IS IT AMBER OR METAL?

Abstract

The KJV translates חשׁמל in Ezekiel 1 as "amber" (fossilized resin) whereas the Septuagint renders it "electron" (translated in the Vulgate as electrum, which is a mixture of gold and silver). Amber possesses the characteristic of static electricity, and has been known to fly into splinters when polished, thus the use of חשׁמל with the meaning of amber contributes to the sense of a dynamic mechanism moving outwards from the merkebah throne. When חשׁמל is taken in context the communicative aspect is most clearly conveyed in Ez 1:14, which suggests angelic activity in the movement described as back and forth from the throne of YHWH. The suggestion of a dynamic communicative aspect is confirmed when extra-biblical texts relating to Ezekiel chapters 1 and 10 such as I Enoch, Book of Watchers, and the Angelic Liturgy from Qumran, are consulted. Thus it is argued that the metaphorical use in Ezekiel 1 of חשׁמל as amber to explain the mechanism of mediation believed to arise from the enthroned deity justifies the translation as amber.