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 name of the first [is] the Pishon. It went around all the land of Havilah, where [there is] gold.
Then Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain who forged all [kinds of] tools of bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain [was] Naamah.
"My lord, hear me. A [piece of] land [worth] four hundred shekels of silver--what [is] that between me and you? Bury your dead."
to Abraham as a property in the presence of the Hittites, with respect to all [who were] entering the gate of his city.
But Zipporah took a flint [knife], and she cut off the foreskin of her son, and she touched his feet, and she said, "Yes, you [are] a bridegroom of blood to me."
And the {Israelites} did according to the word of Moses, and they asked from [the] Egyptians [for] objects of silver and objects of gold and [for] clothing.
You blew with your breath; the sea covered them; they dropped like lead in the mighty waters.
And you will overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside you will overlay it, and you will make on it a gold molding all around.
And you will make two cherubim of gold; you will make them of hammered work at the two ends of the atonement cover.
And you will overlay it [with] pure gold, and you will make for it a gold molding all around.
And you will overlay the frames with gold, and you will make their rings of gold [as] {holders} for the bars, and you will overlay the bars with gold.
And you will put it on four acacia pillars overlaid with gold [with] their gold hooks on four silver bases.
And you will overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around and its horns, and you will make for it a gold molding all around.
And he made the lampstand of pure gold; he made the lampstand of hammered work--its base and its branch, its cups, its buds, and its blossoms were {all part of it}.
Their buds and their branches were from it, all of it one [piece] of pure gold, hammered work.
And he hammered out the leaves of gold, and he cut off cords to weave in the midst of the blue and in the midst of the purple and in the midst of the crimson and in the midst of the linen--[the] work of a skilled craftsman.
"And you will separate the Levites from the midst of the {Israelites}, and the Levites will be for me.
All the gold of the contribution that they raised up to Yahweh, from the commanders of the thousands and the commanders of the hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.
(For only Og, king of Bashan, was left from the remnant of the Rephaim. Indeed, his bedstead--it [was] a bedstead of iron. It is in Rabbah of the {Ammonites}. Nine cubits [is] its length, and four cubits [is] its width according to the cubit of a man.)
But Yahweh has taken you and brought you out from the furnace of iron, from Egypt, to be a people of inheritance to him, {as it is this day}.
[to] a land where you may eat food in it {without scarcity}; you will not find anything lacking in it, a land where its stones [are] iron and from its mountains you can mine copper.
And he set him on the high places of [the] land, and he fed [him] the crops of [the] field, and he nursed him with honey from crags, and [with] oil from flinty rock,
Your bars [are] iron and bronze, and as your days, [so is] your strength."
At that time Yahweh said to Joshua, "Make for yourself knives of flint, and circumcise the {Israelites} a second time." So Joshua made knives of flint, and he circumcised the {Israelites} at the hill of the foreskins.
I saw among the spoil a beautiful robe from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and one bar of gold [that] weighed fifty shekels; I coveted them and took them. They [are] hidden in the ground inside my tent, and the silver [is] under it."
The weight of the ornamental rings of gold that he requested [was] one thousand seven hundred [shekels of] gold, apart from the crescents, pendants, and purple garments that [were] on the kings of Midian, and apart from the pendants that [were] on the necks of their camels.
He trains my hands for the war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
They went to Ophir and imported from there four hundred and twenty talents of gold, and they brought it to King Solomon.
Moreover, the fleet of ships of Hiram which carried the gold from Ophir [also] brought from Ophir abundant amounts of almug wood and precious stones.
The weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year [was] six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,
All of the drinking vessels of King Solomon [were] gold, and all the vessels for the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver; [it was] not considered as something valuable in the days of Solomon. For the fleet of Tarshish belonged to the king [and was] on the sea with the fleet of Hiram; once every three years the fleet of Tarshish used to come carrying gold and silver, ivory, apes, and baboons.
from the nations which Yahweh had said to the {Israelites}, "You shall not {marry them}, and they shall not {marry you}. They will certainly turn your heart after other gods." But Solomon clung to them to love.
So I have provided for the house of my God according to all my strength, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and the wood for the things of wood, [along with] an abundance of onyx stones, stones for settings, stones of turquoise, and variegated stones, and all [kinds of] precious stones and alabaster stones.
besides the gold and silver the traders and merchants brought, and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought. And King Solomon made two hundred shields of beaten gold; six hundred [shekels] of beaten gold went into each shield.
For the ships of the king went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram. Once {every three years} the ships of Tarshish came carrying gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
twenty gold bowls worth one thousand darics, and two vessels of good polished bronze as precious as gold.
After him their brothers repaired: Bavvai son of Henadad, commander of half of the district of Keilah,
After him Meremoth son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz, repaired a second section of a wall from the doorway of the house of Eliashib up to the end of the house of Eliashib.
Between the upper room of the corner to the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and merchants repaired.
[That] with a pen of iron and [with] lead they might be engraved on a rock forever!
"He will flee from an iron weapon, [but] an arrow of bronze will pierce him.
He puts his hand on the hard rock; he overturns mountains by [the] roots.
[He] trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
For you have tested us, O God; you have tried us as silver is tried.
So may he live, and may gold from Sheba be given to him, and may prayers be offered for him continually. May blessings be invoked for him {all day long}.
A crucible [is] for the silver, and a furnace [is] for the gold, but Yahweh will test hearts.
Remove the dross from silver, and it will become a vessel for the smith.
A crucible [is] for the silver, and a furnace for the gold, but a man [is tested by] the mouth of him who praises him.
His legs [are] columns of alabaster, set on bases of gold; his appearance [is] like Lebanon, choice as {its cedars}.
Your silver has become [as] dross; Your wine [is] diluted with waters.
And I will turn my hand against you; I will purify your dross like lye, and I will remove all [of] your tin.
And I will turn my hand against you; I will purify your dross like lye, and I will remove all [of] your tin.
Whose arrows are sharp, and all of his bows are bent. The hoofs of his horses are reckoned like flint, and his wheels like the storm wind.
And [the] artisan encourages [the] {goldsmith}, [the] one who makes smooth with [the] hammer [encourages the] one who strikes [the] anvil, saying of the soldering, "It [is] good!" And they strengthen it with nails [so] it cannot be knocked over.
I will open rivers on [the] barren heights and fountains in [the] midst of [the] valleys. I will make [the] wilderness like a pool of water and [the] land of dryness like springs of water.
[The] {ironsmith} works in the coals [with his] tool and forms it with hammers. And he makes it with {his strong arm}; indeed, he becomes hungry, and {he lacks} strength; he does not drink water, and he is faint.
To whom will you liken me, and count as equal, and compare with me, as though we were alike?
Look! I have refined you, but not like silver; I have chosen you in [the] furnace of misery.
And the Lord Yahweh helps me, therefore I have not been put to shame; therefore I have set my face like flint. And I know that I shall not be ashamed;
All of them [are] stubborn rebels, going about [talking] slander. [They are] bronze and iron, they [are] all behaving corruptly. [The] bellows are burned up, lead is consumed by fire. {In vain} {he keeps on refining}, but [the] wicked are not torn apart.
[The] bellows are burned up, lead is consumed by fire. {In vain} {he keeps on refining}, but [the] wicked are not torn apart. {They are called} rejected silver, For Yahweh has rejected them."
Silver beaten from Tarshish is brought, and gold from Uphaz, the work of [the] craftsman and [the] hands of the goldsmith. Blue and purple [are] their clothing, all of them [are] the work of skillful people.
Silver beaten from Tarshish is brought, and gold from Uphaz, the work of [the] craftsman and [the] hands of the goldsmith. Blue and purple [are] their clothing, all of them [are] the work of skillful people.
{Everyone} is stupid, {without knowledge}, every goldsmith is ashamed by [his] divine image, for his cast image [is] an illusion, and [there is] no breath in them.
which I commanded your ancestors in the day of my bringing them from the land of Egypt, from the furnace of iron, {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}.'
Can anyone break iron, iron from the north, or bronze?
All humankind turns out to be stupid, without knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by [the] divine image. For his cast image [is] a lie, and [there is] no breath in them.
Like a diamond {harder than flint} I have made your forehead; you must not fear them, and you must not be dismayed {on account of them}, for they {are a rebellious house}.
And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying}, "Son of man, the house of Israel has become as silver dross to me; all of them [are as] bronze and tin and iron and lead in the midst of a furnace, [even] [as] silver dross, silver [dross] they became!
"Son of man, the house of Israel has become as silver dross to me; all of them [are as] bronze and tin and iron and lead in the midst of a furnace, [even] [as] silver dross, silver [dross] they became!
"Son of man, the house of Israel has become as silver dross to me; all of them [are as] bronze and tin and iron and lead in the midst of a furnace, [even] [as] silver dross, silver [dross] they became! Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Because all of you have become [as] silver dross, therefore look! I [am] gathering you to the midst of Jerusalem,
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Because all of you have become [as] silver dross, therefore look! I [am] gathering you to the midst of Jerusalem, like the gathering of silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin to the middle of a furnace to blow fire on it for melting. Thus I will gather in my anger and in my rage, and I will {deposit} you, and I will melt you.
like the gathering of silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin to the middle of a furnace to blow fire on it for melting. Thus I will gather in my anger and in my rage, and I will {deposit} you, and I will melt you. And I will gather you, and I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and [so] I will melt [you] in the midst of her.
And I will gather you, and I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and [so] I will melt [you] in the midst of her. Thus you will be melted like [the] melting of silver in the midst of a furnace, and you will know that I, Yahweh, I have poured out my rage on you.'"
Thus you will be melted like [the] melting of silver in the midst of a furnace, and you will know that I, Yahweh, I have poured out my rage on you.'"
" 'Tarshish [was] your trader; from [the] abundance of all of [their] wealth, with silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your merchandise.
" 'Tarshish [was] your trader; from [the] abundance of all of [their] wealth, with silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your merchandise.
" 'Tarshish [was] your trader; from [the] abundance of all of [their] wealth, with silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your merchandise. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your traders; {in exchange for people} and an object of bronze they gave [you] your wares.
The traders of Sheba and Raamah [were] trading [with] you, with the finest of every spice and with every precious stone and gold; they exchanged [all these] for your merchandise.
Thus says Yahweh, "For three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not revoke [the punishment], because they threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron!
The shields of his warriors [are] dyed red; The powerful men [are] dressed in scarlet. The metal of the chariots [shines] like fire {on the day of battle}, and [their] spears quiver.
And look, the lead cover was lifted and a woman [was] sitting inside the basket. And he said, "This [is] Wickedness!" And he thrust her [back down] into the basket, and threw the lead cover on top of it.
And I will bring the [remaining] third into the fire, and I will refine them like [one] refines silver, and I will test them like [one] tests gold. They will call my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'Yahweh [is] my God.'"
He will sit [as] a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the children of Levi, and he will refine them like gold and like silver, and they will present to Yahweh offerings in righteousness.
For someone {named} Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver replicas of the temple of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen.
cargo of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple cloth and silk and scarlet cloth and all kinds of scented wood and all kinds of ivory goods and all kinds of goods of precious wood and bronze and iron and marble