21 And Elea'zar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to battle: "This is the statute of the law which YHVH has commanded Moses:
22 only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
23 everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless it shall also be purified with the water of impurity; and whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water.
24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean; and afterward you shall come into the camp."
In the Bible, seven days always represents a completed spiritual process. And the process of eliminating or overcoming all of these thoughts is surely that. The purification of fire and water is a recurring theme in the Old and New Testament. Water is of the Mind or Mental consciousness and Fire is of the Heart or Spiritual Consciousness. Both are necessary for the completion of this process.
26 "Take the count of the booty that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Elea'zar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation;
27 and divide the booty into two parts, between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation.
28 And levy for YHVH a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the persons and of the oxen and of the asses and of the flocks;
29 take it from their half, and give it to Elea'zar the priest as an offering to YHVH.
30 And from the people of Israel's half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who have charge of the tabernacle of YHVH."
31 And Moses and Elea'zar the priest did as YHVH commanded Moses.
32 Now the booty remaining of the spoil that the men of war took was: six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,
33 seventy-two thousand cattle,
34 sixty-one thousand asses,
35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him.
36 And the half, the portion of those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
37 and YHVH's tribute of sheep was six hundred and seventy-five.
38 The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which YHVH's tribute was seventy-two.
39 The asses were thirty thousand five hundred, of which YHVH's tribute was sixty-one.
40 The persons were sixteen thousand, of which YHVH's tribute was thirty-two persons.