the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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King James Version
Isaiah 48:10
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Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
"Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
Beholde I haue purged thee, yet not as siluer, I haue chosen thee in the fire of affliction.
Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
Behold, I have refined you, but not with silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
"Look, I will make you pure, but not in the way you make silver pure. I will make you pure by giving you troubles.
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
Behold, I haue refined thee, but not with siluer; I haue chosen thee in the fornace of affliction.
Beholde I haue pourged the, and not for moneye. I haue chosen the in the fyre of pouerte,
"Indeed, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested and chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
See, I have been testing you for myself like silver; I have put you through the fire of trouble.
Look, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
I have made you pure, but not by fire, as silver is made pure. I have purified you by giving you troubles.
Look, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have purified you in the furnace of misery.
I tested you in hard times just as silver is refined in a heated furnace.
"Look, I have refined you, but not [as severely] as silver; [rather] I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
Behold, I haue fined thee, but not as siluer: I haue chosen thee in the fornace of affliction.
Behold, I have refined you, but not with silver; I have purified you in the furnace of affliction.
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver; I have tried thee in the furnace of affliction.
I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.
See, I have tested you, but not as silver. I have tested you in the fire of suffering.
Behold, I have sold thee, but not for silver; but I have rescued thee from the furnace of affliction.
Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
See, I have refined you, but not like silver; I have tested you in the furnace of adversity.
Lo! I have refined thee, but not as silver, - I have tested thee, in a smelting-pot of affliction.
Behold I have refined thee, but not as silver, I have chosen thee in the furnace of poverty.
Look! I have refined you, but not like silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of misery.
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
"Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
I have tested you in the fire of suffering, as silver is refined in a furnace. But I have found that you are worthless.
Look, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
Lo! Y haue sode thee, but not as siluer; Y chees thee in the chymeney of pouert.
Behold, I have refined you, but not like silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
Lo, I have refined thee, and not with silver, I have chosen thee in a furnace of affliction.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
I have refined: Isaiah 1:25, Isaiah 1:26, Job 23:10, Psalms 66:10, Proverbs 17:3, Jeremiah 9:7, Ezekiel 20:38, Ezekiel 22:18-22, Zechariah 13:8, Zechariah 13:9, Malachi 3:2, Malachi 3:3, Hebrews 12:10, Hebrews 12:11, 1 Peter 1:7, 1 Peter 4:12, Revelation 3:19
with silver: or, for silver
I have chosen: Deuteronomy 4:20
Reciprocal: Job 6:9 - that he would Job 28:1 - where they fine it Isaiah 27:9 - this therefore Jeremiah 11:4 - iron
Cross-References
And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.
And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed:
And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.
Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.
And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;
Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see.
And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
Behold, the Lord 's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver,.... But it is not usual to refine with silver; not silver with silver, nor any other metal with it; that itself is what is refined; this therefore cannot be the sense of the words; wherefore they are, by others, differently rendered; by some, "not in silver" d; not in a furnace of silver, as Aben Ezra; "but in a furnace of poverty", as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions render the next clause; and to the same sense the Targum; that is, I have tried, and purified, and refined thee, not by prosperity, but adversity; not with riches, which has its snares, temptations, trials, and exercises, but with poverty, which also has the same, or greater; and therefore Agur desired neither,
Proverbs 30:8. By others, "but not into silver" e, so as to make silver of them, whereby all the labour was lost; but this is contrary to the following clause: by others, "not for the sake of silver" f; so the Septuagint version; or for the gain of it, as the Arabic; which sense suggests that God was no gainer by their afflictions; what he did was freely, without money or price, and all the use and profit were to themselves; see Psalms 44:12. Others think, that instead of "beth", "in", it should be "caph", "as", a note of similitude, and be rendered, "but not as silver" g: but that the text is corrupted, and ought to be thus altered, there is no authority for it, and besides is contrary to several express passages of Scripture, Psalms 66:10. Rather therefore it should be rendered, "but not among silver" h; along with that, which requires a fierce fire, is kept in the furnace or melting pot until all the dross is consumed: but if God was to afflict his people to such a degree, they would not be able to bear it; and if they were to continue under his afflicting hand till all their dross, sin, and corruption were removed, they would be utterly consumed; was he to contend, or be wroth for ever, the spirit would fail before him, and the souls that he has made; wherefore he does not afflict in this fierce and furious manner, but gently and gradually, in measure, in mercy, and not in strict justice,
1 Corinthians 10:13 and by such gentle means he refines and brightens the graces of his people, tries and proves their principles and profession, and reforms their manners: I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction; such was the affliction of Israel in Egypt, called the iron furnace, Deuteronomy 4:20 and as God has his furnace to punish and consume his enemies, so he has his furnace to try, purge, and purify his people, Isaiah 31:9, and which is a fiery one, and very grievous and distressing, especially when the wrath of God is apprehended in it, though fury is not in him: when he afflicts, it is all in love, and therefore is said to choose his people at such a time; which is to be understood not of their election to grace and glory; for that is not done in time, but in eternity, and is of them, not as transgressor, or as in the corrupt mass, but as in the pure mass of creatureship: rather of calling, which is the fruit, and effect, and evidence of election, and is expressed by choosing, John 15:19, and sometimes afflictions have been the means of it; or God has in them, or by them, brought them to himself, as he did Manasseh: but it seems best of all to understand it of the manifestation of election; God sometimes under afflictive providences appears to his people, and tells them that he has loved them with an everlasting love, and assures them that they are his chosen ones; he knows their souls, and owns them as his own in their adversities; besides, in afflicting them, he deals with them as his children and chosen ones; and because they are so, he takes the pains he does with them, which he does not with others, to purge and purify them, Psalms 31:7. Moreover, he makes them choice and excellent persons by afflictions; they come forth out of them as choice silver and pure gold; they gain thereby many choice experiences of the love and grace of God, and of the truths of the Gospel, and of the promises of it: afflicted saints are commonly the choicest believers; they become thriving and flourishing Christians, humble and Holy Ones; more fit for their master's use, more weaned from the world, and wrought up for heaven and happiness. Some, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra, render the words, "I have chosen for thee the furnace of affliction" i, or "thee for the furnace of affliction"; afflictions are chosen and appointed for the people of God, and they are chosen for and appointed unto affliction,
Job 23:14. Some, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi observe, by the change of a letter, read "bachantica", "have proved thee", or "tried thee", instead of "bachartica", "I have chosen thee"; but without any reason.
d בכסף "in argento", Montanus; "in fornace argenti", Vatablus. e "Non in argentum", Grotius. f ουκ ενεκεν αργυριου, Sept. "non pro pecunia", Tigurine version. g "Quasi argentum", V. L. "tanquam argentum", Munster, Pagninus, Calvin. h "Inter argentum", Syr. i בחרתיך ככור עני "elegi tibi, [sive] pro te fornacem affictionis", Gataker,
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Behold, I have refined thee - This refers to the Jews in their afflictions and captivity in Babylon. It states one design which he had in view in these afflictions - to purify them. The word used here, and rendered ‘refined’ (צרף tsâraph), means properly to melt; to smelt metals; to subject them to the action of fire, in order to remove the scoria or dross from them (see the notes at Isaiah 1:25). Then it means to purify in any manner. Here it means that God had used these afflictions for the same purpose for which fire is used in regard to metals, in order that every impurity in their moral and religious character might be removed.
But not with silver - Margin, ‘For.’ Hebrew, בכסף bekâseph. Many different interpretations of this have been proposed. Jerome renders it, Non quasi argentum - ‘Not as silver.’ The Septuagint, Οὐχ ἕνεκεν ἀργυρίου ouch heneken arguriou - ‘Not on account of silver.’ Grotius explains it, ‘I have a long time tried thee by afflictions, but nothing good appears in thee;’ that is, I have not found you to be silver, or to be pure, as when a worker in metals applies the usual heat to a mass of ore for the purpose of separating the dross, and obtains no silver. Gesenius explains it to mean, ‘I sought to make you better by afflictions, but the end was not reached; you were not as silver which is obtained by melting, but as dross.’ Rosenmuller supposes it means, that he had not tried them with that intensity of heat which was necessary to melt and refine silver; and remarks, that those skilled in metals observe that gold is easily liquified, but that silver requires a more intense heat to purify it. Jarchi renders it, ‘Not by the fire of Gehenna as silver is melted by the fire.’ Kimchi explains it, ‘Not as one who is smelting silver, and who removes all the scoria from it, and so consumes it that nothing but pure silver remains. If that had been done, but few of you would have been left.’ Vitringa supposes that it means, that God had sent them to Babylon to be purified, yet it was not to be done with silver. It was by the agency of a people who were wicked, sinful, and unbelieving. Amidst this variety of interpretation, it is difficult to determine the sense. Probably it may be, I have melted thee, and found no silver; or the result has not been that you have been shown to be pure by all your trials; and thus it will agree with what is said above, that they were perverse, false, and rebellious as a people.
I have chosen thee - Lowth renders this, ‘I have tried thee.’ The Vulgate and the Septuagint, however, render it, ‘I have chosen thee.’ The word used here (from בחר bâchar) means, according to Gesenius:
1. To prove, to try, to examine; and the primary idea, according to him, is that of rubbing with the lapis Lydius, or touchstone, or else of cutting in pieces for the purpose of examining.
2. To approve, choose, or select. This is the most common signification in the Hebrew Bible Genesis 13:11; Exodus 17:9; Joshua 24:15; Job 9:14; Job 15:5; Job 29:25.
3. To delight in Genesis 6:2; Isaiah 1:29. Probably the meaning here is, ‘I have proved or tried thee in the furnace of affliction.’ It was true, however, that God had chosen or selected their nation to be his people when they were suffering in the furnace of affliction in Egypt; and it is also true that God chooses sinners now, or converts them, as the result of heavy affliction. Possibly this may be the idea, that their affliction had prepared them to embrace his offers and to seek consolation in him; and he may design to teach that one effect of affliction is to prepare the mind to embrace the offers of mercy.
In the furnace of affliction - Referring particularly to their trials in Babylon. Afflictions are often likened to fire - from the fact that fire is used to purify or try metals, and afflictions have the same object in reference to the people of God.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Isaiah 48:10. I have chosen thee - "I have tried thee"] For בחרתיך becharticha, "I have chosen thee," a MS. has בחנתיך bechanticha, "I have tried thee." And so perhaps read the Syriac and Chaldee interpreters; they retain the same word בחרתך bechartach; but in those languages it signifies, I have tried thee. ככסף kecheseph, quasi argentum, "as silver." Vulgate.
I cannot think בכסף becheseph, WITH silver, is the true reading. ככסף kecheseph, LIKE silver, as the Vulgate evidently read it, I suppose to have been the original reading, though no MS. yet found supports this word; the similarity of the two letters, ב beth and כ caph, might have easily led to the mistake in the first instance; and it has been but too faithfully copied ever since. כור cur, which we translate furnace, should be rendered crucible, the vessel in which the silver is melted. The meaning of the verse seems to be this: I have purified you, but not as silver is purified; for when it is purified, no dross of any kind is left behind. Had I done this with you, I should have consumed you altogether; but I have put you in the crucible of affliction, in captivity, that you may acknowledge your sins, and turn unto me.
