TONGS (מֶלְקָחַ֫יִם, H4920). Instruments made of gold used to dress the wicks of the seven-branched candlestick in the Temple, the burnt parts of the wicks being placed in snuff dishes (1 Kings 7:49; 2 Chron 4:21). Tongs were used by seraphim, in Isaiah’s vision, to remove a burning coal from the altar (Isa 6:6). In Exodus 25:38 and Numbers 4:9 where the KJV has TONGS, the RSV has SNUFFERS, referring to the instruments of gold used to dress the temple lamps. In Isaiah 44:12, the KJV has, “The smith with the tongs (מַעֲצָד, H5108) both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it [the idol] with hammers”; the RSV has “The ironsmith fashions it [the idol] and works it over the coals; he shapes it with hammers.”