, his work lacks the precision and uniformitv attained in tlie West by elaborate machinery. llt'nce vivacious comment during the process of manufacture, and a feeling of triumph at times when the article turns out according to sample. The act of welding on the anvil, to which the prophet alludes, is esp.
a momeut of noisy 108 ANY APHEK entluisiasm and mutual encouragement between the smith and his fellow-workman on the other side of the anvil. They then call out to each otlier to strike more rapidly and vigorously, before the metal cools, crying 'shidd\ shield'', the Arabic equivalent of Isaiah's 'hazah'l 'be of good courage ! Then the term applied to the soldering — 'tob' '. Arab. 'Cai/i/ib' ! that is, 'good' !
— is at once a call to cease from further hammering, and a declaration that the work ia satisfactory. G. M. Mackib.
This topic also has an entry in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Both articles offer independent scholarly perspectives.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Anvil
Anvil an'-vil (pa`am): The word is used only once to mean anvil. The passage (Isa 41:7) refers to the custom still very common of workmen encouraging each other at their work. See CRAFTS. Just how pretentious the anvil of the ancients was we do not know. Most work requiring striking or beating, from the finest wrought jewelry to the largest copper vessels, is now done on an anvil shaped like an inverted letter L which is driven into a block of wood, or into the ground, or into a crack between two of the stone slabs of the workman's floor. The only massive anvils seen in the country today are modern and of foreign make. ⇒See a list of verses on ANVIL in the Bible. James A. Patch ⇒See the definition of anvil in the KJV Dictionary ⇒See also the McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia.
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia