Reference: Mining And Metals
Hastings
Though Palestine proper is deficient in mineral resources, yet these were present to some extent on its borders, and were not only abundantly found, but even largely developed, in other parts of the ancient East. The Scripture references to mining, accordingly, though not very numerous, are sufficiently definite. Such a passage as De 8:9 (cf. De 33:25), though inapplicable to Palestine proper, may hold good of the Lebanon district or (as has been suggested by some) of the Sinaitic region. The classical description of the miner's life in Job 28 is evidently based on observation. It depicts the adventurous and toilsome character of the quest, the shafts sunk and the galleries tunnelled in the rock, the darkness, the waters that have to be drained away, the hidden treasures of precious stones and metals that reward the effort and the ingenuity of man.
The list of metals in Nu 31:22 includes all those that are mentioned in Scripture, viz. gold, silver, 'brass,' iron, tin, and lead. All these are again enumerated in Eze 27:12-13,22 as articles of Tyrian commerce.
Brass.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
The first is named Pishon; it is the one flowing around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
Zillah bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all [cutting] instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
My lord, listen to me. The land is worth 400 shekels of silver; what is that between you and me? So bury your dead.
As a possession to Abraham in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at his city gate.
[Now apparently he had failed to circumcise one of his sons, his wife being opposed to it; but seeing his life in such danger] Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it to touch [Moses'] feet, and said, Surely a husband of blood you are to me!
The Israelites did according to the word of Moses; and they [urgently] asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver and of gold, and clothing.
You [Lord] blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; [clad in mail] they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
You shall overlay the ark with pure gold, inside and out, and make a gold crown, a rim or border, around its top.
And you shall make two cherubim (winged angelic figures) of [solid] hammered gold on the two ends of the mercy seat.
You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a crown, a rim or molding, of gold around the top of it;
You shall overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold to hold the bars and overlay the bars with gold.
You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold, with gold hooks, on four sockets of silver.
And you shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides round about and its horns, and you shall make a crown (a rim or molding) of gold around it.
And he made the lampstand of pure gold; its base and shaft were made of hammered work; its cups, its knobs, and its flowers were of one piece with it.
Their knobs and their branches were of one piece with it, all of it hammered work of pure gold.
And they beat the gold into thin sheets and cut it into wires to work into the blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] and the fine linen, in skilled design.
Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the Israelites, and the Levites shall be Mine [in a very special sense].
And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the Lord from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds was 16,750 shekels.
For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the [gigantic] Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length and four cubits its breadth, using the cubit of a man [the forearm to the end of the middle finger].
But the Lord has taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to Him a people of His own possession, as you are this day.
A land in which you shall eat food without shortage and lack nothing in it; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
He made Israel ride on the high places of the earth, and he ate the increase of the field; and He made him suck honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock,
Your castles and strongholds shall have bars of iron and bronze, and as your day, so shall your strength, your rest and security, be.
At that time the Lord said to Joshua, Make knives of flint and circumcise the [new generation of] Israelites as before. So Joshua made knives of flint and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.
When I saw among the spoils an attractive mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.
And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescents and pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and the chains that were about their camels' necks.
The navy also of Hiram brought from Ophir gold and a great plenty of almug (algum) wood and precious stones.
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one [particular] year was 666 talents of gold,
All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
They were of the very nations of whom the Lord said to the Israelites, You shall not mingle with them, neither shall they mingle with you, for surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods. Yet Solomon clung to these in love.
So I have provided with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be of gold, silver for things of silver, bronze for things of bronze, iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood, as well as onyx or beryl stones, stones to be set, stones of antimony, stones of various colors, and all sorts of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.
Besides what traders and merchants brought; and all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. And King Solomon made 200 large shields or bucklers of beaten gold; 600 shekels of beaten gold went into each shield.
For the king's ships went to Tarshish with Huram's servants; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
Also 20 basins of gold worth 1,000 darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze, precious as gold.
After him repaired their brethren under Bavvai son of Henadad, ruler of [the other] half of the district of Keilah.
After him Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired from the door of Eliashib's house to the end of his house.
And from the ascent and upper room of the corner to the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and merchants repaired.
He will flee from the iron weapon, but the bow of bronze shall strike him through.
Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the stone ore.
Man puts forth his hand upon the flinty rock; he overturns the mountains by the roots.
He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
For You, O God, have proved us; You have tried us as silver is tried, refined, and purified.
And He shall live; and to Him shall be given gold of Sheba; prayer also shall be made for Him and through Him continually, and they shall bless and praise Him all the day long.
The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tries the hearts.
Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth [the material for] a vessel for the silversmith [to work up].
As the refining pot for silver and the furnace for gold [bring forth all the impurities of the metal], so let a man be in his trial of praise [ridding himself of all that is base or insincere; for a man is judged by what he praises and of what he boasts].
His legs are like strong and steady pillars of marble set upon bases of fine gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, excellent, stately, and majestic as the cedars.
Your silver has become dross, your wine is mixed with water.
And I will bring My hand again upon you and thoroughly purge away your dross [as with lye] and take away all your tin or alloy.
And I will bring My hand again upon you and thoroughly purge away your dross [as with lye] and take away all your tin or alloy.
Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses' hoofs seem like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind.
So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith, and he who smooths [the metal] with the hammer [encourages] him who smites the anvil, saying of the soldering, That is good! And he fastens it with nails so that it cannot be moved.
I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
The ironsmith sharpens and uses a chisel and works it over the coals; he shapes [the core of the idol] with hammers and forges it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint.
To whom will you liken Me and make Me equal and compare Me, that we may be alike?
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried and chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
For the Lord God helps Me; therefore have I not been ashamed or confounded. Therefore have I set My face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
They are all the worst [kind] of rebels and utter and total revolters against God, going about publishing slander. They are [not gold and silver ore, but] bronze and iron; they are all corrupters. The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain do they continue refining, for the wicked [the dross] are not removed.
The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain do they continue refining, for the wicked [the dross] are not removed. Men will call them reprobate and rejected silver [only dross, without good metal], because the Lord has rejected them.
Silver beaten [into plates] is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; the [idols'] clothing is violet and purple -- "they are all the work of skillful men.
Silver beaten [into plates] is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; the [idols'] clothing is violet and purple -- "they are all the work of skillful men.
Every man has become like a brute, irrational and stupid, without knowledge [of God]; every goldsmith is brought to shame by his graven idols; for his molten images are frauds and falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
Which I commanded your fathers at the time that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to My voice and do according to all that I command you. So will you be My people, and I will be your God,
Every man has become stupid and brutelike, without knowledge [of God]; every goldsmith is put to shame by the images he has made; for his molten idols are a lie, and there is no breath [of life] in them.
Like an adamant harder than flint or a diamond point have I made your forehead; fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, the house of Israel has become to Me scum and waste matter. All of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.
Son of man, the house of Israel has become to Me scum and waste matter. All of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.
Son of man, the house of Israel has become to Me scum and waste matter. All of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become scum and waste matter, behold therefore, I will gather you [O Israel] into the midst of Jerusalem.
Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become scum and waste matter, behold therefore, I will gather you [O Israel] into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it in order to melt it, so will I gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will put you in and melt you.
As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it in order to melt it, so will I gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. Yes, I will gather you and blow upon you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.
Yes, I will gather you and blow upon you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall you be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know, understand, and realize that I the Lord have poured out My wrath upon you [O Israel].
As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall you be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know, understand, and realize that I the Lord have poured out My wrath upon you [O Israel].
Tarshish [in Spain] carried on traffic with you because of the abundance of your riches of all kinds; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they traded for your wares.
Tarshish [in Spain] carried on traffic with you because of the abundance of your riches of all kinds; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they traded for your wares.
Tarshish [in Spain] carried on traffic with you because of the abundance of your riches of all kinds; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they traded for your wares. Javan (Greece), Tubal, and Meshech [in the mountainous region between the Black and Caspian Seas] traded with you. They exchanged the lives of men [taken as slaves] and vessels of bronze for your merchandise.
The merchants of Sheba and Raamah [in Arabia] traded with you; they exchanged for your wares the choicest of all kinds of spices and all precious stones and gold.
Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Damascus [the capital of Syria] and for four [for multiplied delinquencies], I will not reverse the punishment of it or revoke My word concerning it, because they have threshed Gilead [east of the Jordan River] with iron sledges.
The shields of the mighty men [of Media and Babylon] are [dyed] red; the valiant men are [clothed] in dyed scarlet. The chariots blaze with fire of steel on the day of his preparation [for battle], and the officers' horses prance like a cypress forest [reeling in the wind].
And behold, a round, flat weight of lead was lifted and there sat a woman in the midst of the ephah[-sized vessel]. And he said, This is lawlessness (wickedness)! And he thrust her back into the ephah[-sized vessel] and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth of it!
And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined and will test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will hear and answer them. I will say, It is My people; and they will say, The Lord is my God.
He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the priests, the sons of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord offerings in righteousness.
For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of [the goddess] Artemis [Diana], brought no small income to his craftsmen.
Their merchandise is of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet [stuffs]; all kinds of scented wood, all sorts of articles of ivory, all varieties of objects of costly woods, bronze, iron, and marble;