Yesaya 1:25-26

1:25 I will attack you; ¹ 

I will purify your metal with flux. ² 

I will remove all your slag. ³ 

1:26 I will reestablish honest judges as in former times,

wise advisers as in earlier days. ⁴ 

Then you will be called, ‘The Just City,

Faithful Town.’”

Ayub 23:10

23:10 But he knows the pathway that I take; ⁵ 

if he tested me, I would come forth like gold. ⁶ 

Mazmur 66:10

66:10 For ⁷  you, O God, tested us;

you purified us like refined silver.

Amsal 17:3

17:3 The crucible ⁸  is for refining ⁹  silver and the furnace ¹⁰  is for gold,

likewise ¹¹  the Lord tests ¹²  hearts.

Yeremia 9:7

9:7 Therefore the Lord who rules over all says, ¹³ 

“I will now purify them in the fires of affliction ¹⁴  and test them.

The wickedness of my dear people ¹⁵  has left me no choice.

What else can I do? ¹⁶ 

Yehezkiel 20:38

20:38 I will eliminate from among you the rebels and those who revolt ¹⁷  against me. I will bring them out from the land where they have been residing, but they will not come to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

Yehezkiel 22:18-22

22:18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become slag to me. All of them are like bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the furnace; ¹⁸  they are the worthless slag of silver. 22:19 Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Because all of you ¹⁹  have become slag, look out! – I am about to gather you in the middle of Jerusalem. ²⁰  22:20 As silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin are gathered in a furnace so that the fire can melt them, so I will gather you in my anger and in my rage. I will deposit you there ²¹  and melt you. 22:21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my fury, and you will be melted in it. 22:22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted in it, and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my anger on you.’”

Zakharia 13:8-9

13:8 It will happen in all the land, says the Lord,

that two-thirds of the people ²²  in it will be cut off and die,

but one-third will be left in it. ²³ 

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.’” ²⁴ 

Maleakhi 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, ²⁵  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.

Ibrani 12:10-11

12:10 For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. 12:11 Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. ²⁶  But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness ²⁷  for those trained by it.

Ibrani 12:1

The Lord’s Discipline

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, ²⁸  we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,

Pengkhotbah 1:7

1:7 All the streams flow ²⁹  into the sea, but the sea is not full,

and to the place where the streams flow, there they will flow again. ³⁰ 

Pengkhotbah 4:12

4:12 Although an assailant may overpower ³¹  one person,

two can withstand him.

Moreover, a three-stranded cord is not quickly broken.

Wahyu 3:19

3:19 All those ³²  I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent!

[1:25]  ¹ tn Heb “turn my hand against you.” The second person pronouns in vv. 25-26 are feminine singular. Personified Jerusalem is addressed. The idiom “turn the hand against” has the nuance of “strike with the hand, attack,” in Ps 81:15 HT (81:14 ET); Ezek 38:12; Am 1:8; Zech 13:7. In Jer 6:9 it is used of gleaning grapes.

[1:25]  ² tn Heb “I will purify your dross as [with] flux.” “Flux” refers here to minerals added to the metals in a furnace to prevent oxides from forming. For this interpretation of II בֹּר (bor), see HALOT 153 s.v. II בֹּר and 750 s.v. סִיג.

[1:25]  ³ sn The metaphor comes from metallurgy; slag is the substance left over after the metallic ore has been refined.

[1:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will restore your judges as in the beginning; and your counselors as in the beginning.” In this context, where social injustice and legal corruption are denounced (see v. 23), the “judges” are probably government officials responsible for making legal decisions, while the “advisers” are probably officials who helped the king establish policies. Both offices are also mentioned in 3:2.

[23:10]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Or “indeed.”

[17:3]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and.” Most English versions treat this as an adversative (“but”).

[17:3]  ¹² 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.

[9:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[9:7]  sn For the significance of this title see the notes at 2:19 and 7:3.

[9:7]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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.

[20:38]  ¹⁷ tn See the note at 2:3.

[22:18]  ¹⁸ tn For similar imagery, see Isa 1:21-26; Jer 6:27-30.

[22:19]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew second person pronoun is masculine plural here and in vv. 19b-21, indicating that the people are being addressed.

[22:19]  ²⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[22:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “I will put.” No object is supplied in the Hebrew, prompting many to emend the text to “I will blow.” See BHS and verse 21.

[13:8]  ²² tn The words “of the people” are supplied in the translation for clarity (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT).

[13:8]  ²³ sn The fractions mentioned here call to mind the affliction of God’s people described by Ezekiel, though Ezekiel referred to his own times whereas Zechariah is looking forward to a future eschatological age. Ezekiel spoke of cutting his hair at God’s command (Ezek 5:1-4) and then of burning a third of it, striking a third with a sword, and scattering the rest. From this last third a few hairs would survive to become the nucleus of a new Israel. It is this “third” Zechariah speaks of (v. 9), the remnant who will be purified and reclaimed as God’s covenant people.

[13:9]  ²⁴ 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).

[3:2]  ²⁵ 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.

[12:11]  ²⁶ tn Grk “all discipline at the time does not seem to be of joy, but of sorrow.”

[12:11]  ²⁷ tn Grk “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

[12:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “having such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.”

[1:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “are going” or “are walking.” The term הֹלְכִים (holÿkhim, Qal active participle masculine plural from הָלַךְ, halakh,“to walk”) emphasizes continual, durative, uninterrupted action (present universal use of participle). This may be an example of personification; this verb is normally used in reference to the human activity of walking. Qoheleth compares the flowing of river waters to the action of walking to draw out the comparison between the actions of man (1:4) and the actions of nature (1:5-11).

[1:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “there they are returning to go.” The term שָׁבִים (shavim, Qal active participle masculine plural from שׁוּב, shuv, “to return”) emphasizes the continual, durative action of the waters. The root שׁוּב is repeated in 1:6-7 to emphasize that everything in nature (e.g., wind and water) continually repeats its actions. For all of the repetition of the cycles of nature, nothing changes; all the constant motion produces nothing new.

[1:7]  sn This verse does not refer to the cycle of evaporation or the return of water by underground streams, as sometimes suggested. Rather, it describes the constant flow of river waters to the sea. For all the action of the water – endless repetition and water constantly in motion – there is nothing new accomplished.

[4:12]  ³¹ tn The verbal root תקף means “to overpower; to prevail over” e.g., Job 14:20; 15:24; Eccl 4:12; 6:10 (HALOT 1786 s.v. תקף).

[3:19]  ³² tn The Greek pronoun ὅσος (Josos) means “as many as” and can be translated “All those” or “Everyone.”