Yeremia 11:20

11:20 So I said to the Lord, ¹ 

“O Lord who rules over all, ²  you are a just judge!

You examine people’s hearts and minds. ³ 

I want to see you pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.” ⁴ 

Yeremia 20:12

20:12 O Lord who rules over all, ⁵  you test and prove the righteous.

You see into people’s hearts and minds. ⁶ 

Pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.

Yeremia 20:1

Jeremiah is Flogged and Put in A Cell

20:1 Now Pashhur son of Immer heard Jeremiah prophesy these things. He was the priest who was chief of security ⁷  in the Lord’s temple.

1 Samuel 16:7

16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by ⁸  his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do. ⁹  People look on the outward appearance, ¹⁰  but the Lord looks at the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:1

Samuel Anoints David as King

16:1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long do you intend to mourn for Saul? I have rejected him as king over Israel. ¹¹  Fill your horn with olive oil and go! I am sending you to Jesse in Bethlehem, ¹²  for I have selected a king for myself from among his sons.” ¹³ 

1 Samuel 28:9

28:9 But the woman said to him, “Look, you are aware of what Saul has done; he has removed ¹⁴  the mediums and magicians ¹⁵  from the land! Why are you trapping me ¹⁶  so you can put me to death?”

1 Samuel 29:1-2

David Is Rejected by the Philistine Leaders

29:1 The Philistines assembled all their troops ¹⁷  at Aphek, while Israel camped at the spring that is in Jezreel. 29:2 When the leaders of the Philistines were passing in review at the head of their units of hundreds and thousands, ¹⁸  David and his men were passing in review in the rear with Achish.

1 Samuel 6:1

The Philistines Return the Ark

6:1 When the ark of the Lord had been in the land ¹⁹  of the Philistines for seven months, ²⁰ 

Mazmur 7:9

7:9 May the evil deeds of the wicked ²¹  come to an end! ²² 

But make the innocent ²³  secure, ²⁴ 

O righteous God,

you who examine ²⁵  inner thoughts and motives! ²⁶ 

Mazmur 139:1-2

Psalm 139 ²⁷ 

For the music director, a psalm of David.

139:1 O Lord, you examine me ²⁸  and know.

139:2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;

even from far away you understand my motives.

Mazmur 139:23-24

139:23 Examine me, and probe my thoughts! ²⁹ 

Test me, and know my concerns! ³⁰ 

139:24 See if there is any idolatrous tendency ³¹  in me,

and lead me in the reliable ancient path! ³² 

Amsal 17:3

17:3 The crucible ³³  is for refining ³⁴  silver and the furnace ³⁵  is for gold,

likewise ³⁶  the Lord tests ³⁷  hearts.

Yohanes 2:25

2:25 He did not need anyone to testify about man, ³⁸  for he knew what was in man. ³⁹ 

Roma 8:27

8:27 And he ⁴⁰  who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit ⁴¹  intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will.

Ibrani 4:12-13

4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart. 4:13 And no creature is hidden from God, ⁴²  but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

Wahyu 2:23

2:23 Furthermore, I will strike her followers ⁴³  with a deadly disease, ⁴⁴  and then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts. I will repay ⁴⁵  each one of you ⁴⁶  what your deeds deserve. ⁴⁷ 

[11:20]  ¹ tn The words “So I said to the Lord” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift in address.

[11:20]  ² tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[11:20]  sn For the significance of the term see the notes at 2:19 and 7:3.

[11:20]  ³ tn Heb “Lord of armies, just judge, tester of kidneys and heart.” The sentence has been broken up to avoid a long and complex English sentence. The translation is more in keeping with contemporary English style. In Hebrew thought the “kidneys” were thought of as the seat of the emotions and passions and the “heart” was viewed as the seat of intellect, conscience, and will. The “heart” and the “kidneys” are often used figuratively for the thoughts, emotions, motives, and drives that are thought to be seated in them.

[11:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “Let me see your retribution [i.e., see you exact retribution] from them because I reveal my cause [i.e., plea for justice] to you.”

[20:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[20:12]  sn See the study note on 2:19 for explanation of this title for God.

[20:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “Lord of armies, the one who tests the righteous, who sees kidneys and heart.” The sentence has been broken up to avoid a long and complex English sentence. The translation is more in keeping with contemporary English style.

[20:12]  sn This verse is almost an exact duplication of the petition in one of Jeremiah’s earlier prayers and complaints. See Jer 11:20 and notes there for explanation of the Hebrew psychology underlying the use of “kidneys and heart” here. For the thoughts expressed here see Ps 17.

[20:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “chief overseer/officer.” The translation follows the suggestion of P. C. Craigie, P. H. Kelley, J. F. Drinkard, Jeremiah 1-25 (WBC), 267, based on the parallel passage in 29:26-27 where this official appears to have been in charge of maintaining order in the temple.

[20:1]  sn Judging from a comparison of this passage with Jer 29:26-27 and that passage in turn with 2 Kgs 25:18, Pashhur held an office second in rank only to the high priest. He was in charge of keeping order in the temple and took offense at what he heard Jeremiah saying.

[16:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “don’t look toward.”

[16:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “for not that which the man sees.” The translation follows the LXX, which reads, “for not as man sees does God see.” The MT has suffered from homoioteleuton or homoioarcton. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 274.

[16:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to the eyes.”

[16:1]  ¹¹ tc The Lucianic recension of the Old Greek translation includes the following words: “And the Lord said to Samuel.”

[16:1]  ¹² map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[16:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “for I have seen among his sons for me a king.”

[28:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “how he has cut off.”

[28:9]  ¹⁵ tn See the note at v. 3.

[28:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “my life.”

[29:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “camps.”

[29:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “passing by with respect to hundreds and thousands.” This apparently describes a mustering of troops for the purpose of inspection and readiness.

[6:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “field.”

[6:1]  ²⁰ tc The LXX adds “and their land swarmed with mice.”

[7:9]  ²¹ tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and his people.

[7:9]  ²² tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation here.

[7:9]  ²³ tn Or “the godly” (see Ps 5:12). The singular form is collective (see the plural “upright in heart” in v. 10), though it may reflect the personal focus of the psalmist in this context.

[7:9]  ²⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form expresses the psalmist’s prayer or wish.

[7:9]  ²⁵ tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 11:4; 26:2; 139:23.

[7:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and [the one who] tests hearts and kidneys, just God.” The translation inverts the word order to improve the English style. The heart and kidneys were viewed as the seat of one’s volition, conscience, and moral character.

[139:1]  ²⁷ sn Psalm 139. The psalmist acknowledges that God, who created him, is aware of his every action and thought. He invites God to examine his motives, for he is confident they are pure.

[139:1]  ²⁸ tn The statement is understood as generalizing – the psalmist describes what God typically does.

[139:23]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and know my heart.”

[139:23]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew noun שַׂרְעַפַּי (sar’apay, “concerns”) is used of “worries” in Ps 94:19.

[139:24]  ³¹ tn Many understand the Hebrew term עֹצֶב (’otsev) as a noun meaning “pain,” and translate the phrase דֶּרֶךְ עֹצֶב (derekh ’otsev) as “of pain,” but this makes little sense here. (Some interpret it to refer to actions which bring pain to others.) It is preferable to take עֹצֶב as “idol” (see HALOT 865 s.v. I עֹצֶב) and understand “way of an idol” to refer to idolatrous actions or tendency. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 253.

[139:24]  ³² tn Heb “in the path of antiquity.” This probably refers to the moral path prescribed by the Lord at the beginning of Israel’s history. See Jer 6:16; 18:15, as well as L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 253.

[17:3]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and.” Most English versions treat this as an adversative (“but”).

[17:3]  ³⁷ 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.

[2:25]  ³⁸ tn The masculine form has been retained here in the translation to maintain the connection with “a man of the Pharisees” in 3:1, with the understanding that the reference is to people of both genders.

[2:25]  ³⁹ tn See previous note on “man” in this verse.

[8:27]  ⁴⁰ sn He refers to God here; Paul has not specifically identified him for the sake of rhetorical power (for by leaving the subject slightly ambiguous, he draws his audience into seeing God’s hand in places where he is not explicitly mentioned).

[8:27]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “he,” or “it”; the referent (the Spirit) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:13]  ⁴² tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:23]  ⁴³ tn Grk “her children,” but in this context a reference to this woman’s followers or disciples is more likely meant.

[2:23]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “I will kill with death.” θάνατος (qanatos) can in particular contexts refer to a manner of death, specifically a contagious disease (see BDAG 443 s.v. 3; L&N 23.158).

[2:23]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “I will give.” The sense of δίδωμι (didwmi) in this context is more “repay” than “give.”

[2:23]  ⁴⁶ sn This pronoun and the following one are plural in the Greek text.

[2:23]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “each one of you according to your works.”