Topical Bible: Molten

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Topical Encyclopedia

The term "molten" in the Bible typically refers to objects that have been melted and cast into a specific shape, often used in the context of idol-making or the creation of sacred objects. The process of melting and casting metals was a common practice in ancient times, and the Bible frequently mentions molten images, particularly in the context of idolatry and the worship of false gods.

Idolatry and Molten Images

One of the most notable references to molten images is found in the account of the golden calf in Exodus 32. While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Law from God, the Israelites grew impatient and asked Aaron to make them gods to lead them. Aaron complied by collecting gold from the people and fashioning it into a molten calf. The Bible records, "He took what they handed him and fashioned it with an engraving tool and made it into a molten calf. Then they said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" (Exodus 32:4). This act of creating a molten idol was a direct violation of the first two commandments, which prohibit the worship of other gods and the making of graven images (Exodus 20:3-4).

The prophets frequently condemned the making and worship of molten images. Isaiah, for example, ridicules the futility of idol-making, stating, "The craftsman casts an idol, a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it" (Isaiah 40:19). Such practices were seen as a betrayal of the covenant relationship between God and His people, who were called to worship Him alone.

Molten Objects in Worship

While molten images are often associated with idolatry, the Bible also describes the use of molten objects in the worship of Yahweh, the God of Israel. For instance, the bronze altar in the Tabernacle was made from a molten process. In Exodus 38:8, it is noted that Bezalel "made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting" . This demonstrates that molten objects could be used in a manner that honored God, provided they were made according to His instructions and for His worship.

Symbolism and Meaning

The use of molten images in the Bible often symbolizes the human tendency to create tangible representations of the divine, which can lead to idolatry. The prophets and biblical writers consistently emphasize that God is spirit and cannot be contained or represented by physical objects. The making of molten images is portrayed as a misguided attempt to control or domesticate the divine, reducing the infinite God to a finite form.

In summary, the concept of "molten" in the Bible serves as a powerful reminder of the dangers of idolatry and the importance of worshiping God in spirit and truth. The biblical narrative underscores the need for faithfulness to God's commandments and the rejection of all forms of idol worship.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (p. p.) of Melt.

2. (a.) Melted; being in a state of fusion, esp. when the liquid state is produced by a high degree of heat; as, molten iron.

3. (a.) Made by melting and casting the substance or metal of which the thing is formed; as, a molten image.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

SEA, THE MOLTEN; SEA, THE BRAZEN

mol'-t'n, or (yam mutsaq, yam hanechosheth): This was a large brazen (bronze) reservoir for water which stood in the court of Solomon's Temple between the altar and the temple porch, toward the South (1 Kings 7:23-26 2 Chronicles 4:2-5, 10). The bronze from which it was made is stated in 1 Chronicles 18:8 to have been taken by David from the cities Tibhath and Cun. It replaced the laver of the tabernacle, and, like that, was used for storing the water in which the priests washed their hands and their feet (compare Exodus 30:18; Exodus 38:8). It rested on 12 brazen (bronze) oxen, facing in four groups the four quarters of heaven. For particulars of shape, size and ornamentation, see TEMPLE. The "sea" served its purpose till the time of Ahaz, who took away the brazen oxen, and placed, the sea upon a pavement (2 Kings 16:17). It is recorded that the oxen were afterward taken to Babylon (Jeremiah 52:20). The sea itself shared the same fate, being first broken to pieces (2 Kings 25:13, 16).

W. Shaw Caldecott

MOLTEN SEA

See LAVER.

MOLTEN, IMAGE

mol'-t'-n.

See IMAGES.

Strong's Hebrew

4541a. massekah -- a libation, molten metal or image
... 4541, 4541a. massekah. 4541b . a libation, molten metal or image.
Transliteration: massekah Short Definition: images. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/4541a.htm - 5k

5262b. nesek -- molten image
... 5262a, 5262b. nesek. 5263 . molten image. Transliteration: nesek Short
Definition: images. Word Origin from nasak Definition molten ...
/hebrew/5262b.htm - 5k

4541. maccekah -- a libation, molten metal or image
... a libation, molten metal or image. Transliteration: maccekah Phonetic Spelling:
(mas-say-kaw') Short Definition: covering. covering, molten image, vail ...
/hebrew/4541.htm - 5k

5257a. nasik -- a libation, molten image
... 5257, 5257a. nasik. 5257b . a libation, molten image. Transliteration:
nasik Short Definition: offering. Word Origin from nasak ...
/hebrew/5257a.htm - 5k

4690. matsuq -- molten support, pillar
... 4689, 4690. matsuq or matsuq. 4691 . molten support, pillar. Transliteration:
matsuq or matsuq Phonetic Spelling: (maw-tsook') Short Definition: pillars. ...
/hebrew/4690.htm - 6k

5257. nciyk -- a libation, molten image
... nciyk. 5257a . a libation, molten image. Transliteration: nciyk Phonetic Spelling:
(nes-eek') Short Definition: offering. drink offering, duke, principal ...
/hebrew/5257.htm - 5k

3332. yatsaq -- to pour, cast, flow
... root Definition to pour, cast, flow NASB Word Usage cast (14), casting (1), dished
(1), firm (1), hard (2), hardens (1), molten (2), pour (14), poured (13 ...
/hebrew/3332.htm - 6k

5262. necek -- a drink offering
... cover, drink offering, molten image Or necek {nay'-sek}; from nacak; a libation;
also a cast idol -- cover, drink offering, molten image. see HEBREW nacak. ...
/hebrew/5262.htm - 5k

6694. tsuq -- to pour out, melt
... poured. Word Origin a prim. root Definition to pour out, melt NASB Word
Usage poured (1), smelted (1). be molten, pour. A primitive ...
/hebrew/6694.htm - 6k

Library

Josiah
... his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the
high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.4 ...
//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions of holy scripture g/josiah.htm

The Golden Calf
... in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.4. And he received them at their hand,
and fashioned it with a graving-tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture k/the golden calf.htm

Demolition of the Idolatrous Temples at Alexandria, and the ...
... These were therefore razed to the ground, and the images of their gods molten into
pots and other convenient utensils for the use of the Alexandrian church ...
/.../chapter xvi demolition of the idolatrous.htm

Of the Predictions Concerning the Salvation of the World in Christ ...
... done? As for the prophet Nahum, through him God says, "I will exterminate
the graven and the molten things: I will make thy burial. ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 31 of the predictions concerning.htm

The Cross of Christ Frequently Announced in the Old Testament.
... Moreover Moses, when he commanded, "Ye shall not have any graven or molten [image]
for your God," [1616] did so that he might reveal a type of Jesus. ...
/.../barnabas/the epistle of barnabas /chapter xii the cross of christ.htm

But not yet About the Good to be Got from Martyrdom must we Learn. ...
... of His anger." [8240] He has, from His abhorrence of idols, framed a series of curses
too: "Cursed be the man who maketh a graven or a molten image, an ...
/.../scorpiace antidote for the scorpions sting/chapter ii but not yet.htm

The Book of the Law
... remove temptation from his subjects by purging "Judah and Jerusalem from the high
places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images." "They ...
/.../white/the story of prophets and kings/chapter 33 the book of.htm

The Foundations of Good Citizenship.
... Possibly, as in Exodus 34:17, it originally read "molten image" and referred to
foreign idols. If so, it may come in this older form from Moses. ...
/.../kent/the making of a nation/study x the foundations of.htm

Korah, Dathan, and Abiram
... first time they heard the roar of the earthquake beneath their feet; the first time
they saw, in the magnificent words of Micah, the mountains molten and the ...
/.../kingsley/the gospel of the pentateuch/sermon xiii korah dathan and.htm

Nor Should I Think it Needful to Discuss Whether God Pursues a ...
... The wise fire makes for them the molten likeness of a calf, reproaching them with
having the heart where they have their treasure also,"in Egypt, to wit ...
/.../scorpiace antidote for the scorpions sting/chapter iii nor should i.htm

Thesaurus

Molten (41 Occurrences)
... 2. (a.) Melted; being in a state of fusion, esp. when the liquid state is produced
by a high degree of heat; as, molten iron. ... SEA, THE MOLTEN; SEA, THE BRAZEN. ...
/m/molten.htm - 22k

Shape (17 Occurrences)
... Exodus 32:4 He received what they handed him, and fashioned it with an engraving
tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, Israel ...
/s/shape.htm - 14k

Carved (36 Occurrences)
... 33:52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you,
and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and ...
/c/carved.htm - 17k

Founder (5 Occurrences)
... See Chest founder. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. FOUNDER. foun'-der
(from tsaraph): A worker in molten metal (Judges 17:4, etc.). ...
/f/founder.htm - 9k

Engraved (62 Occurrences)
... Deuteronomy 27:15 'Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an
abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in ...
/e/engraved.htm - 26k

Laver (13 Occurrences)
... In the temple there were ten lavers used for the sacrifices, and the molten sea
for the ablutions of the priests (2 Chronicles 4:6). The position and uses of ...
/l/laver.htm - 17k

Graven (61 Occurrences)
... Deuteronomy 27:15 Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an
abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth ...
/g/graven.htm - 27k

Idol (56 Occurrences)
... It denotes also a figure cast in metal (Deuteronomy 7:25; 27:15; Isaiah 40:19;
44:10). (17.) Massekah, "a molten image" (Deuteronomy 9:12; Judges 17:3, 4). ...
/i/idol.htm - 29k

Teraphim (14 Occurrences)
... of Laish answered, and said to their brothers, "Do you know that there is in these
houses an ephod, and teraphim, and an engraved image, and a molten image? ...
/t/teraphim.htm - 13k

Brazen (42 Occurrences)
... James A. Patch. SEA, THE MOLTEN; SEA, THE BRAZEN. ... BRAZEN. bra'-z'-n. See BRASS. BRAZEN
SEA. See SEA, THE MOLTEN. BRAZEN SERPENT. See NEHUSHTAN. SEA, BRAZEN. ...
/b/brazen.htm - 25k

Resources

How does the geologic timescale fit with the view of a young earth? | GotQuestions.org

What is a graven image? | GotQuestions.org

What is the meaning of dross in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

Molten: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus

Concordance

Molten (41 Occurrences)

Exodus 32:4
He received what they handed him, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 32:8
They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said,'These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.'"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 34:17
Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Leviticus 19:4
"'Don't turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Numbers 33:52
then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 9:12
Yahweh said to me, "Arise, get down quickly from hence; for your people whom you have brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they have quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 9:16
I looked, and behold, you had sinned against Yahweh your God; you had made yourselves a molten calf: you had turned aside quickly out of the way which Yahweh had commanded you.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 27:15
'Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' All the people shall answer and say,'Amen.'
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Judges 17:3
He restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, "I most certainly dedicate the silver to Yahweh from my hand for my son, to make an engraved image and a molten image. Now therefore I will restore it to you."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Judges 17:4
When he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made of it an engraved image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Micah.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Judges 18:14
Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered, and said to their brothers, "Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and an engraved image, and a molten image? Now therefore consider what you have to do."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Judges 18:17
The five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the engraved image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girt with weapons of war.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Judges 18:18
When these went into Micah's house, and fetched the engraved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

1 Kings 7:16
He made two capitals of molten brass, to set on the tops of the pillars: the height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

1 Kings 7:23
He made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

1 Kings 7:30
Every base had four bronze wheels, and axles of brass; and the four feet of it had supports: beneath the basin were the supports molten, with wreaths at the side of each.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

1 Kings 7:33
The work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axles, and their rims, and their spokes, and their naves, were all molten.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

1 Kings 14:9
but have done evil above all who were before you, and have gone and made you other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and have cast me behind your back:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

2 Kings 17:16
They forsook all the commandments of Yahweh their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served Baal.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

2 Chronicles 4:2
Also he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass; and its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

2 Chronicles 28:2
but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for the Baals.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

2 Chronicles 34:3
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherim, and the engraved images, and the molten images.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

2 Chronicles 34:4
They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence; and the incense altars that were on high above them he cut down; and the Asherim, and the engraved images, and the molten images, he broke in pieces, and made dust of them, and strewed it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Nehemiah 9:18
Yes, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt, and had committed awful blasphemies;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Job 28:2
Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY)

Job 37:18
Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Job 38:38
When the dust runneth as into a molten mass, and the clods cleave fast together?
(DBY)

Psalms 106:19
They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped a molten image.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Isaiah 30:22
You shall defile the overlaying of your engraved images of silver, and the plating of your molten images of gold. You shall cast them away as an unclean thing. You shall tell it, "Go away!"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Isaiah 41:29
Behold, all of them, their works are vanity and nothing. Their molten images are wind and confusion.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Isaiah 42:17
"Those who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images,'You are our gods' will be turned back. They will be utterly disappointed.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Isaiah 44:10
Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
(KJV JPS ASV DBY YLT)

Isaiah 48:5
therefore I have declared it to you from of old; before it came to pass I showed it to you; lest you should say,'My idol has done them, and my engraved image, and my molten image, has commanded them.'
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Jeremiah 10:14
Every man is become brutish and is without knowledge; every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Jeremiah 51:17
Every man is become brutish and is without knowledge; every goldsmith is disappointed by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Ezekiel 24:11
Then set it empty on its coals, that it may be hot, and its brass may burn, and that its filthiness may be molten in it, that its rust may be consumed.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY)

Daniel 11:8
Also their gods, with their molten images, and with their goodly vessels of silver and of gold, shall he carry captive into Egypt; and he shall refrain some years from the king of the north.
(WEB JPS ASV RSV)

Hosea 13:2
Now they sin more and more, and have made themselves molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of them,'They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves.'
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Micah 1:4
And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.
(KJV JPS)

Nahum 1:14
Yahweh has commanded concerning you: "No more descendants will bear your name. Out of the house of your gods, will I cut off the engraved image and the molten image. I will make your grave, for you are vile."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

Habakkuk 2:18
"What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols?
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Subtopics

Molten

Molten Sea

Related Terms

Shape (17 Occurrences)

Carved (36 Occurrences)

Founder (5 Occurrences)

Engraved (62 Occurrences)

Laver (13 Occurrences)

Graven (61 Occurrences)

Idol (56 Occurrences)

Teraphim (14 Occurrences)