Editing Fire and brimstone (section)

==Etymology==
According to ''[[Strong's Concordance]]'', the term translated as "brimstone", the Hebrew ''gofrīt'', is the adjectival form of ''gōfer'' (גֹפֶר), which is used earlier in the Hebrew Bible to denote the [[Gofer wood|wood]] which was used to build [[Noah's Ark]]. In this view, the term would not denote sulfur, but instead, some sort of derivative of the wood or its tree, which was presumably flammable. Strong concludes that ''gofrīt'' must therefore refer to the plant's [[resin]], as resin's flammable nature was both known and widely exploited during ancient times.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H1614&t=KJV |title=Strong's H1614 - gāp̄rîṯ |publisher=Blue Letter Bible |access-date=2023-07-12}}</ref>

The [[Septuagint]] translates the Hebrew term as ''theîon'' (θεῖον), a word which shares the root of the verb ''thumiáō'' (θυμιάω), which means "to burn, to smoke". This unambiguously refers to sulfur, as [[Pliny the Elder]] writes that the substance was widely used as a fumigant, medicine, and bleaching agent.<ref>''Pliny the Elder on science and technology'', John F. Healy, Oxford University Press, 1999, {{ISBN|0-19-814687-6}}, pp. 247–249.</ref> Compounding this, the [[Targum Jonathan]] translates the Hebrew ''gofrīt'' as ''kīvrētāʾ'' ([[Aramaic]]: כִּבְרֵיתָא),<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org/Targum_Jonathan_on_Genesis.19.24?lang=bi&lookup=%D7%9B%D6%BC%D6%B4%D7%91%D6%B0%D7%A8%D6%B5%D7%99%D7%AA%D6%B8%D7%90&with=Lexicon&lang2=en Targum Jonathan on Genesis 19:24]</ref> a term used several times in the [[Talmud]] for a substance which was used to bleach clothing.