Bible Dictionary
Beaten gold
Beaten gold refers to gold worked by hammering or shaping into plates or rounded work. The exact meaning varies by passage and may include thin or mixed goldwork.
Definition
Beaten gold denotes gold shaped or worked by hammering. Depending on the passage, it may refer to rounded or turned work, solid gold, mixed gold, or thin plates of gold; the exact sense is uncertain in the supplied material.
Biblical Usage
The expression occurs in descriptions of goldwork connected with the tabernacle and royal furnishings.
Historical Background
The supplied explanations differ over whether the gold was solid, mixed, or made into thin plates, so the precise manufacturing form cannot be stated with certainty.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
In Num. 8:4, means “turned” or rounded work in gold. The Greek Version, however, renders the word “solid gold;” the Revised Version, “beaten work of gold.” In 1 Kings 10:16, 17, it probably means “mixed” gold, as the word ought to be rendered, i.e., not pure gold. Others render the word in these places “thin plates of gold.”
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>See GOLD (BEATEN).</p>