Goldsmith

Goldsmiths in the ancient Near East were highly skilled artisans who worked gold into ornaments, vessels, cult objects, and inlaid decorations. In Israel, the craft is mentioned in connection with the refining of idols — Isaiah mocks the idol-maker who fashions a god from gold and then falls down before it (Isa. 40:19; 41:7). Nehemiah lists "the goldsmiths' sons" among those who helped repair the Jerusalem wall (Neh. 3:8, 31–32), suggesting a guild of craftsmen organized by family or trade in the post-exilic period. The imagery of refining gold as a metaphor for divine purification of God's people appears in Malachi 3:3, where God is like a refiner's fire purifying the sons of Levi as gold.