Lexical Summary lebenah: Brick Original Word: לְבֵנָה Strong's Exhaustive Concordance altar of brick, tile From laban; a brick (from the whiteness of the clay) -- (altar of) brick, tile. see HEBREW laban NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom laben Definition brick, tile NASB Translation brick (2), bricks (7), pavement (1). Brown-Driver-Briggs לְבֵנָה noun feminine brick, tile (Late Hebrew id.; Aramaic לְּבִינְתָּא  ; Zinjirli לבן (?) DHMSendsch.37. 59; Assyrian libittu; Arabic  ,  ,  ,  ,  (loan-words according to Frä4f.); according to Thes and most from whiteness of clay, or light colour of sun-baked bricks; so NöZMG xi,1886,735 LagBN 139; > others regard as Assyrian loan-word VOJi. 22ff.; in Assyrian a derivative from labânu, throw down, prostrate, is sought DlPr. 93f.(compare HWB 369)); — ׳ל Genesis 11:3; Ezekiel 4:1; construct לִבְנַת Exodus 24:10; plural לְבֵנִים Genesis 11:3 7t.; suffix מִלִּבְנֵיכֶם Exodus 5:19; — 1 brick, as building-material, Genesis 11:3 (singular collective; elsewhere plural) Genesis 11:3; Exodus 1:14; straw used in making Exodus 5:7, compare Exodus 5:8; Exodus 5:16; Exodus 5:18; Exodus 5:19; Isaiah 9:9 (figurative; as inferior to גָּזִית hewn stone); incense burnt on Isaiah 65:3 ( = roof-tiles ? compare Che Di). 2 = tile, on which plan of city could be engraved (חקק) Ezekiel 4:1. 3 = pavement, Exodus 24:10 (compare Di). Topical Lexicon Material and Technology Lebenah denotes the sun-dried or kiln-fired brick common throughout the Ancient Near East. Unlike dressed stone, bricks were man-made, uniform, and easily mass-produced whenever natural stone was scarce. Their manufacture required shaping clay, mixing straw for binding strength, drying or burning, and endless repetition—conditions that later become an image of oppressive toil. Earliest Mention: Human Ambition at Babel (Genesis 11:3) The Bible’s first bricklaying project appears at the Tower of Babel. “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly” (Genesis 11:3). Bricks here form part of humanity’s arrogant plan to “make a name” apart from God. The material choice itself—man-made bricks replacing God-made stone—foreshadows the substitution of human pride for divine provision. The collapse of the project under God’s judgment demonstrates that no humanly fabricated unity can stand in defiance of His sovereign will. Forced Labor and Covenant Memory (Exodus 1 and 5) Four of the eleven references cluster in Israel’s Egyptian bondage, emphasizing bricks as symbols of oppression: • Exodus 1:14 reports that the Egyptians “made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and brick.” These texts etch bricks into Israel’s collective memory as the tangible weight of slavery. When the LORD later introduces Himself at Sinai, He anchors His self-revelation in the Exodus rescue: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 20:2). The broken bricks of Egypt contrast sharply with the freedom granted by covenant. Prophetic Warnings and National Pride (Isaiah 9:10) In Israel’s northern kingdom, bricks again become a metaphor for self-reliant defiance: “The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with hewn stones” (Isaiah 9:10). Rather than repent after divine discipline, the nation boasts of rebuilding with superior materials. The echo of Babel is deliberate; both narratives expose the futility of trusting human craftsmanship over God’s protection. Idolatry and False Worship (Isaiah 65:3) Isaiah later condemns a people “who continually provoke Me to My face… who burn incense on altars of brick” (Isaiah 65:3). Unlike the uncut stone altars prescribed in Exodus 20:25, brick altars represent innovations God never commanded. Manufactured bricks thus become a visual token of worship that originates in human invention rather than divine command. Symbolic Act by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 4:1) The LORD instructs Ezekiel, “Take a brick, place it before you, and draw on it the city of Jerusalem” (Ezekiel 4:1). The prophet turns a single brick into a miniature siege-tablet, predicting the city’s impending judgment. The ordinary building block becomes a prophetic canvas, underscoring how even mundane objects serve revelatory purposes in God’s economy. Theological Themes 1. Human pride versus divine sovereignty: At Babel and in Isaiah 9, bricks spotlight the clash between self-exalting projects and God’s ultimate authority. Christological and Ecclesiological Reflections The New Testament presents Jesus Christ as the “living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God” (1 Peter 2:4), and believers as “living stones… being built into a spiritual house” (2:5). The contrast with man-made bricks is striking: God builds His eternal dwelling with living materials of His own choosing, not with lifeless bricks of human manufacture. Brick imagery thus anticipates the superiority of the spiritual edifice founded upon Christ. Practical Ministry Applications • Guard against self-reliance in ministry projects; ensure that methods and motives are sourced in Scripture rather than in human ingenuity. Bricks in Scripture move from tools of human ambition and oppression to instruments illustrating divine judgment and instruction. Their account urges God’s people to forsake prideful self-construction and to be built instead into the living sanctuary established by the Chief Cornerstone. Forms and Transliterations הַלְּבֵנִ֖ים הַלְּבֵנִ֜ים הַלְּבֵנִֽים׃ הַלְּבֵנָה֙ הלבנה הלבנים הלבנים׃ וּבִלְבֵנִ֔ים וּלְבֵנִ֛ים ובלבנים ולבנים לְבֵנִ֔ים לְבֵנִ֖ים לְבֵנִ֥ים לְבֵנָ֔ה לבנה לבנים מִלִּבְנֵיכֶ֖ם מלבניכם hal·lə·ḇê·nāh hal·lə·ḇê·nîm halləḇênāh halləḇênîm halleveNah halleveNim lə·ḇê·nāh lə·ḇê·nîm ləḇênāh ləḇênîm leveNah leveNim mil·liḇ·nê·ḵem milliḇnêḵem millivneiChem ū·ḇil·ḇê·nîm ū·lə·ḇê·nîm ūḇilḇênîm ūləḇênîm uleveNim uvilveNimLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Genesis 11:3 HEB: הָ֚בָה נִלְבְּנָ֣ה לְבֵנִ֔ים וְנִשְׂרְפָ֖ה לִשְׂרֵפָ֑ה NAS: And they used brick for stone, KJV: let us make brick, and burn INT: Come make brick and burn thoroughly Genesis 11:3 Exodus 1:14 Exodus 5:7 Exodus 5:8 Exodus 5:16 Exodus 5:18 Exodus 5:19 Isaiah 9:10 Isaiah 65:3 Ezekiel 4:1 11 Occurrences |
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