Deuteronomy 4:20

Iron furnace —furnace for smelting iron: "figure of burning torment in Egypt" (Herxheimer). This reference to the smelting of iron shows that, though the implements of the ancient Egyptians were mostly of copper, iron must also have been in extensive use among them. Other references to the use of iron are to be found in the Pentateuch; see Genesis 4:22 ; Le Genesis 26:19 ; Numbers 35:16 ; Deuteronomy 3:11 ; Deuteronomy 8:9 ; Deuteronomy 19:5 ; Deuteronomy 27:5 (Goguet, 'Origine des Lois,' 1.172; Wilkinson, 'Ancient Egypt,' 1.169; 2.155). To be unto him a people , etc. (cf. Exodus 19:4-6 ; Deuteronomy 7:6 ).