1 Peter 4:12

4:12 Dear friends, do not be astonished ¹  that a trial by fire is occurring among you, ²  as though something strange were happening to you.

Job 23:10

23:10 But he knows the pathway that I take; ³ 

if he tested me, I would come forth like gold. ⁴ 

Psalms 66:10-12

66:10 For ⁵  you, O God, tested us;

you purified us like refined silver.

66:11 You led us into a trap; ⁶ 

you caused us to suffer. ⁷ 

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. ⁸ 

Proverbs 17:3

17:3 The crucible ⁹  is for refining ¹⁰  silver and the furnace ¹¹  is for gold,

likewise ¹²  the Lord tests ¹³  hearts.

Isaiah 48:10

48:10 Look, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have purified you ¹⁴  in the furnace of misery.

Jeremiah 9:7

9:7 Therefore the Lord who rules over all says, ¹⁵ 

“I will now purify them in the fires of affliction ¹⁶  and test them.

The wickedness of my dear people ¹⁷  has left me no choice.

What else can I do? ¹⁸ 

Zechariah 13:9

13:9 Then I will bring the remaining third into the fire;

I will refine them like silver is refined

and will test them like gold is tested.

They will call on my name and I will answer;

I will say, ‘These are my people,’

and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” ¹⁹ 

Malachi 3:3

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.

Romans 5:3-4

5:3 Not ²⁰  only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 5:4 and endurance, character, and character, hope.

James 1:3-4

1:3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 1:4 And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything.

James 1:12

1:12 Happy is the one ²¹  who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God ²²  promised to those who love him.

Revelation 2:10

2:10 Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. The devil is about to have some of you thrown ²³  into prison so you may be tested, ²⁴  and you will experience suffering ²⁵  for ten days. Remain faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown that is life itself. ²⁶ 

Revelation 3:10

3:10 Because you have kept ²⁷  my admonition ²⁸  to endure steadfastly, ²⁹  I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

[4:12]  ¹ tn Or “do not be surprised, taken aback.” The same verb occurs in 4:4.

[4:12]  ² tn Grk “at the burning among you, occurring to you for testing.”

[23:10]  ³ 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.

[23:10]  ⁴ tn There is a perfect verb followed by an imperfect in this clause with the protasis and apodosis relationship (see GKC 493 §159.b).

[66:10]  ⁵ tn Or “indeed.”

[66:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “you brought us into a net.” This rare word for “net” also occurs in Ezek 12:13; 13:21; 17:20.

[66:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “you placed suffering on our hips.” The noun מוּעָקָה (mu’aqah, “suffering”) occurs only here in the OT.

[66:12]  ⁸ 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).

[17:3]  ⁹ 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.

[17:3]  ¹⁰ 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.

[17:3]  ¹¹ 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).

[17:3]  ¹² tn Heb “and.” Most English versions treat this as an adversative (“but”).

[17:3]  ¹³ 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.

[48:10]  ¹⁴ tc The Hebrew text has בְּחַרְתִּיךָ (bÿkhartikha, “I have chosen you”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a reads correctly בחנתיכה (“I have tested you”). The metallurgical background of the imagery suggests that purification through testing is the idea.

[9:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[9:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I will refine/purify them.” The words “in the fires of affliction” are supplied in the translation to give clarity to the metaphor.

[9:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[9:7]  ¹⁸ tc Heb “For how else shall I deal because of the wickedness of the daughter of my people.” The MT does not have the word “wickedness.” The word, however, is read in the Greek version. This is probably a case of a word dropping out because of its similarities to the consonants preceding or following it (i.e., haplography). The word “wickedness” (רַעַת, ra’at) has dropped out before the words “my dear people” (בַּת־עַמִּי, bat-’ammi). The causal nuance which is normal for מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne) does not make sense without some word like this, and the combination of רַעַת מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne ra’at) does occur in Jer 7:12 and one very like it occurs in Jer 26:3.

[13:9]  ¹⁹ sn The expression I will say ‘It is my people,’ and they will say ‘the Lord is my God’ is reminiscent of the restoration of Israel predicted by Hosea, who said that those who had been rejected as God’s people would be reclaimed and once more become his sons and daughters (Hos 2:23).

[5:3]  ²⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:12]  ²¹ tn The word for “man” or “individual” here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” However, as BDAG 79 s.v. 2 says, here it is “equivalent to τὶς someone, a person.”

[1:12]  ²² tc Most mss ([C] P 0246 Ï) read ὁ κύριος (Jo kurio", “the Lord”) here, while others have ὁ θεός (Jo qeo", “God”; 4 33^vid 323 945 1739 al). However, several important and early witnesses (̲³ א A B Ψ 81 co) have no explicit subject. In light of the scribal tendency toward clarification, and the fact that both κύριος and θεός are well represented, there can be no doubt that the original text had no explicit subject. The referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity, not because of textual basis.

[2:10]  ²³ tn Grk “is about to throw some of you,” but the force is causative in context.

[2:10]  ²⁴ tn Or “tempted.”

[2:10]  ²⁵ tn Or “experience persecution,” “will be in distress” (see L&N 22.2).

[2:10]  ²⁶ tn Grk “crown of life,” with the genitive “of life” (τῆς ζωῆς, th" zwh") functioning in apposition to “crown” (στέφανον, stefanon): “the crown that consists of life.”

[3:10]  ²⁷ tn Or “obey.” For the translation of τηρέω (threw) as “obey” see L&N 36.19. In the Greek there is a wordplay: “because you have kept my word…I will keep you,” though the meaning of τηρέω is different each time.

[3:10]  ²⁸ tn The Greek term λόγον (logon) is understood here in the sense of admonition or encouragement.

[3:10]  ²⁹ tn Or “to persevere.” Here ὑπομονῆς (Jupomonhs) has been translated as a genitive of reference/respect related to τὸν λόγον (ton logon).