Glass
Was known to the Egyptians at a very early period of their national history, at least B.C. 1500. Various articles both useful and ornamental were made of it, as bottles, vases, etc. A glass bottle with the name of Sargon on it was found among the ruins of the north-west palace of Nimroud. The Hebrew word zekukith (Job 28:17), rendered in the Authorized Version “crystal,” is rightly rendered in the Revised Version “glass.” This is the only allusion to glass found in the Old Testament. It is referred to in the New Testament in Rev 4:6; Rev 15:2; Rev 21:18, Rev 21:21. In Job 37:18, the word rendered “looking-glass” is in the Revised Version properly rendered “mirror,” formed, i.e., of some metal. (Comp. Ex 38:8: “looking-glasses” are brazen mirrors, R.V.). A mirror is referred to also in Jas 1:23.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
