Numbers 31:21

21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men who were in the battle, “The LORD has given Moses this legal requirement:

Numbers 31:21 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 31:21

And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war, which went to
the battle
To all the soldiers, officers, and common men:

this is the ordinance of the law, which the Lord commanded Moses;
concerning the purification of unclean persons and things, hereby confirming what Moses had said.

Numbers 31:21 In-Context

19 And all of you who have killed anyone or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp for seven days. You must purify yourselves and your captives on the third and seventh days.

20 Purify all your clothing, too, and everything made of leather, goat hair, or wood.”

21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men who were in the battle, “The LORD has given Moses this legal requirement:

22 Anything made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead—

23 that is, all metals that do not burn—must be passed through fire in order to be made ceremonially pure. These metal objects must then be further purified with the water of purification. But everything that burns must be purified by the water alone.