Page 203 - Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew

COINCIDENCES IN THE BIBLE AND IN BIBLICAL HEBREW
182
182 COINCIDENCES IN THE BIBLE AND IN BIBLICAL HEBREW
the furnace … so will I gather you in my anger and in my fury” (Ezek. 22:20).
Another verse from Numbers counts all six metals: “Only the gold, and the silver,

the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead, everything that passes through the fire,

you shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean …” (Num. 31:22–23).
The above six metals differ in terms of their chemical attribution groups. Gold,

silver , copper, and iron are all pure elements that appear in the periodic table of
the elements as belonging to the group of transition metals . Tin and lead belong

to the group of basic metals.
Brass is an alloy that seems to share, in the Bible, a common or similar name

with copper (an element). Both will be discussed shortly.
13.2.2 Determining Hebrew Names and Their Numerical Values
(Metals)

Selecting the biblical Hebrew names for the various metals was not easy.
While for some metals there are unique names, which survived to modern-day
Hebrew, others are obscure, or have seemingly multiple names that need clarifica-

tion. The latter will be aided by how most revered Jewish scholars have interpreted
these debatable names.
We start with the simplest and the obvious, and calculate the corresponding
numerical values.

1
Zahav (gold):
14 = (2 = ב) + (5 = ה) + (7 = ז)

2
Kessef (silver):

160 = (80 = ף) + (60 = ס) + (20 = כ)

3
Bdil (tin):

46 = (30 = ל) + (10 = י) + (4 = ד) + (2 = ב)

4
Oferet (lead):

756 = (400 = ת) + (200 = ר) + (80 = פ) + (6 = ו) + (70 = ע)