According to Reynolds and Sjodahl, it is true enough that in most, if not in all, of the passages in the Old Testament where the English version has "steel" the original has a word that means "copper." But in Jeremiah 15:12, where the Prophet asks: "Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?" scholars have suggested that "the northern iron" may mean steel, while the "steel" mentioned is copper. In Nahum 2:4, where the prophet speaks of raging chariots that seem like "torches," the word translated "torches" (paldah) should be rendered "steel." [George Reynolds and Janne M. Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1, p. 38]
“Steel Bronze”
According to Hunter and Ferguson, it should be noted that references in the Old Testament to "steel" were, apparently, to the metal we now refer to as bronze. Prior to the eighteenth century there was no such word in English as "bronze." That copper-tin alloy was anciently referred to as "steel" to distinguish it from brass. Not until the eighteenth century did the English word "bronze" come into use. Thus, the King James translators necessarily rendered the Hebrew word "nechushah" (pronounced nekh-oo-shaw) as "steel," distinguishing it from "nechosheth" which is generally rendered "brass." The word "steel" is also used in the Book of Mormon on four occasions. (1 Nephi 4:9, 16:18; 2 Nephi 5:15; Ether 7:9) [Milton Hunter and Stuart Ferguson, (Ancient America and the Book of Mormon, p. 277] [See the commentary on 1 Nephi 3:3, Brass]
“Steel”
According to Matthew Roper, many critics of the Book of Mormon have cited the mention of "steel" in 1 Nephi 4:9 as evidence against the Book of Mormon's historicity. "Steel," it is argued "was not known to man in those days." Today, however, it is increasingly apparent that the practice of "steeling" iron through deliberate carburization was well-known to the Near Eastern world from which the Lehi colony emerged. "It seems evident that by the beginning of the tenth century B.C. blacksmiths were intentionally steeling iron." A carburized iron knife dating to the twelfth century B.C. is known from Cyprus. In addition to this,
A site on Mt. Adir in northern Israel has yielded an iron pick in association with 12th-century pottery. One would hesitate to remove a sample from the pick for analysis, but it has been possible to test the tip of it for hardness. The readings averaged 38 on the Rockwell "C: scale of hardness. This is a reading characteristic of modern hardened steel.
Quenching, another method of steeling iron, was also known to Mediterranean blacksmiths during this period. "By the beginning of the seventh century B.C. at the latest the blacksmiths of the eastern Mediterranean had mastered two of the processes that make iron a useful material for tools and weapons: carburizing and quenching." Archaeologists recently discovered a carburized iron sword near Jericho. The sword, which had a bronze haft, was one meter long and dates to the time of King Josiah, who would likely have been a contemporary of Lehi. Hershel Shanks recently described the find as "spectacular" since it is the only complete sword of its size and type from this period yet discovered in Israel. [Matthew Roper, "Unanswered Mormon Scholars," in FARMS Review of Books, 9/1 1997, pp. 149-150] [See the commentary on 1 Nephi 17:9]
“The Hilt Thereof Was of Pure Gold and the Blade Thereof Was of the Most Precious Steel”
In referring to the sword of Laban, Nephi speaks of a hilt of "pure gold" and a blade of "the most precious steel" (1 Nephi 4:9). Hugh Nibley claims that such ceremonial swords and daggers with hilts of finely worked gold have been common in the Near East throughout historic times. Many exemplars from Egypt and Babylonia repose in our museums, but none is more famous or more beautiful than the fine steel dagger with its hilt of pure gold and finest workmanship, that was found on the person of the youthful King Tutankhamen. It has even been suggested that this dagger was one of those two sent many years before by King Dushratta of the Mitannin to the then reigning pharaoh as the most royal of gifts and described in a contemporary document as having hilts of gold and blades of steel. Nephi's term "precious steel" is interesting, for in his day real steel was far more precious than gold, being made possibly of meteoric iron and of superlative quality. The famous Damascus blades, of the finest steel the world has ever seen, were always made of meteoric iron, according to Jacob--an indication of very ancient origin. Even in modern Palestine swords and daggers have been "mostly of Damascus or Egyptian manufacture." No Arab prince to this day is ever seen in native dress without his khanjar, the long curved dagger of Damascus steel with its gorgeous hilt of gold. These ceremonial weapons are often heirlooms of great antiquity and immense value. At any time from the Amarna period (15th century B.C.) to the present, then, Laban would be required by the etiquette of the aristocratic east to carry just such a weapon as Nephi describes. [Hugh Nibley, Lehi in the Desert, F.A.R.M.S., p. 108]
1 Nephi 4:9 I beheld his [Laban's] sword ([Illustration]): Ancient Steel Daggers. [John Welch and Morgan Ashton, "Ancient Steel Daggers," in Charting the Book of Mormon, F.A.R.M.S., Packet 1.