Description and usage
A pair of tongs was a metal tool that was U-shaped. The user held the tool near its closed end; by squeezing its two arms together, it was possible to pick up hot coals or other objects. Tongs may be thought of as a large version of the tweezers often used today for plucking hairs or removing thorns or splinters.
Translation
The Hebrew word melqachayim always refers to an implement used by the priests. Except for ISA 6:6, where no material is specified, they were all made of gold, and they were used in connection with the lamps of the Tabernacle and Temple. Some commentators understand the word melqachayim in these passages to refer to a smaller set of tongs used to adjust or remove the wicks in the lamps (see Snuffer, wick trimmer and Oil lamp and wick). So in this context it would be a kind of “pincers” or large tweezers.
The Hebrew word ma’atsad in ISA 44:12 refers to tongs similar in construction to those used in the Tabernacle and Temple. The pair of tongs in this verse, however, was used by a blacksmith to hold hot metal while he worked on it.