Genesis 22:1

The Sacrifice of Isaac

22:1 Some time after these things God tested ¹  Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham ²  replied.

Deuteronomy 8:2

8:2 Remember the whole way by which he ³  has brought you these forty years through the desert ⁴  so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not.

Deuteronomy 8:16

8:16 fed you in the desert with manna (which your ancestors had never before known) so that he might by humbling you test you ⁵  and eventually bring good to you.

Deuteronomy 13:3

13:3 You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer, ⁶  for the Lord your God will be testing you to see if you love him ⁷  with all your mind and being. ⁸ 

Deuteronomy 13:2

13:2 and the sign or wonder should come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely, “Let us follow other gods” – gods whom you have not previously known – “and let us serve them.”

Deuteronomy 32:31

32:31 For our enemies’ ⁹  rock is not like our Rock,

as even our enemies concede.

Job 23:10

23:10 But he knows the pathway that I take; ¹⁰ 

if he tested me, I would come forth like gold. ¹¹ 

Psalms 66:10

66:10 For ¹²  you, O God, tested us;

you purified us like refined silver.

Proverbs 17:3

17:3 The crucible ¹³  is for refining ¹⁴  silver and the furnace ¹⁵  is for gold,

likewise ¹⁶  the Lord tests ¹⁷  hearts.

Malachi 3:2-3

3:2 Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, ¹⁸  like a launderer’s soap. 3:3 He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the Lord a proper offering.

¹ sn The Hebrew verb used here means “to test; to try; to prove.” In this passage God tests Abraham to see if he would be obedient. See T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 44-48. See also J. L. Crenshaw, A Whirlpool of Torment (OBT), 9-30; and J. I. Lawlor, “The Test of Abraham,” GTJ 1 (1980): 19-35.

² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.

⁵ tn Heb “in order to humble you and in order to test you.” See 8:2.

⁶ tn Heb “or dreamer of dreams.” See note on this expression in v. 1.

⁷ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

⁸ tn Heb “all your heart and soul” (so NRSV, CEV, NLT); or “heart and being” (NCV “your whole being”). See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

⁹ tn Heb “their,” but the referent (enemies) is specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

¹⁰ tn The expression דֶּרֶךְ עִמָּדִי (derekh ’immadi) means “the way with me,” i.e., “the way that I take.” The Syriac has “my way and my standing.” Several commentators prefer “the way of my standing,” meaning where to look for me. J. Reider offers “the way of my life” (“Some notes to the text of the scriptures,” HUCA 3 [1926]: 115). Whatever the precise wording, Job knows that God can always find him.

¹¹ tn There is a perfect verb followed by an imperfect in this clause with the protasis and apodosis relationship (see GKC 493 §159.b).

¹² tn Or “indeed.”

¹³ sn The noun מַצְרֵף (matsref) means “a place or instrument for refining” (cf. ASV, NASB “the refining pot”). The related verb, which means “to melt, refine, smelt,” is used in scripture literally for refining and figuratively for the Lord’s purifying and cleansing and testing people.

¹⁴ tn The term “refining” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

¹⁵ sn The term כּוּר (cur) describes a “furnace” or “smelting pot.” It can be used figuratively for the beneficial side of affliction (Isa 48:10).

¹⁶ tn Heb “and.” Most English versions treat this as an adversative (“but”).

¹⁷ sn The participle בֹּחֵן (bokhen, “tests”) in this emblematic parallelism takes on the connotations of the crucible and the furnace. When the Lord “tests” human hearts, the test, whatever form it takes, is designed to improve the value of the one being tested. Evil and folly will be removed when such testing takes place.

¹⁸ sn The refiner’s fire was used to purify metal and refine it by melting it and allowing the dross, which floated to the top, to be scooped off.