Numbers 31:22
in Numbers 31Only the gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
howbeit the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
KJV
Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
⋯
This verse in Numbers 31
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Brass - Render copper. See Gen 4:22 note. The verse is curious as illustrating the variety of metals in use at this early date for domestic purposes. All these metals were common in Egypt centuries before the date of the Exodus.
This site's exposition
remain outside the camp for seven days
on Numbers 31:19-25
Victory exempts no one from the law of the dead. Whoever killed or touched a body waits outside seven days and is purified with "the water of purification", the red heifer rite of chapter 19.
This site's exposition
Only the gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead
Albert Barnes renders the bronze as copper and notes that all six metals were common in Egypt centuries before the Exodus. John Gill notes that these metals made tools and vessels of many kinds. Verse 23 sends them through the fire.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead. These are excepted, and, though unclean, are not to be purified by washing, but in another way, by fire, as follows; all these metals were well known in those early times, and were made use of for instruments and vessels of various sorts.
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
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַ֥ךְ | ʾakh | only | H389 → | 161 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַזָּהָ֖ב | hazahav | the gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַכָּ֑סֶף | hakasef | the silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַנְּחֹ֙שֶׁת֙ | hanechoshet | the bronze | H5178 → | 140 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַבַּרְזֶ֔ל | habarzel | the iron | H1270 → | |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַבְּדִ֖יל | habedil | the tin | H913 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָעֹפָֽרֶת׃ | haofaret | the lead | H5777 → |
אַ֥ךְonly
ʾakhH389 →161 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַזָּהָ֖בthe gold
hazahavH2091 →389 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַכָּ֑סֶףthe silver
hakasefH3701 →403 times
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַנְּחֹ֙שֶׁת֙the bronze
hanechoshetH5178 →140 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַבַּרְזֶ֔לthe iron
habarzelH1270 →
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַבְּדִ֖ילthe tin
habedilH913 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הָעֹפָֽרֶת׃the lead
haofaretH5777 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.