Elements of the Bible

A “Lessons-to-Go” Scripture study
by Mark S. Pavlin
msp.291@charter.net
Elements of the Bible

There is a mine for silver
and a place for gold
that they refine;
Iron is taken out of the earth
and copper is smelted
from its ore;

Man puts an end to darkness
searching to the farthest limit
the ore in gloom and deep darkness;
He opens shafts in a valley
where no one lives......
- Job 28:1-4

Man puts his hand to the flinty rock
and overturns mountains at the root.
He cuts out channels in the rocks;
his eye sees every precious thing.
As for the earth, out of it comes bread
but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
Its stones are the place of sapphires
and it has dust of gold....
- Job 28: 5-6, 9-10

Study question
 Much is said about Biblical symbolism of familiar things, of water,
bread, sheep, salt, wine, wind, fire and light
 But what about those substances wrested by fire from certain
earths dug since ancient times, the metals?
 Of iron, copper, tin (needed to make bronze),
silver, and gold which...
 .... Israel, wrested from the mountains of
Palestine or, more often, obtained in trade
from distant regions?
 Aside from their value in making tools,
weapons, jewelry and coins what spiritual
significance did these materials hold for Israel?
This passage from the book of Job tells us that deep shaft mining
operations of the 6th century BC to unearth “every precious thing”
were much like those common in the world up to the 20th century

Today’s conception of
elements as funda-
mental building blocks
of matter became clear
only in the last few
hundred years.
Ancient peoples had
only fanciful notions
about constituents of
matter e.g. all things
were mixtures of
earth,
air,
fire, &
water.
Introduction

Today we know that most elements are metals*
*The word “metal” derives from the Greek μέταλλον métallon, "mine or quarry”)

 Stone, wood, bone, clay, leather, salt, grass – everything was itself;
hard/soft; useful/useless; food (edible) / poison (inedible)
 “Purity” was a religious concept, not the result of a chemical assay, a
concept conflated with the obvious sense that...
 ...substances were commonly mixed with other matter as found in
nature; wheat and chaff, salt in water, metal ore with useless rock;
 To be made useful, substances had to be processed– chaff removed
by winnowing, water filtered or distilled, ores smelted
 Only rarely do metals occur as the pure element; examples are gold
and copper (as nuggets) and iron (in meteorite cores)
 Metals occur naturally as minerals- crystallites of their carbonates,
oxides, sulfates, or other compounds, mixed with other minerals
Not so elementary back then
Peoples of the Bible possessed extensive practical knowledge
and skill (Grk: techne, craft) but no scientific knowledge.

Elements used in the ancient world
(in order of atomic number)
Element* Symbol
Atomic
No.
Atomic
Weight
Melt. Pt.
(o
C)
Typical
Ox. State
Iron Fe 26 55.8 1536 2,3
Nickel Ni 28 58.7 1453 2,3
Copper Cu 29 63.5 1085 2,1
Zinc Zn 30 65.4 420 2
Silver Ag 47 107.9 961 1
Tin Sn 50 118.7 232 4,2
Gold Au 79 197.0 1065 3,1
Mercury Hg 80 200.6 -39 2,1
Lead Pb 82 207.2 328 4,2
Bismuth Bi 83 209.0 272 3,5
*Those in bold are specifically mentioned in Scripture

What is a metal?
Num. 31: 22 ... the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron,
the tin, and the lead, everything that can stand the fire...
2Chr. 2:7 ... send me a man skilled to work in gold, silver,
bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics,
trained also in engraving...
Ezek. 22:18/20 ...the Lord came... saying “Israel has become
dross to me; all of them are bronze, tin, iron and lead in the
furnace; they are dross...
I will gather you... as one gathers silver, bronze, iron, lead and
tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it...
Unlike wood, some substances could “resist” fire, that is, not burn
or decompose when heated in a furnace. Unlike stone, they could
be hammered (when hot) into shapes without breaking into pieces.
Materials with these amazing properties often appear in Scripture
together; ancient peoples knew they were in some way related.

Metals are malleable and ductile
Malleability: the ability to deform under
compressive stress; this is often character-
ized by the material's ability to form a thin sheet by hammering or rolling.
Metals are useful because they can be
melted and cast into any shape for which
there is mold...
... but also because they can be hammered
into sheets or drawn into rods and wire
without cracking.
Ductility: the ability to undergo significant
tensile stress, usually by drawing through
a die or pulling and elongating a bar or
rod without it breaking.

Refining fire
“Who can endure the day
of his coming,
Who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner's fire...
He will sit as a refiner and
purifier of silver,
He will purify the sons of Levi and
refine them like gold and silver.”
- Mal. 3:2-3
For prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Zechariah and Malachi, the fiery
process of the refining of metals was a parable for the difficult and some-
times painful process by which God
strengthened His people spiritually.
One smelting step was incapable of producing metal of adequate
purity, so repeated melt-processing, i.e. refining, was required.

Some like it hot
Smelting is the process of subjecting a mixture of pulverized ore
and certain other materials such as charcoal to a high temperature
to reduce metallic compounds to their elemental form.
Dross: lighter impurities
that floated to the surface
of the molten mass and
were skimmed off.
Slag: heavier materials
that sank to the bottom
of the molten mass and
were left to cool and
harden after the desired
metal was poured off.

Element Symbol
Atomic
No.
Atomic
Weight
Melt. Pt.
(o
C)
Density
(g/cm3
)
Mercury Hg 80 200.6 -39 13.5
Tin Sn 50 118.7 232 7.3
Bismuth Bi 83 209.0 272 9.8
Lead Pb 82 207.2 328 11.3
Zinc Zn 30 65.4 420 7.1
Silver Ag 47 107.9 961 10.5
Gold Au 79 197.0 1063 19.3
Copper Cu 29 63.5 1084 9.0
Nickel Ni 28 58.7 1453 8.9
Iron Fe 26 55.8 1536 7.9
Ease of melting
(in order of melting pt. of pure element)

Testing their metal
In a poetic figure of speech that refers to the sinfulness of His people,
Israel, God appoints the prophet Jeremiah to be a “tester of metals”
including bronze, iron, silver and lead:
“I have made you a tester of metals among my people that you
may... test their ways. They are all stubbornly rebellious... they are
bronze and iron; all of them act corruptly.
The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the
refining goes on for the wicked are not removed.
Rejected silver they are called for the Lord has rejected them.”
- Jer. 6:27-29

The Earth’s crust is rich in Al, Si, Mg and Fe; it holds
much less of Cu, Ni, Zn and Pb. Some 1,000 times
less abundant is Ag. Rare indeed are Au, Pt, & Pd.
Some elements are abundant, some rare

Trading metals
Metals also appear in Scripture because they were valuable
trade goods. Ancient trade networks were extensive.
... Because of your great wealth of every kind, silver, iron,
tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares. - Ezek. 27: 12

Merchants of the earth weep and mourn for {fallen Babylon} since no
one buys their cargo anymore, cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine
linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, scented wood, ivory.... bronze,
iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine,
oil, flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves.
– Rev. 18:11-13

Associated with idolatry
The word translated “metal” occurs 35 times in the OT (English
Standard Version) but does not occur at all in the NT.
- 22 times in the phrase “metal image” referring to idols
- 2 times in the phrase “gods of cast metal.”
* ”cast metal” is translated in the KJV as “molten”
Examples:
“You shall not make for yourself any gods
of cast metal.* - Exo. 34:17
“What profit is an idol when its
maker has shaped it, a metal
image, a teacher of lies? For its
maker trusts his own creation.”
- Hab. 2:18
Here is illustrated what recurs in history; humans turn
what is a portion of God’s good creation to a bad end.

The first metals smelted were lead and tin; they melt at temperatures
reached easily by an ordinary camp fires. Possibility, then, smelting of
these elements was discovered in antiquity accidentally.
Cast lead beads found in Anatolia (Turkey) are dated to ca. 6,500 BC.
Lead
Galena with baryte and pyrite
The lead–bearing ore galena
(lead sulfide, PbS)*, is common
enough that lead is “dirt cheap”
relative to “precious metals”...
...and because, in antiquity, it was
a by-product of silver refining;
galena often contains 1-2% silver
(as the sulfide, AgS).
*The former mining communities of
Galena, KS and Galena, IL, take their
names from deposits of the mineral.

Heavy duty
*But not as dense as some other metals, as we will discuss later.
... plumb bobs.... sling projectiles.... and water pipes.
“You {Lord} blew with your wind; the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters. - Ex. 15 v.10
Ready availability, high density* and
ease of casting made lead ideal for
forming heavy, bulky things like...

Lead value
Production of lead, however, had little impact on ancient culture in com-
parison to other metals...
 It is too malleable to hold a sharp edge needed for
serious weapons like swords or spear heads
 It is too soft to use for making tools or structural
components and parts
 Its very abundance made it unsuitable for coinage.

Lead in Scripture
It merits mention in Scripture only 8 times; 3 times in lists of metals (as
per previous slides) and twice in the Apocrypha book, Sirach.
Production of lead, however, had little impact on ancient culture in com-
parison to other metals...
 It is too malleable to hold a sharp edge needed for
serious weapons like swords or spear heads
 It is too soft to use for making tools or structural
components and parts
 Its very abundance made it unsuitable for coinage.
The writer alluded to these (apparently well-known) attributes of lead
(and tin) as compared to the scarcity and high value of precious metals
to express how much God blessed KIng Solomon (Sir. 47:16-18):
“Your songs, proverbs, and parables and the answers you gave
astounded the nations. In the name of the Lord God... the God
of Israel, you gathered gold like tin and amassed silver like lead.”

Lead is poison
Scripture does not mention that lead is
extremely toxic.
With good reason- smelting any metal ore
was extremely hazardous given the extreme
temperatures required, chemicals added,
fumes generated and contaminated waste
water released.
Lead crystal glassware, containing up to
24% PbO, was formerly prized for all manner of
drinking goblets, decanters and bowls. Crystal
cutting techniques enhanced its high reflectivity to
create a brilliant, sparkling effect.
Due to health risks, this kind of glass is now limited
to objects not intended to hold liquids.

Well before the time of Jesus, Greeks and Romans
developed a crude process to convert metallic lead
into a brilliant, high-hiding pigment.
“White lead” is known today to be a complex of
lead(II) carbonate-and hydroxide, 2PbCO3:Pb(OH)2.
Here’s to the red, white, and yellow
White lead was the standard colorant for white
paints, artist oils, printing inks, and cosmetics
despite evidence that it was highly toxic.
Lead(II/IV) oxide (Pb3O4, "red lead") was used as a red pigment in ancient
Rome, where it was prepared by calcination of white lead. The brilliant
yellow pigment, lead(II)
chromate (PbCrO4,
"chrome yellow") was
developed later.

Batteries up!
When you call for their energy, this (net) reaction takes place:
Pb + PbO2 + 2H2SO4 → 2PbSO4 + 2H2O + 400 kJ/mole
Some 3 million tons of lead is processed annually worldwide into
lead-acid batteries. They are heavy (the one in your car weighs 19 lbs)
but inexpensive, rechargeable and long-lasting.
When your car
battery “dies” (due
to a build up of
stable crystalline
lead sulfate) and
you return it to an
auto parts store
when you buy a
new one, all of the
lead in the old one
is recycled.

exposure to TEL can thus cause memory loss, delayed reflexes,
neurological problems, insomnia, tremors, psychosis, loss of attention,
and an overall decrease in cognitive functions.
Concerns over the toxicity of lead eventually led to an almost universal
ban on TEL use in automobile gasoline by the year 2000.
Tetraethyllead, (CH3CH2)4Pb (TEL) was used
worldwide starting in the 1920’s as an anti-
knock agent (or octane booster) in gasoline.
Entirely unlike metallic lead, TEL is a liquid
and can be purified by distillation.
Featured chemical: Tetraethyllead
Like lead, TEL is highly toxic; ingesting as
little as a tablespoon induces severe
poisoning.
Because it is soluble in fat tissue, it
crosses the blood-brain barrier easily. Chronic

 HEAVY
Denser than all of the other metals known to the people of anci-
ent Palestine except for gold, lead even today represents that
which is ponderous, weighty, slow-moving and/or awkward.
But it’s great as radiation shielding!
 NOT PRECIOUS*
It’s no great loss to lose an object made of
lead like a sinker or a bullet.
 TOXIC
People did not fully realize lead’s threat to
human health until modern times. Corroding
water pipes (remember the Flint, MI water
supply disaster?) and deteriorating wall paint
in old homes remain serious health concerns.
Pb: what can we learn from it?
*Spot prices in 2020 ranged ca. $0.80 per pound

You might think that because...
(1) it melts at a temperature 100oC lower than that of lead...
(2) it is soft (for a metal) and therefore easily shaped, and...
(3) its ore is relatively abundant...
.... therefore tin must have been of great value to early civilizations.
Tin
Since bronze consists mainly (ca. 90%) of
copper, we will study how the Bible views it
when we study how the Bible views copper.
Tin was sought after by ancient
peoples– but only to add to copper
to produce the alloy that launched
an “Age”, namely,
bronze.

Tin as in sin
No surprise, then, that the word “tin” (Latin: stannum) occurs in
Scripture only 4 times, never by itself, only in the lists with other metals
(as per previous slides):
Num. 31: 22 - “everything that can stand the fire.”
Ezek. 22: 18 - “Israel has become dross to me”
Ezek. 22: 20 - “You (Israel) have become dross”
Ezek. 27: 12 - “... exchanged {metals} for your wares”
Pewter is another important alloy
of tin but one that consists mostly
of tin mixed with either ca. 10%
antimony and 2% copper or ca.
10% lead. Known since antiquity,
it came into widespread use in
Europe in the Middle Ages.
Too
bad
tin
wasn’t
used
for
water
pipes
since,
unlike
lead,
tin is
non-
toxic.

Though tin is relatively abundant in the
Earth’s crust, major deposits of the most
important tin–bearing ore cassiterite (tin
oxide, SnO2) source of tin throughout his-
tory to the present day are scarce.
Cornwall (far SW England) is home to a
number of such deposits (old mine, below).
Cassiterite (with muscovite)
The Romans mined tin
ore there and mining
continued until the last
mine closed in 1999.
At peak production in
the 1800’s, Cornish tin
accounted for half the
world’s supply.

Solder
Alloys of tin/lead have lower melting points than tin itself up to an
alloy containing 55 wt% lead, the 62/38 blend being the lowest
melting, or “eutectic mixture”. All of these alloys are useful as solder
for joining pipes, electric circuits, and stained-glass windows.
Metal Plating
Tin bonds readily to iron. Electro-plating it to lead, zinc and steel
prevents corrosion. Its most important ap-
plication is the manufacture of steel con-
tainers for food packaging/preservation;
the so-called “tin can.”
Toothpaste Additive
Tin (II) fluoride (SnF2) helps protect
teeth from decay, reduce plaque
build-up (and thus, tartar formation)
and strengthen tooth enamel.
Tin today

International regulations
are now in place that
either ban or severely limit
the use of anti-fouling
paints containing tin.
Tributyltin oxide (TBT) is an organotin biocide. Added to coatings ap-
plied to the hulls of ocean-going ships, it prevents bottom-fouling and
thus decreases fuel consumption and maintenance costs.
Featured chemical: tributyltin oxide
TBT, however, slowly leaches into the ocean
and concentrated by the marine food chain.
It then harms layers of the ecosystem,
including vertebrates and even mam-
mals like otters and dolphins.

Copper
Copper is a malleable and ductile metal with thermal and electrical
conductivity second only to that of silver.
Elemental copper occurs in nature in useable
form (as nuggets) and so was among the first
metals shaped and used by humans.
It’s ores were among the first to be subjected
to smelting, by as early as 5,000 BC

Copper Bronze Age
Copper is a malleable and ductile metal with thermal and electrical
conductivity second only to that of silver.
Elemental copper occurs in nature in useable
form (as nuggets) and so was among the first
metals shaped and used by humans.
It’s ores were among the first to be subjected
to smelting, by as early as 5,000 BC
The (likely accidental) observation that the
presence of minor amounts of a second metal,
especially tin, made copper harder and thus more suitable for the
fabrication of weapons led to the deliberate mining and smelting of
tin ores and helped fuel trade all over Western lands.
In this way, the copper-tin alloy, bronze became far more important
than pure copper and gave its name to the entire period of history
from about 3,300 to 1,200 BC.

Copper in Scripture
The Lord your God is bringing you into a good land... of brooks of
water, of fountains and springs..., a land of wheat and barley, of
vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and
honey... In which you will... lack nothing, a land whose stones are
iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
- Deut. 8:9
No surprise, then, that the word “copper” occurs only 3x in the OT.
The first occurrence is in Deuteronomy, in the “farewell” speech of
Moses to Israel. He puts copper on a very short list of the essentials
of the good life, blessings promised by God to His people that came
with the Promised Land.
There is, in fact, little copper ore in Palestine; but a major deposit
is not far away on the island of.....

Copper’s chemical symbol,
Cu comes from the Latin
cuprum (“metal of Cyprus”)
...Cyprus

About 12 BC, “Caesar gave Herod half the revenue from the
copper mines on Cyprus” - Josephus, Jewish Antiquities,
Book 16, Chap. 4
Copper = wealth...
Greek Amphitheater at Limossol, Cyprus

...literally, as coinage
The word “copper” is mentioned only 5 times in the NT; 3 times as in
coinage and once as the material of cooking pots:
“{Jesus} sat down opposite
the treasury and watched
people putting money into the offering box... a poor
widow came and put in two small copper coins...”
- Mk. 12: 42 (and Lk. 21:2)
“You received without paying so give without pay.
Acquire no gold or silver or copper {coins} for
your belts, no bag for your journey.” - Mt. 10:9
“.. the Jews do not eat unless
they wash their hands. There
are many other traditions
that they observe, such
as the washing of... copper
vessels...” - Mk. 7:4

Coins are still made of copper
Most coins
circulated in
the USA are
made of Cu
(91.7%) and Ni
(8.3%)
...“pennies”
[97.5% Zn / 2.5% Cu]...
...and “nickels”
[75% Cu and 25% Ni]
Exceptions
are...
$0.10
$0.25
$0.50
$1.00
$0.01
$0.05

All the rage in the Bronze Age
The greater importance of bronze, the 88/12 alloy of copper/tin*,
is clear from the far more frequent occurrences of the term in
Scripture [139 times in the NIV, 133 times in the ESV] than copper.
“You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels
and basins and forks and fire pans. You shall make all its
utensils of bronze.”
- Exo. 27:3
*The term “bronze” applies to
a family of copper alloys that
contain various amounts of
tin, arsenic and other
elements. “Brass” is reserved
for alloys containing zinc.

Bronze rules in OT times
Bronze was harder than copper yet easier to refine, cast, and forge.
The earliest history of Semitic peoples was coincident with the
Bronze Age, so it is no surprise that the OT has references to a great
variety of objects made from bronze:
Object Reference Object Reference
rings Exo. 27:4 pillars 1Ki. 7:15
serpent Num. 21:9 cymbals 1Chr. 15:19
shackles Judg. 16:21 tubes Job 40:18
helmet 1Sam. 17:5 doors Ps. 107:16
bow 2Sam. 22:35 walls Jer. 1:18
altar Ezek. 9:2 mountain Zech. 6:1
During period of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, bronze gradually
gave way to iron in many critical end-uses, especially weapons.

Bronze is less important in NT times
“... and on turning I saw... one like a son of man, clothed with a long
robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head
were white... his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like
burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the
roar of many waters.
- Rev. 1:12-15
To the... church in Thyatira
write: These are the words of
the Son of God, whose eyes are
like blazing fire and whose feet
are like burnished bronze.
- Rev. 2:18
Because of the nature of the texts that comprise the two Testaments,
the Old refers to all of the metals of this study far more often than does
the New. For bronze, the are only 4 NT occurrences, all in a single book.

Bronze properties
 Hard, somewhat brittle, but highly ductile
 Oxidation at an object’s surface yields a patina that
protects the object from further corrosion
 Is resistant to corrosion by seawater, hence an excellent
material for ship fittings
 High electrical conductivity (same as Cu)
 Low friction when contacting dissimilar
metals
 Does not produce sparks when struck
(safer around flammables)
 Expands slightly when hardening from
the melt making the reproduction of fine
mold details possible; thus it is the mater-
ial of choice for metal sculptures.

Bronze illustrates an almost
universal principle in materials
science - that a metal’s proper-
ties improve and its utility
increases with the addition of
other elements.
From steel (modified iron) to
glass (lead crystal) to semi-
conductors (silicon doped with
boron or phosphorous), the
addition of “impurities”
enhances performance.
What do you think?
What spiritual lesson might
you see in this?
What can we learn from bronze?

Even during the Bronze Age, people made weapons from iron.
But the iron did not come from the smelting of ores. Although its ore
is abundant, iron’s high melting point (ca. 2,800 °F) put the smelting
of its ore and its further refining out of reach until the development
of specially designed furnaces (next slide).
The only iron available was what fell from
outer space- meteoric iron (right).
The Age of Iron
Axes,
daggers,
beads, and
pendants made of this type of iron have
been confirmed to be meteoritic in
origin, largely due to their high nickel
content (of ca. 10-30%)

Evidence of a bloomery furnace was
found at Tell Hammeh, Jordan, and
dated to ca. 930 BC.
The interior of such a hardened-clay
chimney (charged with charcoal and
fed with air blown into its base)
reached a temperature sufficient to
reduce iron oxide to metallic iron
without actually melting it.
Further manual hammering of the
crude iron to remove most of the slag
produced wrought iron.
The Iron Age, properly, began with the development of bloomery
smelting in Anatolia, the Caucasus region and/or the Balkans in
the late 2nd millennium BC (ca. 1300 BC).
The Age of Iron

Iron in Scripture
References to iron in the books of the Pentateuch and Joshua, which are
set in a time well before the start of the Iron Age, are anachronistic:
Tubal-cain.. was the forger of instruments of bronze and iron. - Gen. 4:22
The Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of
Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance... - Deut. 4:20
“The ironsmith takes a
cutting tool and works
it over the coals. He
fashions it with
hammers and works it
with his strong arm.”
- Isa. 44:12
By the time kings ruled
Israel and Judah, the
forging of iron was
widely practiced.

Iron in Scripture
The most important property of iron is its hardness (chart, next slide) and
therefore the superiority of tools, parts, and weapons made from it:
“Thus says the Lord: You have broken wooden bars, but
you have made in their place bars of iron. - Jer. 28:13
The word “iron” appears often in the OT (82 times), sel-
dom in the NT (6 times, only once outside Revelation).
Since no other metal was harder than iron, only an iron tool could be
used to shape another piece of iron:
Iron sharpens iron as one man sharpens another. - Prov. 27:17
This passage indicates the value of iron relative to other materials:
“Instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze,
instead of stones, iron. I will make your overseers peaceable
and your taskmasters righteousness. - Isa. 60:17

Fe~4.5
MohsHardnessRating
Cu~3.0
Sn~1.5
Ironishard
Ti~6.0
W~9.0

Stronger than iron is really strong
The bones of [Behemoth] are tubes of bronze and his
limbs like bars of iron. - Job 40:18
[Leviathan] counts iron as straw and bronze as
rotten wood..... - Job 41:27

Iron is power
These passages
strongly imply that
the people of Israel
did not have chariots
of iron; perhaps no
chariots at all since
they were useless in
the rugged hills of
central Palestine.
And the LORD was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill
country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain
because they had chariots of iron. - Judg. 1:19
Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help, for {Sisera}
had 900 chariots of iron and oppressed the people of Israel cruelly
for twenty years. -Judg. 4:3

Steel is superior
Ancient charcoal-fed smelting furnaces produced “pig iron” containing
high and varying amounts of carbon which dissolves readily in iron.
Today, elements are often added
to the iron/carbon mix to produce
steel with enhanced properties.
Nickel and manganese increases
tensile strength; vanadium in-
creases hardness while decreas-
ing metal fatigue.
taining only 2% carbon, metal of superior
quality we call steel.
Laborious and often secret techniques were needed to make iron con-

Stainless steel contains >11%
chromium which forms a passive
surface film that protects the
underlying iron from corrosion.

Featured chemical: ferrocene
Unrecognized until 1951, it was the first known “sandwich” complex, now
an entire class of chemical compounds in which a metal atom is bonded to
two carbocyclic rings [commonly, cyclopentdienyl (C5H5
-) ligands].
The 1973 Nobel Prize in
Chemistry went to the
researchers who eluci-
dated its novel and
surprisingly stable
structure, an insight
that opened up the
vast and productive
field of organometallic
chemistry.
Air-stable; melts (172.5oC)
without decomposition; sol-
uble in common organics,
insoluble in water.

 In Column 11 of the Periodic Table; below copper, above gold...
 ... and so has similar properties: soft, extremely malleable and
ductile, high electrical and thermal conductivity, and lustrous
 ... likewise, occurs in its elemental form in the Earth's crust
 Roughly 100 times the value of copper but 1/100th that of gold;*
used extensively (more than gold) since antiquity in coinage
 Produced as a byproduct of copper, gold, lead, and zinc refining
Silver
 Mineral forms are argentite (Ag2S, left)
and chlorargyrite (AgCl)
 Does not react with air, even heated; thus
considered a “noble” metal (as is gold)
 Associated in myth with the moon (as was
gold with the sun).
*In September 2020, spot prices were: copper,
$6.87/Kg; silver, $0.73/g; and gold, $59.77/g.

The word “silver” occurs...
 more often than “bronze” and “iron” combined,
 283 times [OT = 263 / NT = 20
 often along with “gold” (169)
 Some OT examples:
Silver in Scripture
Greek: ἀργυρῳς
(argyros)
Latin: argentum
Gen. 37:28 - {His brothers} ... sold {Joseph}to the Ishmaelites for 20
shekels of silver, who then took Joseph to Egypt.
Jos. 6: 24 - They burned {Jericho}... putting only the silver and gold
and vessels of bronze and iron into the treasury....
Ps. 12:6 - The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined
in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
Isa. 48:10 - Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried
you in the furnace of affliction.
Mal. 3:3 - {The Lord} will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He
will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver...

Matt. 26:15 - Then... Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests... “What will
you give me if I deliver him over to you?”...They paid him 30 pieces of silver.
Lk. 15:8 - What woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does
not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?
Silver in the NT
1Cor. 3:12-13 - ... if anyone builds on
their foundation with gold, silver, pre-
cious stones, wood, or straw, each... will
become manifest; the Day will disclose
it, because it will be revealed by fire...
Acts 19:24 - ...There arose a dis-
turbance... For the man Demetrius,
a silversmith who made silver
shrines of Artemis (right), brought
business to the craftsmen....

Certain silver compounds (salts) darken when
exposed to light, via reduction: Ag-I  Ag
In the 1830’s, Louis Daguerre worked out a way to
amplify a tiny bit of this reaction that took place on
the surface of a glass plate coated with an emulsion
of silver iodide in gelatin. The process created
“fixed” dark areas only where the plate was ex-
posed to light, thus providing an image.
The Ag-gelatin process is the most commonly used
chemical process in black-and-white photography.
Silver made photography possible

Did you know...?
The medal awarded to an Olympic athlete who wins first place in an
Olympic event is not solid gold. The ones awarded in 2016 (Rio de
Janeiro) were 98.8% silver.... But the silver medals were 100% silver.

Featured chemistry: silver tarnish
To clean fine silver, wrap it with aluminum foil and immerse in
hot water containing a little baking soda. This electrochemical
reaction takes place: 3 Ag2S + 2 Al  6 Ag + Al2S3
The surface of a silver object reacts with hydrogen sulfide present
in air, depositing black silver sulfide: 2Ag + H2S  Ag2S + H2

What can we learn from silver?
What do you think?
What spiritual lessons might we draw from the fact that silver is
valuable (but not so much as to drive people mad), reactive
enough to enable photography (but not so much as to make coins
corrode into powder), shiny but not of an unusual color?
Silver comes in second.
 As in the Period Table, silver is between copper and gold;
 Silver is “precious” but its greater abundance means it is not
anywhere near the value of gold
 Silver is bright like the moon but moonlight is a weak reflection of
the brilliance of the sun
 Silver medals are awarded to those who out-perform all but one
in an event or contest of skill or scholarship

The gold standard
Gold is the standard for value; whatever is deemed precious is gauged
by it (“worth its weight in...). So it has been since ancient times, so it is
in Scripture, so it remains to this day.
The ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous...More to be
desired are they than gold, even much fine gold Ps. 19:9-10
[Wisdom’s] fruit is better than gold, even fine gold Prov. 8:19
... the tested genuineness of your faith {is} more precious than gold
that perishes though it is tested by fire 1Pe. 1:7
The words “gold”/“golden” appear in the Bible 426
times, mostly in the OT (389 times), more often
than words for all of the other metals combined.
What do you think? What makes gold so valuable as to inspire a
“gold rush”? Why does its value skyrocket when the economy tanks?
Greek: χρυσός
(chrysos)
Latin: aurum

Gold is...
These properties do not adequately explain the extraordinary power
that gold exerted over human beings throughout human history.
Property Gold, compared to other metals
Relative abundance Is rare, 100x less abundant than Ag
Occurrence in nature As metal (flakes, nuggets), not as ore
Melting point High, but not too high for refining
Density Extreme; almost twice that of lead
Color Yellow, lustrous (S is only other yellow element)
Stability Very; does not rust or tarnish
Hardness Not very; of no use in making weapons
Malleability/Ductility Almost perfectly so; can make foil, thread

{Bezalel, the chief craftsman}
made the ephod of gold, blue
and purple and scarlet yarns,
and fine twined linen.
And they hammered out gold
leaf, and he cut it into threads
to work into the blue and
purple and the scarlet yarns,
and into the fine twined linen,
in skilled design.
- Exo. 39:2-4
Gold is malleable

Easy to make into an idol...
So all the people took off
the rings of gold that
were in their ears and
brought them to Aaron.
And he ...fashioned it
with a graving tool and
made a golden calf.
{The people} then said,
“This is your god, Israel,
who brought you up out
of the land of Egypt!”
When Aaron saw this, he
built an altar before it.
- Exo. 32:3-5
Study for "Moses and the Golden Calf“, Leon Sitarchuk (c. 1940)

...but gold is more often a blessing...
Scripture does not denigrate gold; its acquisition and possession is not
designated as sinful. Rather, it is a symbol of God’s blessing...
The Lord has greatly blessed {Abraham}... He has given him flocks and
herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and
donkeys. - Gen. 24:34-35
Aaron... set up... the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses... {its}
workmanship of... hammered gold... according to the pattern that the
Lord had shown Moses. - Num. 8:3-5

...often reserved for royalty...
Scripture does not denigrate gold; its acquisition and possession is not
designated as sinful. Rather, it is a symbol of God’s blessing...
The Lord has greatly blessed {Abraham}... He has given him flocks and
herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and
donkeys. - Gen. 24:34-35
Aaron... set up... the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses... {its}
workmanship of... hammered gold... according to the pattern that the
Lord had shown Moses. - Num. 8:3-5
... O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices... You have given him his
heart's desire... You meet him with rich blessings; You set a crown of
fine gold upon his head. - Ps. 21:1-3
The king {Solomon} made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with the
finest gold. - 1Ki. 10:18

...like it was in Egypt,
The most massive single gold object known is the innermost
tomb of Egyptian King Tutankkomen, who reigned 300 years
before the time of Kings David and Solomon.
It is formed from beaten gold sheet, ca. 0.1 inch thick, and
weighs 243 pounds.

...a fitting gift for the Prince....
Gold was one of the three precious gifts that the Magi, the “wise
men” from the East, laid at the feet of the baby Jesus:
When they saw the star, {the Magi} rejoiced... And going into the
house, they saw the child with his mother. They fell down and
worshiped him.
Then, opening their treasures,
they offered him gifts, gold
and frankincense and
myrrh. - Mt. 2:11

...and for buildings in heaven.
The city {Jerusalem} was of pure gold.... The foundations of the wall of
the city were adorned with every kind of jewel.... the twelve gates were
twelve pearls... and the street of the city was pure gold. - Rev. 21:18-21

From where did Israel get gold?
Gold from Ophir? From Sheba? No one
today knows the location of these
places. Africa? There are important
gold mines today in South Africa,
Ghana, Tanzania, and Mali; perhaps
gold was shipped up the eastern coast
or carried across the Sahara desert.
The queen of Sheba heard... of Solomon ... she came to test him with
hard questions.... with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices
and very much gold and precious stones.... - 1Ki. 10: 1-2
Hiram sent... seamen... with servants of Solomon to Ophir and brought
back gold, 420 talents, to King Solomon - 1Ki. 9: 27-28
More likely, gold came from nearby Asia Minor, in the east-
central region now the site of the Çöpler Mine, one of the
largest in the world, (estimated reserves of 6 million oz.)

Nevada is the leading gold-producing state;
In 2016 it yielded 5.5 million ounces, 81% of
all US gold, 5.5% of all gold worldwide.
Where is there gold in America?

But where shall wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
Man does not know its worth,
and it is not found in the land of the living.
The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
It cannot be bought for gold,
and silver cannot be weighed
as its price.
- Job 28: 12-15
Where is there wisdom...?
WISDOM

It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
in precious onyx or sapphire.
Gold and glass cannot equal it,
nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
the price of wisdom is above pearls.
The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
nor can it be valued in pure gold.
- Job 28: 16-19
Wisdom’s value
WISDOM

Featured chemistry: gold cyanidation
Long gone are the days of panning for gold nuggets.
Nowadays, the economical process for extracting
gold from low-grade ore is to leach it out with an
aerated aqueous solution of sodium cyanide.
Who’d’ve thought you could dissolve gold in water?
It works because oxygen strips an electron from each
gold atom to form a water-soluble gold ion, Au(CN)2
-
4 Au + 8 NaCN + O2 + 2H2O → 4 Na[Au(CN)2] + 4 NaOH

For further discussion
 Are metals “natural” or “artificial”? Why, why not? Take steel as a
specific example. Extend your reasoning to non-metallic elements
such as hydrogen, oxygen, fluorine or plutonium
 What do gold, silver, copper, iron, tin and lead symbolize to you?
Relate a story about one or more of these elements that is
meaningful to you personally
 Could Jesus have been a blacksmith? What teachings of Jesus
showed his familiarity with coinage?
 Speculate: why are so many of the NT references to metals located
in to the Book of Revelation?
 Besides wisdom, what else does the Bible teach we should value
above gold and silver?

This concludes “Elements of the Bible”
If you benefitted from this study, be sure to check
out the many other Scripture-based studies of the
“Lessons To Go” series, all available on SlideShare

Elements of the Bible

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