1 Kings 8:51

After all, ¹  they are your people and your special possession ²  whom you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron-smelting furnace. ³ 

biblegateway 1Ki 8:51

for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.

biblegateway 1Ki 8:51

(for they are Your people and Your inheritance which You have brought forth from Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace),

biblegateway 1Ki 8:51

for they are your people––your special possession––whom you brought out of the iron–smelting furnace of Egypt.

biblegateway 1Ki 8:51

They are, after all, your people and your precious inheritance whom you rescued from the heart of that iron-smelting furnace, Egypt!

SABDAweb 1Ki 8:51

For they are your people and your heritage, which you took out of Egypt, out of the iron fireplace;

bibleoremus 1Ki 8:51

(for they are your people and heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron-smelter).

biblegateway 1Ki 8:51

"(for they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, out of the iron furnace),

biblegateway 1Ki 8:51

After all, ¹  they are your people and your special possession ²  whom you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron-smelting furnace. ³ 

¹ tn Or “for.”

² tn Heb “inheritance.”

³ tn The Hebrew term כּוּר (kur, “furnace,” cf. Akkadian ku„ru) is a metaphor for the intense heat of purification. A כּוּר 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). Thus Egypt served not as a place of punishment for the Israelites, but as a place of refinement to bring Israel to a place of submission to divine sovereignty.

³ sn From the middle of the iron-smelting furnace. The metaphor of a furnace suggests fire and heat and is an apt image to remind the people of the suffering they endured while slaves in Egypt.