Mirror

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(wonder at). Egyptian mirrors, which the Hebrew women affected, were highly polished metal plates, chiefly of copper (Ex. 38:8⁸And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. (Exodus 38:8); Job 37:18¹⁸Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass? (Job 37:18); 1 Cor. 13:12¹²For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)).

Concise Bible Dictionary:

See GLASS.

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Exodus 38:8⁸And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. (Exodus 38:8). He made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the looking-glasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Ancient mirrors were metallic. The mirrors of the Egyptians were made of a mixed metal, chiefly copper, and were admirably polished. They were usually small, being in size and in general shape what would now be called hand-mirrors. They were wrought with great skill, and the handles, which were of wood, stone, or metal, were artistically shaped and highly ornamented. The Egyptian women were in the habit of carrying a mirror in one hand when they went to their temples to worship. It may be that the Hebrew women imitated this custom when they brought their mirrors to “the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.”

Dr. Shaw (Travels, p. 24) says that the Moorish women he saw made their mirrors a part of the ornaments of their costume, hanging them on the breast, and wearing them with their other ornaments even when engaged in severest drudgery.

Allusion is made to metallic mirrors in Job 37:18¹⁸Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass? (Job 37:18); Isaiah 3:23²³The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. (Isaiah 3:23); 2 Corinthians 3:18¹⁸But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18); James 1:23²³For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: (James 1:23).

Mirror

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

Concise Bible Dictionary:

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

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