Numbers 31:23
in Numbers 31everything that can withstand the fire—must be put through the fire, and it will be clean. But it must still be purified with the water of purification. And everything that cannot withstand the fire must pass through the water.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
everything that may abide the fire, ye shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make to go through the water.
KJV
Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.
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This verse in Numbers 31
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThe water of separation - The water in which the ashes of the red heifer were mingled; See Num 8:7 (note), Num 19:2 (note), etc. Garments, whether of cloth or skins, were to be washed. Gold, silver, brass, iron, tin, and lead, to pass through the fire, probably to be melted down.
This site's exposition
abide without the camp seven days
on Numbers 31:19-25
Winning the battle exempts no one from the law of the dead. Every man who killed or touched a body waits outside seven days and is purified on the third day and the seventh with the water of separation, which is the red heifer ordinance of chapter 19 put to work. Eleazar rather than Moses states the law here, and he adds a rule chapter 19 did not give, that metal able to bear fire goes through fire and what cannot bear it goes through water. The captives are purified along with the soldiers.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire,....
These things had been use by Midianites, and, having now come into the possession of Israelites, it was fit that they should be sanctified to the service of that holy nation and the honour of their holy God. To us now every thing is sanctified by the word and prayer, if we are sanctified by the Spirit, who is compared both to fire and water.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
A process of purification was to be undergone, as the law required (Le 15:13; Nu 19:9-12), and this purifying ceremony was extended to dress, houses, tents, to everything on which a dead body had lain, which had been touched by the blood-stained hands of the Israelitish warriors, or which had been the property of idolaters.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| דָּבָ֞ר | davar | thing | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יָבֹ֣א | yavo' | it will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בָאֵ֗שׁ | vaesh | in the fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| תַּעֲבִ֤ירוּ | taaviru | you will make pass | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בָאֵשׁ֙ | vaesh | in the fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| וְטָהֵ֔ר | vetaher | and it will be pure | H2891 → | 94 times |
| אַ֕ךְ | ʾakh | nevertheless | H389 → | 161 times |
| בְּמֵ֥י | bemei | by [the] water of | H4325 → | 581 times |
| נִדָּ֖ה | nidah | impurity | H5079 → | 29 times |
| יִתְחַטָּ֑א | yitchata' | it will purify itself | H2398 → | 238 times |
| וְכֹ֨ל | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֧ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָבֹ֛א | yavo' | it will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בָּאֵ֖שׁ | baesh | in the fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| תַּעֲבִ֥ירוּ | taaviru | you will make pass | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בַמָּֽיִם׃ | vamayim | in the water | H4325 → | 581 times |
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
דָּבָ֞רthing
davarH1697 →1440 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יָבֹ֣אit will go
yavo'H935 →2568 times
בָאֵ֗שׁin the fire
vaeshH784 →378 times
תַּעֲבִ֤ירוּyou will make pass
taaviruH5674 →556 times
בָאֵשׁ֙in the fire
vaeshH784 →378 times
וְטָהֵ֔רand it will be pure
vetaherH2891 →94 times
אַ֕ךְnevertheless
ʾakhH389 →161 times
בְּמֵ֥יby [the] water of
bemeiH4325 →581 times
נִדָּ֖הimpurity
nidahH5079 →29 times
יִתְחַטָּ֑אit will purify itself
yitchata'H2398 →238 times
וְכֹ֨לand all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁ֧רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָבֹ֛אit will go
yavo'H935 →2568 times
בָּאֵ֖שׁin the fire
baeshH784 →378 times
תַּעֲבִ֥ירוּyou will make pass
taaviruH5674 →556 times
בַמָּֽיִם׃in the water
vamayimH4325 →581 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 43:2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched;…
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:10
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand…
- Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
- Psalms 66:12
You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but You brought us into abundance.
- Psalms 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
- Daniel 3:25–27
“Look!” he exclaimed. “I see four men, unbound and unharmed, walking around in the fire—and the fourth looks like a son of the gods!”
- Isaiah 41:10
Through
1 Corinthians 3:13his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work.
it leads to
- Zechariah 13:9
This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Zechariah 13:9
Through
Matthew 3:11I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and…
it leads to
- Isaiah 4:4
when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.
- Luke 3:16
John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with…
- Isaiah 4:4
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.