Bible Dictionary
Caldron
A caldron was a large cooking pot used for boiling meat in domestic or sanctuary settings. Different biblical terms may refer to pots of varying size and use.
Definition
A caldron was a pot or vessel for boiling or cooking flesh. Biblical terms translated “caldron” could refer to vessels of undefined size or to distinctly large pots used in domestic life and in sanctuary service.
Biblical Usage
Caldron imagery appears in descriptions of sanctuary cooking, domestic cooking, and prophetic comparisons. The word in Job translated “caldron” by the King James Version is identified in the Revised Version as “rushes,” not a cooking vessel.
Historical Background
The supplied material distinguishes several Hebrew terms for cooking pots, including one used for both domestic and sanctuary purposes and another referring to a large pot. Their exact size and characteristics were not uniform.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Smith's Bible Dictionary
a vessel for boiling flesh, for either ceremonial or domestic use. (1 Samuel 2:14; 2 Chronicles 35:13; Job 41:20; Micah 3:3)
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>kol'-drun (the rendering of qallachath, cir, dudh 'aghmon) : Qallachath is found only in 1Sa 2:14; Mic 3:3. It is a pot for cooking, of undefined size and characteristics, in the former passage for sanctuary use, in the latter for domestic. Cir is translated caldron in Jer 1:13 (Revised Versions); Jer 52:18 f(the King James Version); Eze 11:3,7,11. It was distinctly a large pot, employed both for domestic use and in the sanctuary. Dudh is translated caldron only in 2Ch 35:13. It was also a pot for cooking. 'Aghmon is translated caldron by the King James Version in Job 41:20, but it is a mistranslation; the Revised Version (British and American) correctly has "rushes."</p><p>George Ricker Berry</p>