Numbers 31:22

Hebrew Bible

20 You must purify each garment and everything that is made of skin, everything made of goats’ hair, and everything made of wood.” 21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone into the battle, “This is the ordinance of the law that the Lord commanded Moses: 22Only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything that may stand the fire, you are to pass through the fire, and it will be ceremonially clean, but it must still be purified with the water of purification. Anything that cannot withstand the fire you must pass through the water.

Daniel 5:4

Hebrew Bible

3 So they brought the gold and silver vessels that had been confiscated from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, together with his wives and concubines, drank from them. 4 As they drank wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. 5 At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the royal palace wall, opposite the lampstand. The king was watching the back of the hand that was writing. 6 Then all the color drained from the king’s face, and he became alarmed. The joints of his hips gave way, and his knees began knocking together.

 Notes and References

"... the metals in question were essential to the wealthy, glorious, and powerful lifestyle and activity of the kings and the mighty. Second, gold, silver, iron, and bronze were among the materials from which idols were fabricated (Daniel 5:4, 23; 4Q242 frgs. 1-3, 7-8 with bronze and iron reconstructed from Daniel 5) ... This list of metals in verses 2, 6 is here altered, so that they appear in order of their 'value' (see also the order in Numbers 31:22). This has the effect of prioritizing gold and silver and the fearful plight of those who are associated with it and depend on it ..."

Nickelsburg, George W. E. A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 37-82 (p. 191) Fortress Press, 2012

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