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is also used metaphorically with the sense “to refine by means of suffering.”
The psalmist describes the experience of Israel in this way: “For thou, O God, hast
proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. Thou … laidst affliction upon our loins.…
We went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place”
(Ps. 66:10-12). God’s judgment is also described as a process of refining: “And I will …
purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin” (Isa. 1:25). Those who were thus
purified are those who call on the name of the Lord and receive the gracious benefits of
the covenant (Zech. 13:9). The coming of the messenger of the covenant (Jesus Christ) is
compared to the work of a smith: “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who
shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire.… And he shall sit as a
refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold
and silver …” (Mal. 3:2-3). The believer can take comfort in the Word of God which
alone on earth is tried and purified and by which we can be purified: “Thy promise is
well tried, and thy servant loves it” (Ps. 119:140,
RSV
; cf. Ps. 18:30; Prov. 30:5).
has the following translations in the Septuagint:
$
(“to burn; to make red
hot”) and
$ /
(“to gild; to overlay with gold”). The
KJV
gives the following
translations: “to refine; try; melt; founder; goldsmith.” In the
RSV
,
NASB
, and
NIV
the verb
“to test” is given instead of “to try.”
B. Nouns.
Two nouns derived from the verb
occur rarely.
occurs once to mean
“goldsmith” (Neh. 3:31).
"
occurs twice and refers to a “crucible”: “The fining pot
is for silver, and the furnace is for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts” (Prov. 17:3; cf.
Prov. 27:21).
TESTIMONY
$
(
" $
, 5715), “testimony; ordinance.” The 83 occurrences of this word are
scattered throughout all types of biblical literature and all periods (although not before
the giving of the law at Mount Sinai).
This word refers to the Ten Commandments as a solemn divine charge or duty. In
particular, it represents those commandments as written on the tablets and existing as a
reminder and “testimony” of Israel’s relationship and responsibility to God: “And he
gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai,
two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God” (Exod. 31:18).
Elsewhere these tablets are called simply “the testimony” (Exod. 25:16). Since they were
kept in the ark, it became known as the “ark of the testimony” (Exod. 25:22) or simply
“the testimony”: “As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the
Testimony, to be kept” (Exod. 16:34—the first biblical occurrence of the word). The
tabernacle as the housing for the ark containing these tablets was sometimes called the
“tabernacle of testimony” (Exod. 38:21) or the “tent of the testimony” (Num. 9:15).
The word sometimes refers to the entire law of God: “The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (Ps. 19:7).
Here
$
is synonymously parallel to “law,” making it a synonym to that larger concept.
Special or particular laws are sometimes called “testimonies”: “And keep the charge of
the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and