| Ezekiel 1:4
| And I saw, and behold a whirlwind came out of the north: and a great cloud, and a fire infolding it, and brightness was about it: and out of the midst thereof, that is, out of the midst of the fire, as it were the resemblance of amber:
| North, denoting the invasion of Judea by the Chaldeans, Isaias 14:31. (Sanctius) --- The Jews thought the following vision inexplicable, and deliberated about rejecting the book, when Ananias offered to answer every difficulty. They assigned him three hundred barrels of oil to light his lamp, while he performed the task. (Rabbins) --- This hyperbole shews their idea of its obscurity. (Calmet) --- Amber, (electri) a compound of four parts of gold and one of silver, (Pliny, [Natural History?] 33:4.) more precious than either. (St. Jerome) --- It may also mean orichalchum, or a mixture of gold and brass, (Bochart, anim. 2 b. 6:16.) which was also preferred before gold alone, as it had the hardness of brass. (Lucret. Serv. in xii. Aeneid.) -----alboque orichalcho Circumdat loricam humeris. --- Two vessels are mentioned, probably of this composition, 1 Esdras 8:27. (Calmet)
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