Verse Lens · Context pointer
Numbers 31:23 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 23. 23Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Numbers 31:23 within “Eleazar Orders Fire and Water Purification of Spoil,” identifies the bodily or sanctuary consequence at this stage; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: Every thing that may abide the fire, you shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire you shall make go through the water.
Read It With
- Numbers 31:21–24
Read Numbers 31:23 with 31:21–24. It within “Eleazar Orders Fire and Water Purification of Spoil,” identifies the bodily or sanctuary consequence at this stage; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: Every thing that may abide the fire, you shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire you shall make go through the water. The complete unit establishes this contextual meaning: Eleazar tells returning soldiers that metals surviving fire pass through fire and cleansing water, other materials pass through water, and warriors wash clothes on the seventh day before reentering camp.
Why It Needs Context
Numbers 31:23 within “Eleazar Orders Fire and Water Purification of Spoil,” identifies the bodily or sanctuary consequence at this stage; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: Every thing that may abide the fire, you shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire you shall make go through the water. Its responsible force depends on 31:21–24; isolated from “Eleazar Orders Fire and Water Purification of Spoil,” the verse's actor, action, reason, object, or transition could be mistaken for independent teaching.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Numbers 31:21–24 — Eleazar Orders Fire and Water Purification of SpoilSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Numbers 31:21–24, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Numbers
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, release 2.2, 2021
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, numbers, speeches, poems, legal clauses, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Num.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 31:21–24
Open source ↗