Deuteronomy 4:20

4:20 You, however, the Lord has selected and brought from Egypt, that iron-smelting furnace, ¹  to be his special people ²  as you are today.

Psalms 66:12

66:12 You allowed men to ride over our heads;

we passed through fire and water,

but you brought us out into a wide open place. ³ 

Isaiah 43:2

43:2 When you pass through the waters, I am with you;

when you pass ⁴  through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;

the flames will not harm ⁵  you.

Daniel 3:27

3:27 Once the satraps, prefects, governors, and ministers of the king had gathered around, they saw that those men were physically ⁶  unharmed by the fire. ⁷  The hair of their heads was not singed, nor were their trousers damaged. Not even the smell of fire was to be found on them!

¹ tn A כּוּר (kur) was not a source of heat but a crucible (“iron-smelting furnace”) in which precious metals were melted down and their impurities burned away (see I. Cornelius, NIDOTTE 2:618-19); cf. NAB “that iron foundry, Egypt.” The term is a metaphor for intense heat. Here it refers to the oppression and suffering Israel endured in Egypt. Since a crucible was used to burn away impurities, it is possible that the metaphor views Egypt as a place of refinement to bring Israel to a place of submission to divine sovereignty.

² tn Heb “to be his people of inheritance.” The Lord compares his people to valued property inherited from one’s ancestors and passed on to one’s descendants.

³ tc The MT reads רְוָיָה (“saturation”) but this should be emended to רְוָחָה (rÿvakhah, “wide open place”; i.e., “relief”), a reading supported by several ancient versions (LXX, Syriac, Jerome, Targum).

⁴ tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

⁵ tn Heb “burn” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV, NLT “consume”; NIV “set you ablaze.”

⁶ tn Aram “in their bodies.”

⁷ tn Aram “the fire did not have power.”