Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY
Watchtower
ONLINE LIBRARY
English
  • BIBLE
  • PUBLICATIONS
  • MEETINGS
  • it-1 p. 282
  • Bellows

No video available for this selection.

Sorry, there was an error loading the video.

  • Bellows
  • Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 1
  • Similar Material
  • From Bottles to Beautiful Beads
    Awake!—1995
  • Refine, Refiner
    Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 2
  • Furnace
    Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 1
  • Copper—Man’s Long-Time Servant
    Awake!—1973
See More
Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 1
it-1 p. 282

BELLOWS

A device that can be alternately expanded and contracted, first drawing in air through a valve, then forcibly expelling it out an exit tube. For giving furnaces a forced draft, the bellows are more efficient than mere fanning, or the antiquated lung-powered hollow reeds and blowtubes also used for this purpose. The construction of bellows was simple: A bag mounted on a frame or base was attached to a tube leading to the furnace, which tube may have been of iron, or reed tipped with fire-resistant clay. Hand-operated bellows were useful for small forges; but for large high-temperature furnaces, dual foot-powered bellows were employed, one under each foot of the operator, who pumped down alternately, first one foot and then the other, each time pulling a cord to refill the compressed one. To give these big furnaces a constant draft, two men worked two pairs of bellows. The Hebrew word for bellows is map·puʹach, which comes from the root na·phachʹ, meaning “blow.” (Ge 2:7) This instrument is specifically mentioned only once in the Scriptures (Jer 6:29), though perhaps alluded to at Isaiah 54:16 and Ezekiel 22:20, 21. In these texts the references are figurative, and the illustrations are drawn from the methods used for refining metals.​—See REFINE, REFINER.

    English Publications (1950-2021)
    Log Out
    Log In
    • English
    • Share
    • Preferences
    • Copyright © 2021 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • JW.ORG
    • Log In
    Share