Topic
Refiner; Refining
17 passages cited, from 1 classic reference work.
These works date from 1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- 1 Chronicles 28:18ISBE
And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
- 1 Chronicles 29:4ISBE
Even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses withal:
- Job 28:1ISBE
Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.
- Psalms 66:10ISBE
For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
- Proverbs 25:4ISBE
Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.
- Proverbs 26:23ISBE
Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross.
- Isaiah 1:25ISBE
¶ And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
- Isaiah 25:6ISBE
¶ And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
- Isaiah 48:10ISBE
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
- Jeremiah 6:29ISBE
The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.
- Jeremiah 6:30ISBE
Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.
- Ezekiel 22:18–22ISBE
Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I…
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- Zechariah 13:9 ISBE
- Malachi 3:2 ISBE
- Malachi 3:3 ISBE
- Revelation 1:15 ISBE
- Revelation 3:18 ISBE
In the reference works
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 22 references
re-fin'-er, re-fin'-ing: Two Hebrew words have been translated "refine": (1) tsaraph, literally, to "fuse" (Zec 13:9; Isa 48:10; Mal 3:2,3, etc.). The same word is rendered also "tried" (Ps 66:10); "melt" (Jer 6:29 the King James Version); "purge" (Isa 1:25). (2) zaqaq, literally, to "strain" or "sift." In the case of silver and gold the term probably referred to some washing process in connection with refining, as in Mal 3:3 both tsaraph and zaqaq are used (1Ch 28:18; 29:4; Job 28:1). The same word in Isa 25:6 referred to the straining of wine. Greek puroo, in the passive, literally, "to be ignited," is translated "refined," in Re 1:15; 3:18.
The ancient process of refining gold has already been described under METALLURGY (which see). Most of the Bible references are to the refining of silver (Pr 25:4; Zec 13:9; Isa 48:10). The silver used by the ancients was probably obtained by smelting lead sulfide ore, rich in silver (argentiferous galena). After the ore had been reduced to a metallic condition, the lead was separated from the silver by blowing hot air over the surface of the melted metal. The lead was thus changed to lead oxide which, in a powdered condition, was driven away by the air blast. The resulting lead oxide, called in the Bible silver dross, was used for glazing pottery (Pr 26:23), a use to which it is still put by Syrian potters. The description of refining in Eze 22:18-22 may indicate that a flux (compare "as with lye," Isa 1:25 the American Revised Version margin) was sometimes added to the melted metal to dissolve the oxides of copper, lead, tin and iron as they formed, thus leaving the silver pure. Crude processes similar to those described above are used in the Taurus Mountains today.
Figurative:
In the various Bible references the refining of precious metals is used figuratively to illustrate the kind of trial God's children are called upon to go through. If they are of the right metal the dross will finally be blown away, leaving pure, clear, shining silver. If of base metal they will be like the dross described in Jer 6:29,30. The refiner may blow fiercely, but in vain, for nothing but lead dross appears.
James A. Patch
Texts: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.