Amber: (Ezekiel 1:4,27; 8:2) Heb., hashmal, rendered by the LXX. elektron, and by
the Vulgate electrum), a metal compounded of silver and gold. Some
translate the word by "polished brass," others "fine brass," as in
(Revelation 1:15; 2:18) It was probably the mixture now called electrum. The
word has no connection, however, with what is now called amber, which
is a gummy substance, reckoned as belonging to the mineral kingdom
though of vegetable origin, a fossil resin.
