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Numbers 31:23

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Numbers 31:23 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “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.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

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.
Numbers 31:23 — American Standard Version

Context — Numbers 31

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
20And as to every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats` [hair], and all things made of wood, ye shall purify yourselves.
21And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war that went to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses:
22howbeit the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
23everything 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.
24And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean; and afterward ye shall come into the camp.
25And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
26Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers` [houses] of the congregation;
← Numbers 31:22Numbers 31:24 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, etc.] Either through the smoke of the fire, and so be purified by suffumigation; or be put into the fire itself, where though they might be melted as the above things, yet not consumed as raiment, and vessels of skins, goats’ hair, and wood, would be: and it shall be clean; accounted so: nevertheless, it shall be purified with the water of separation; with the water mixed with the ashes of the red heifer burnt, and sprinkled on it; (see <041909> Numbers 19:9) and all that abideth not the fire; without being consumed, as whatsoever is of wood, etc. ye shall make go through the water; dip them in it, and rinse them…”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“abide: Isa 43:2; Zac 13:9; Mal 2:2, Mal 2:3; Mat 3:11; Co1 3:13; Pe1 1:7, Pe1 4:12; Rev 3:18 it shall be purified: Num 8:7, Num 19:9, Num 19:17 ye shall make: Lev 11:32, Lev 15:17; Eph 5:26; Tit 3:5, Tit 3:6; Pe1 3:21 Numbers 31:24”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification