uses. It being one of the oldest metals known, Tubal-cain prior to the Noachian flood forged tools out of copper. (Gen. 4:22) Household and sanctuary utensils included pots, basins, pans, shovels and forks. (Ex. 38:3; Lev. 6:28; Jer. 52:18) Copper was used for doors, gates, pillars and musical instruments (2 Ki. 25:13; 1 Chron. 15:19; Ps. 107:16; Isa. 45:2); armor, shields, weapons and fetters. (1 Sam. 17:5, 6, 38; 2 Sam. 22:35; 2 Ki. 25:7; 2 Chron. 12:10) The metal was also used in the making of idols. (Rev. 9:20) Copper coins were in circulation in Jesus’ day. (Matt. 10:9) The Scriptures also speak of copper in a figurative or symbolic sense.—Lev. 26:19; Job 6:12; Isa. 48:4; 60:17; Jer. 1:18; Ezek. 1:7; Dan. 2:32; Rev. 1:15; 2:18.

See METALWORKER; MINE, MINING; REFINE, REFINER.

COPPER SERPENT

The copper figure or representation of a serpent made by Moses during Israel’s trek in the wilderness. Near the border of Edom the people showed a rebellious spirit, complaining about the miraculously provided manna and the water supply. Jehovah therefore punished them by sending poisonous serpents among them and many persons died from serpent bites. After the people showed repentance and Moses interceded for them, Jehovah told him to make a figure in the form of a serpent and to place it upon a signal pole. Moses complied, and “it did occur that if a serpent had bitten a man and he gazed at the copper serpent, he then kept alive.”—Num. 21:4-9; 1 Cor. 10:9.

The Scriptures do not identify the type of venomous serpent Jehovah sent among the people. The Hebrew expression for “poisonous serpents” (han-n^ehha·shimʹ has·s^era·phimʹ) at Numbers 21:6 can denote a “fiery serpent,” perhaps from the burning or inflammation-causing effect of its poison. This may indicate that the bite caused a burning sensation because of inflammation or thirst.

The Israelites kept the copper serpent and later improperly began to worship it, making sacrificial smoke to it. Hence, as part of his religious reforms, Judean King Hezekiah (745-716 B.C.E.) had the now more than seven-hundred-year-old copper serpent crushed to pieces because the people had made an idol of it. According to the Hebrew text the account at 2 Kings 18:4 reads in part quite literally, “one (he) began to call it Ne·hushʹtan.” Some translations leave the word “Nehushtan” untranslated (AT; Ro; RS), and suggested meanings of the Hebrew term n^ehhush·tanʹ are “only a bit of bronze” or “a bronze thing” and, probably, “bronze-god.” The New World Translation appropriately says that the copper serpent “used to be called the copper serpent-idol.”—See Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, by Koehler and Baumgartner, p. 610.

Jesus Christ made clear the prophetic meaning of the wilderness event involving the copper serpent when he told Nicodemus: “Moreover, no man has ascended into heaven but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of man must be lifted up, that everyone believing in him may have everlasting life.” (John 3:13-15) Like the copper serpent Moses placed on a pole in the wilderness, the Son of God was impaled or fastened on a stake, thus appearing to many as an evildoer and a groveling sinner, like a snake, being in the position of one cursed. (Deut. 21:22, 23; Gal. 3:13; 1 Pet. 2:24) In the wilderness a person who had been bitten by one of the poisonous serpents Jehovah sent among the Israelites evidently had to gaze at the copper serpent in faith. Similarly, to gain everlasting life through Christ it is necessary to exercise faith in him.

COPYIST

Biblically speaking, the term “copyist” applies to a transcriber or person who made copies of written material, specifically of the Scriptures. The Hebrew word rendered “copyist” is so·pherʹ, which has to do with counting and recording and has various meanings. It can denote a scribe (Judg. 5:14), a secretary (Jer. 36:32) and a recorder. (Ezek. 9:2, 3) A “scribe” is either a public writer penning compositions dictated by various persons, a secretary, or copyist or teacher of the Law. However, the term “copyist” is especially apropos when applied to individuals who worked at copying the Law and other portions of the Holy Scriptures. Particularly identified as copyists are Shaphan, a certain Zadok and the priest Ezra.—Jer. 36:10; Neh. 13:13; 12:26, 36.

The priest Ezra, who went from Babylon to Jerusalem with the Jewish remnant in the seventh year of Persian King Artaxerxes (468 B.C.E.), is identified as “a skilled copyist in the law of Moses” and as “a copyist of the words of the commandments of Jehovah and of his regulations toward Israel.” (Ezra 7:6, 7, 11) In his time the Jewish scribes first became prominent as a group of Scripture copyists. Thousands of Jews had remained in Babylon and others had been scattered about because of migrations and for business purposes. Local assembly halls known as synagogues sprang up in different places and, for these, copyists had to make handwritten copies of Biblical manuscripts. They did so with great care.—See SCRIBE.

It was Ezra, the skillful priestly copyist, who read “the book of the law of Moses” to a congregation in restored Jerusalem. Competent explanation and instruction given by Ezra and his assistants on that occasion led to “great rejoicing” and rich blessings for the assembled people.—Neh. chap. 8.

The psalmist, his heart “astir with a goodly matter” concerning God’s Messianic King, said: “May my tongue be the stylus of a skilled copyist.” (Ps. 45:1-5) His wish, it seems, was that his tongue prove to be eloquent, a match for the exalted theme of his composition, which was inspired of God. Thus, the psalmist desired that his tongue function efficiently, like a stylus in the hand of a trained and skillful copyist, one with ability.

COR

A dry measure and also one used for measuring oil. The cor corresponded to the homer and contained ten bath measures. (1 Ki. 4:22; 5:11; 2 Chron. 2:10; Ezek. 45:14) If the bath measure is to be reckoned at 5.81 gallons (22 liters), as favored by archaeological evidence, the cor measure would equal 58.1 gallons (220 liters).

CORAL

The limestone deposits of certain sea organisms called polyps. Living in colonies, these tiny warm-water creatures take the calcium salts from the sea and build out of them beautifully branched shrublike structures that are as hard as stone. In time these formations may amount to great coral reefs and the foundations of coral islands. There are different colors of coral, varieties of white, black and red, the latter being the most costly and most desired in ancient times. Tyre at one time was noted for her trade in coral, which was harvested from the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. (Ezek. 27:16) Out of the raw coral, craftsmen artistically fashioned various ornaments that were highly prized by the wealthy.

Recognizing the esteemed value of coral, the Bible makes several interesting comparisons. Knowledge and wisdom certainly outrate the value of coral. (Job 28:18; Prov. 3:15; 8:11; 20:15) The same is true of a capable wife, “her value is far more than that of corals.”—Prov. 31:10.

[Picture on page 376]

Shrublike coral growth

CORBAN

(cor’ban).

As explained at Mark 7:11, “corban” is “a gift dedicated to God.” The Greek word there rendered “corban” is kor·banʹ, the equivalent of the Hebrew word qor·banʹ, meaning an offering. Qor·banʹ is used in Leviticus and Numbers and applies both to offerings containing blood and those that are bloodless. (Lev. 1:2, 3; 2:1; Num. 5:15; 6:14, 21) This Hebrew word is also employed at Ezekiel 20:28 and 40:43. Akin to the Greek word kor·banʹ is kor·ba·nanʹ, appearing at Matthew 27:6, where the chief priests are reported as saying that it would not be lawful to take the betrayal money Judas had thrown into the temple and drop these silver pieces into the “sacred treasury [kor·ba·nanʹ],” because they were “the price of blood.”

By the time of Jesus Christ’s ministry on earth, a culpable practice had developed in connection with corban, it especially being fostered by the Pharisees. They taught that money, property or anything dedicated to the temple as “corban,” or a votive gift, thereafter belonged to the temple and could not be used for some other purpose. Actually the gift or devoted thing was kept by the person who made the vow. Yet, according to this practice, a son could avoid his responsibility to support his old and indigent parents merely by saying that his property, or some portion of it, was “corban,” a gift dedicated to God or to the temple. He would say, “Be it corban,” or, “It is corban,” and he would not have to use such property to support his parents who might be in desperate straits and request or need his aid in the future. In later Judaism, even if a person rashly employed the term “corban” and thereafter changed his mind, the gift so designated was never to be used in any other way.—Mark 7:9-13.

The historian Josephus reports that Pontius Pilate caused a great disturbance “by expending that sacred treasure which is called corban upon aqueducts” to help supply Jerusalem with water. (Wars of the Jews, Book II, chap. IX, par. 4) Josephus also associated “corban” with persons, stating: “Such also as dedicate themselves to God, as a corban, which denotes what the Greeks call a gift, when they are desirous of being freed from that ministration, are to lay down money for the priests.” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book IV, chap. IV, par. 4) However, the term “corban” was more generally used for property dedicated as a gift to God. Of some interest is an Aramaic inscription appearing on the lid of an ossuary found in a Jewish tomb (said to date from the beginning of the Common Era) discovered at Jebel Hallet et-Tûri, SE of Jerusalem. The inscription uses the Aramaic word for “corban” and, while its wording is somewhat uncertain, a suggested reading is: “All that a man may find-to-his-profit in this ossuary (is) an offering to God from him who is within it.”

CORD, ROPE

Several Hebrew words and one Greek word are used in the Scriptures to denote thread, string, cord and rope of various kinds. Most often employed is the Hebrew word hheʹvel (from a root word meaning “to twist”). Hheʹvel is used both literally and figuratively to denote cord and rope. (2 Sam. 17:13; Eccl. 12:6; Hos. 11:4) It can, among other things, signify a measuring line (2 Sam. 8:2) and thus is sometimes employed as a topographical term for a measured area, an allotment (Josh. 17:5, 14; 19:9) or a region.—Deut. 3:4, 13, 14; see MEASURING LINE.

The only Greek word used in the Scriptures to signify rope is skhoi·niʹon, which is applied to a cord or rope and may denote a rope made of reeds or rushes. In righteous indignation, “after making a whip of ropes,” Jesus Christ “drove all those with the sheep and cattle out of the temple,” evidently using the whip of ropes, not on the men, but on the animals.—John 2:13-17.

Some cords and ropes of ancient times were made from flax, others from hemp fiber, the fiber of ramie, or that of the date palm. Strong, thick rope made of palm tree bark fiber was discovered at Ezion-geber. Rushes and reeds of various kinds were also evidently used, and among the materials employed by the Egyptians were twisted leather strips that made a powerful rope. The fibers of ramie (Boehmeria nivea, an Asiatic plant of the nettle family) made a very strong rope, quite useful for fishnets.

Cords were sometimes used as articles of attire. For instance, Judah seems to have carried his seal ring on a cord. (Gen. 38:18, 25) “Wreathed chains, in rope work, of pure gold” were put through the two rings at the extremities of the breastpiece worn by Israel’s high priest. (Ex. 39:15-18) Palace articles of Persian King Ahasuerus included “linen, fine cotton and blue held fast in ropes of fine fabric.”—Esther 1:6.

Cords were used to fasten tents. (Isa. 54:2; Ex. 39:40) There were wagon cords (Isa. 5:18) and cords used for bowstrings. (Job 30:11; Ps. 11:2) Ropes and cords were also used to bind captives. (Judg. 15:13-15; Ezek. 3:25) Ropes served as tackling for ships.—Isa. 33:23.

FIGURATIVE USAGE

The congregator said: “A threefold cord cannot quickly be torn in two.” (Eccl. 4:12) By untwisting a cord made up of three strands, each strand alone can quickly be broken. But if they are plaited, the resulting “threefold cord” cannot easily be torn in two. Similarly, God’s servants entwined with one another, as it were, in unity of view and purpose have greater spiritual strength, such as is needed to cope with opposition. The congregator also urged remembering the Creator in youth, “before the silver cord is removed” (Eccl. 12:1, 6), the “silver cord” possibly meaning the spinal cord, the severing of which results in death.

David, referring to a time when a violent death appeared imminent and it seemed certain that Sheol awaited him, said “the ropes of death encircled me” and “the very ropes of Sheol surrounded me.” Apparently, he felt as if ropes had been cast around him and were pulling him down into the grave, drawing him into death and Sheol.—Ps. 18:4, 5.

Isaiah said: “Woe to those drawing error with ropes of untruth, and as with wagon cords sin,” perhaps to indicate their attachment to error and sin in a way similar to that in which animals are bound with ropes, or by cords, to wagons they draw behind them.—Isa. 5:18.

In an act evidently symbolic of abject subjection and humiliation, defeated Syrians “girded sackcloth upon their loins, with ropes upon their heads, and came in to the king of Israel,” seeking Ahab’s indulgence toward Syrian King Ben-hadad. Each may have worn a rope as a band around his head.—1 Ki. 20:31-34.

As pagan rulers and nations who did not want to become vassals of the Israelites gathered together