A silversmith is a person who works with silver to make different objects. These skilled workers take raw silver ore, clean it to remove impurities, and then shape it into many useful items.
In the Bible, silversmiths produced musical instruments like trumpets (Numbers 10:2). They also made bases that supported the frame of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:19–25). They formed objects to use in the tabernacle and temple (Numbers 7:13–85).
Silversmiths fashioned ornaments for private use as well. Some also made religious statues for false worship (Exodus 20:23; Judges 17:4). Demetrius was a silversmith at Ephesus. He made silver shrines for the goddess Artemis (also called Diana) (Acts 19:24). This profession was well known in New Testament times (2 Timothy 2:20; Revelation 9:20).