Objects — B

balsam

Balsam is among Ishmaelite trade goods bound for Egypt in Genesis 37 and among the gifts Jacob sends with his sons to Joseph in Genesis 43.

barley

Barley is ruined by the hail plague in Exodus 9 because it is already in the ear.

basin

Moses puts the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, fills it with water, and anoints it. Moses, Aaron and his sons wash their hands and feet there.

basket

A basket holding unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, of fine wheat flour. It is presented with the bull and two rams at the priests' consecration; a loaf, cake and wafer from it are waved before Yahweh, and Aaron and his sons eat the remaining bread at the Tent of Meeting.

bdellium

A resin/gum mentioned alongside gold and onyx in the land of Havilah.

bells

They make bells of pure gold and put them between the pomegranates all round the lower hem of the robe, alternately a bell and then a pomegranate.

belt

They make waistbands of finely woven linen embroidered with violet-purple, red-purple and crimson. The ephod's waistband is of a piece with it.

beryl

A precious stone in the fourth row of the breastplate of judgement, with cornelian and jasper.

birthright

Esau sells his birthright to Jacob in Genesis 25 and later laments that Jacob has supplanted him twice in Genesis 27.

bitter-herbs

Bitter herbs are eaten with the roasted Passover flesh and unleavened bread on the night Israel leaves Egypt.

bitumen

Bitumen is used as mortar at Babel and in wells of Siddim; in Exodus 2 Moses' mother coats his papyrus basket with bitumen and pitch.

blood

Blood marks covenant, Passover, and sacrifice; the blood of Yahweh's sacrificial victim must not be offered with leavened bread, nor the Passover victim left until the following day.

boils

Boils break into sores on man and beast after Moses throws soot from the kiln into the air before Pharaoh in Exodus 9.

bones

Human remains; Joseph put Israel under oath to take his bones from Egypt, and in Exodus 13 Moses takes them as they leave.

book

Yahweh tells Moses to write the victory over Amalek in a book to commemorate it and to repeat it over to Joshua. After the golden calf Moses asks to be blotted out of the book Yahweh has written if Israel's sin is not forgiven; Yahweh will blot out those who have sinned against him.

Book of the Covenant

Moses reads the Book of the Covenant to the people at Sinai; they swear to do everything Yahweh has said, and he sprinkles them with the blood of the covenant.

bow

Weapon for archery; in Genesis 49 hostile archers attack Joseph but their bows are broken by the Mighty One of Jacob.

bracelets

Gold bracelets are given to Rebekah; those whose hearts prompt them bring bracelets as a freewill contribution of gold for the Tent of Meeting.

bread

Bread appears in hospitality meals and wilderness provision; in Exodus 16 Yahweh rains bread from heaven as Israel's daily manna ration. At Aaron's investiture a loaf, an oiled cake, and a wafer from the basket of unleavened bread are placed on the priests' palms and waved before Yahweh.

breastplate

They make the breastplate of the same embroidered work as the ephod, square and doubled over, a span each way, with twelve stones for the names of the sons of Israel, fastened so it will not come apart from the ephod.

breeches

They make the breeches of finely woven linen. Aaron and his sons wear them when they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the altar.

bricks

Bricks built Babel and Israel's store-cities; in Exodus 5 Pharaoh demands the same brick quota after cutting off the supply of straw.

brimstone

Brimstone is rained on Sodom and Gomorrah in the judgment narrative of Genesis 19.

bronze

Bronze consecrated for the sanctuary is seventy talents and 2,400 shekels. From it come the altar overlay, grating, basin, court sockets and all pegs for the Dwelling and court.

bullocks

Young Israelites sacrifice bullocks to Yahweh as communion sacrifices when Moses seals the covenant at Sinai. For the priests' consecration one young bull is presented with two rams; it is slaughtered as a sin offering, its fat burned on the altar and the rest burned outside the camp.

burial-site

Place set aside for burial; in Genesis 50 Jacob is buried at Abraham's Machpelah burial site bought from Ephron.

burnt-offering

Moses offers the burnt offering and cereal offering on the altar of burnt offerings at the entrance to the Dwelling.

bush

A bush shelters Ishmael's child in Genesis 21; in Exodus 3 the angel of Yahweh appears in a flame from a bush that blazes yet is not burnt up at Horeb.