As will be known by list members who have taken the time to look
through my recent posting on the use and meaning of
PEIRAZW/EKPEIRAZW, this posting contained many sections of Greek
text which I had not transliterated and which consequently (given
how my server turns Greek into garbage) were virtually unreadable.
I therefore inadvertently made useless (if not downright irritating
and confusing) something I intended to be helpful in providing the
data necessary for answering Jonathan's question of the meaning of
PEIRASMOS in Matt 6:13//Lk. 11:4.
Since then I have taken the time to transliterate all of these
sections, and at the suggestion of Carl Conrad and Edward Hobbs and
several others on the list who thought the "Englished" version
deserved being seen, I am posting the revision of my study.
Again, I ask list members to note that despite my claim to have
noted every instance of PEIRAZW and EKPEIRAZW in literature written
before the third century CE, the study is incomplete. At the time
I wrote the substance of the posting all that was available to me
for gathering the data examined therein was the TLG C disk.
Exploration of the D disk and the data to be released on the E disk
shows that there are quite a few additional instances to be
considered. This I plan to do. But as it is an somewhat arduous
task, involving the grunt work of translation or finding the texts
in which the instances have already been translated (in other
words, many hours in the study or in the library), and as my time
is somewhat limited, I would welcome the help of any one on the
list who would wish to work with me on this. Upon request, I will
provide a list of these "new" texts which need to worked through.
Please let me know if this text gets through to you.
Jeffrey Gibson
jgibson@acfsysv.roosevelt.edu
The Occurrence and Frequency of Use of the Words PEIRAZW,
EKPEIRAZW, and PEIRASMOS before the Third Century C.E.
1. PEIRAZW
The verb PEIRAZW, an Ionic and koine form of the predominantly
Attic PEIRAW, "to try",
[On this, see W.F. Ardt, F.W. Gingrich, F.W. Danker, A
Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2nd ed.
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979) sec. 101]
appears some sixty one times in extant secular Greek literature.
[My statistics for the instances of specific word usage
have been compiled through the use of the electronic TLG
(Disk C). It should be noted, especially with respect to
PEIRAZW and PEIRASMOS in secular Greek literature, that
my count differs from that found in such reference works
as TDNT].
It is first attested in Homer (Od. 9.281; 16.319; 23.114). It
appears again, slightly later, in Herodotus (History 6.86.3), in
the Fabulae of Aesop (Fable 234 according to the enumeration of A.
Hausrath, Corpus Fabularum Aesopicarum [Teubner: Leipzig, 1958-
59]),
[The sixth century B.C.E. date of this fable is, of
course, debatable not only because of the question
surrounding the historicity of Aesop himself, let alone
his actual authorship of this particular fable, but
because the present text of this and many other fables of
the corpus stem from the hand of the otherwise unknown
hellenized Roman Valerius Babrius who lived and worked in
the second century C.E. On this, see S.A. Hansford,
Fables of Aesop (London: Penguin. 1954), pp. xiii-xix.]
in Aristophanes (The Wasps 1129) in a scrap of writing from the 4th
century B.C.E comic playwright Menander (Fragments 42.319),
[Enumeration of this text is according to the edition of
Menander's Fragments by A. Meineke (Fragmenta Comicorum
Graecorum [Berlin: Reimer. 1839], p. 340). A variation of
this fragment appears at Mono.1.573 which reads HQOS
PANOURGON MAKRON OIKIZEI QEOU. HQH TA PANTWN EN XRONW
PEIRAZETAI. QUMON FULATTOU: TO FRONEIN GAR OUK EXEI over
against HQOS KAKOURGON MAKRAN OIKIZEI QEOU. HQH TA PANTWN
EN XRONW PEIRAZETAI. QEON SEBOU KAI PANTA PRACEIS EUQEWS.
QEON PROTIMA, DEUTERON DE TOUS GONEIS.],
and in an Epicurean fragment (Deperditorum liborum reliquare
29.15.15), but then not again until its use in the third century
B.C.E. by Apollonius Rhodius (Argon. 1.495; 2:46; 3.10), the
technological writer Philon of Byzantium [Philo Mechanichus]
(Belopoecia 50.34; 51.9), and by the author (Pseudo-Callisthenes)
of the Historia Alexandri Magni (1.23.13; 1.33.32 [Recension b, ed.
L. Bergson in his Der griesche Alexanderroman. Recension b
(Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, (1965), pp. 1-192]).
[PEIRAZW appears again at 1.23.17 and 1.26.78 of
Recension gamma of this work (ed. U. von Lauenstein, Der
griechische Alexanderroman. Recension gamma. Buch 1.
Beitrage zur klassichen Philologie 4 [Meisenheim am Glan:
Hain, 1962], pp. 2-150), but each of these passages is a
reduplication of the text of 1.23.13 Recension beta (the
primary text of the Historia) albeit in a different
narrative setting. PEIRAZW also appears at 2.35a,17.6
and at 35a,28.10 of Recension gamma, but these passages
are not by the author of the Historia. Rather, they have
been taken over from On the Brahmans, a work by the
fourth century C.E. author Palladius. For a discussion of
the origin, transmission, and textual history of the
Historia, see Richard Stoneman, The Greek Alexander
Romance (London: Penguin Books, 1991), pp. 1-32.
It is used subsequently by the Macedonian historian Polybius (The
Histories 2.6.9; 5.69.5; 8.4.7; 21.4.7; 30.23.2; Fragments 195
[three times], and the Alexandrian grammarian Aristophanes
Byzantinus (Epigrammata demonstrativa 2.1.6) in the second century
B.C.E., then by the mythographer Ps. Apollodorus (The Library
2.5.1; 3.8.9; 3:14.6 according to the enumeration set out in J.G.
Frazer, Apollodorus: The Library, 2 Vol (New York: G.P. Putnam).
[The enumeration of the text is somewhat different in
other editions of the work. Cf., e.g., that of Michael
Simpson, Gods and Heroes of the Greeks: The Library of
Apollodorus (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press,
1976)],
the Roman based Epicurean writer Philodemus (On Methods of
Inference 32), the historians Diodorus Siculus (Bibliotheca
historica 2.58.5) and Dionysius Halicarnassensis (Antiquitates
Romanae 7.12.3; 10.1.5; 10.12.6; 13.4.3), the historian and
geographer Strabo of Pontus (Geography 16.4.24), the Roman satirist
Lucilius (Book 11, Epigram 183 in Vol. 4, The Greek Anthology,
trans. W.H. Patton The Greek Anthology [Cambridge, Massachusetts:
Harvard University Press, 1918], p. 158, and the Alexandrian Jewish
theologian and philosopher Philo (On Dreams 1.194; The Preliminary
Studies 163.10) in the first century B.C.E, by Plutarch (Cleomenes
7.3; Moralia 230a; Moralia [De Garrultatea] 508.A.1; Moralia [An
sene republica garne sit] 784.B.10), Josephus (Jewish War 1. 654;
4.340; Antiquities 6.210; Ap. 2.215), the Ephesian medical writer
and physician Soranus (Gynaeciorum 2.43.1), and the
authors/compilers of The Anacreontea (28.12; 33.24) and the Vita
Aesopi (Vita G 64.2) in the first century C.E., and by the
Samosataean essayist and critic Lucian (Merc. Cond. 39.13; Podagra
149; 165; 279), the Roman physician Sextus Empiricus (Adversus
Mathmaticos 1.40), the Alexandrian grammarian Aelius Herodianus
(Schematismi Homerici 114.2 ed. P. Egenolff, "Zu Herodianos",
Jahrbuch fur classischen Philologie 149 [1894], pp. 338-345), the
medical writer Galen (De sectis ad eos qui introductor 1.67.1; De
simplicium medicamentorum temperamentis ac facultatibus libri xi.
11.861.16; 12.8.3; De antidotis libri ii 14.2.6), the Bythinian
historian and Stoic philosopher Arrian (The Discourses 1.9.29) and
the astrologer Vettius Valens (Anthologiarum 1.39; Additamenta
4.24. The enumeration of Vettius Valens is according to David
Pingree, Vettii Valentis Antiocheni: Anthologiarum Libri Novem
[Leipzig: B.S.B. B.G. Teubner Verlagsgesellschaft, 1986]) in the
second century C.E. The verb also appears five times in two works
by Alexander Aphrodisiensis (Problematica 2.54; in Aristotelis
Sophisticos Enlenchos commentarium 89.4; 96.28; 96.30; 97.27), a
second to third century C.E. peripatetic philosopher, twice in the
Papyri (PSI 927.25; PEIRAZOMENH, Fragmentum [P. Brit. Mus. 2208]),
and once in the Scholia on Aristophanes (Plutus 575).
a. the use and meaning of PEIRAZW in non-Biblical literature
In non-Biblical Greek literature written before the end of the
second century C.E. the verb PEIRAZW is employed syntactically in
two ways: (a) in a verbal construction (with either PEIRAZW itself
appearing absolutely in infinitive form and used intransitively or
the infinitive or some other form of PEIRAZW accompanied by the
infinitive or substantive of another verb, that is, with a verbal
object) or (b) with a direct and not a verbal object.
The instances where it is used as a "verbal" are Polybius, The
Histories 2.6.9, 8.4.7, 30.23.2, Fragments 195, Apollonius Rhodius,
Argonautica 1.495, Ps. Apollodorus, The Library 3.14.6, Dionysius
Halicarnassensis, Antiquitates Romanae. 10.1.5, Lucian, De mercede
conductis potentium familiaribus 39.13, Soranus, Gynaeciorum libri
iv 2.43.1.1, and Vettius Valens, Anthologiarum 1.39. To see what
sense(s) the verb bears when used in this way, let us turn to these
texts.
The first example from Polybius reads:
hOI D' HPEIRWTAI PARADOCWS DIASESWSMENOI TO SOUTON
PERI APEIXON TOU PEIRAZEIN AMUNESQAI TOUS HDI KHKOTAS H XARIN
APODIDONAI TOIS BOHQHSASIN hWSTE TOUNANTION
DIDPRESBEUSAMENOI ...
But the Epriots, thus unexpectedly saved, were so far
from attempting to retaliate on the wrongdoers or from
thanking those who had come to their relief.
[Translation of this and of the next two passages from
Polybius is that of W.R. Patton, Polybius: The Histories
(Cambridge, Massachussets: Harvard University Press,
1929)].
The second example from Polybius reads:
KAIPEITA DIA THS EIRESIAS THS AF' EKATEROU TWN EKTOS
TARSWN EGGISANTES TH GH TAS NAUS, PEIRAZOUSI PROSEREIDEIN
TW TEIXEI TO PROEI RHMENON ORGANON.
After this the rowers on both the outer sides of the
ships bring them close to shore, and now they endeavour
to set the engine I have described against the wall.
The third example from Polybius reads:
hOI DE RHODIOI KOMISAMENOI TA PERI TWN KAUNIWN KAI
QEWPOUNTES OU KATALHGOUSIN THN ORHAN TWN RHOMAIWN, EPEIDH
PERI PANTWN AKOLOU QWS TAIS APOKRISESIN EPEIQARXHSAN,
EUQEWS TOUS PERI ARISTOTELHN PRESBEUTAS KATASTHSANTES
ECEPEMPON EIS THN RWMHN, DONTES ENTOLAS PEIRAZEIN PALIN
PERI THS SUMMAZIAS.
The Rhodians on receiving the message that the
displeasure of the Romans did not diminish when they had
yielded complete obedience to the terms of their reply,
at once appointed and sent Aristoteles and other envoys
to Rome with instructions to try again to obtain an
alliance.
The fourth example from Polybius reads:
[PEIRAZEIN] SKIPIWN hO RWMAIOS SUNEBOULEUSIN HOUTWS H MH
PEIRAZEIN H hOUTWS hWS TE EK PANTOS TROPOU TELOS EPIQEINA
TH PRACEI. TO GAR DID PROS TON AUTON PEIRAZEIN hAMA MEN
EPISFALES, hAMA D' EUKATAFRONHTON GENESQAI POIEI
PANTELWS.
Scipio counseled him either not to try, or to do so in
such a manner as to succeed at all risks. For to make an
attempt on the same man twice was dangerous in itself,
and was apt to make a man altogether contemptible.
[Translation is that of E.S. Scuckburger, The Histories
of Polybius (translation from the Text of F. Hultsch)
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1962), p. 556].
The example from Apollonius Rhodius reads:
AN DE KAI ORFEUS, LAIH ANASXOMENOS KIQARIN, PEIRAZEIN
AOIDHS.
And Orpheus lifted his lyre in his left hand, and made
assay to sing.
[Translation is that of R.C. Seaton, The Argonautica (New
York: Macmillan, 1912)].
The example from Ps. Apollodorus reads:
hO DE EGKATALELEIMMENOS hUPO AFRODITHS EIS EPIQUMIAN
WLISQE THS AQHNAS, KAI DIWKEIN AUTHN HRXATO: hH DE
EFEUGEN. hWS DE EGGUS AUTHS EGENETO POLLH ANAGKH [HN GAR
XWLOS], EPEIRATO SUNELQEIN.
But he [Hephaestus], being forsaken by Aphrodite, fell in
love with Athena, and began to pursue her; but she fled.
When he got near her with much ado (for he was lame), he
attempted to embrace her.
[Translation of this and other texts of Ps. Apollodorus
referred to in this chapter is that of J.G. Frazer,
Apollodorus: The Library, 2 Vol. (New York: G.P. Putnam,
1921). Cp. M. Simpson, Gods and Heroes of the Greeks: The
Library of Apollodorus (Amherst: University of
Massachusetts Press, 1976), p. 203: "He had been
abandoned by Aphrodite. Filled with desire for Athena, he
chased her, but she ran away. When with great effort he
caught up with her (for he was lame), he tried to make
love with her".]
The example from Dionysius Halicarnassensis reads:
TO DE POLITEUMA TOUTO PRWTOS MEN EPEIRASEN EISAGAGEIN
GAIOS TERENTIOS DHMARXWN EN TW PARELQONTI ETEI, ATELES DE
HNAGKASQH KATALIPEIN TOU TE PLHQOUS ONTOS EPI STRATOPEDWN
KAI TWN hUPATWN EPITHDES EN TH POLEMIA
It was Gaius Terentius who first tried to introduce this
measure establishing an equality of rights in the
preceding year, while he was tribune; but he was forced
to leave the business unfinished because the plebeians
were then in the field and the consuls purposely detained
the armies in the enemy's country.
[Translation here is that of E.C. Spelman, The Roman
Antiquities of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Vols.
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1937-50),
Vol. p. , slightly altered.]
The example from Lucian reads:
KAI HTOI MEIRAKION AUTOU hOTI EPEIRASAS POTE H THS
GUNAIKOS ABRAN PARQENON GERWN ANHR DIA FQEIREIS H ALLO TI
TOIOUTON EPIKLHQEIS, NUKTWR EGKEKALUMMENOS EPI TRAXHLON
WSQEIS ECELHLUQAS, ERHMOS APANTWN KAI APOROS, KTL.
Under the charge that you once made overtures to a page
of his, or that, in spite of your age, you are trying to
seduce an innocent girl, his wife's maid, or something
else of that sort, you leave at night, hiding your face,
bundled out neck and crop, destitute of everything ...
[Translation is that of M.D. Macleod, Lucian (Cambridge,
Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1917), p. .]
The example from Soranus reads:
KAQIZEIN DE KAI ANISTASQAI TOU BREFOUS PEIRAZONTOS
BOHQEIN AUTOU TOIS KINHMASIN DEI.
And when the infant attempts to sit and to stand, one
should help it in its movements.
[Translation is that of O. Tempkin, Soranus' Gynecology
(Baltimore: John Hopkins Press, 1956), p. .]
The example from Vettius Valens reads:
EISI DE KAI hAUTAI POLUSPOROI, KAQOLOU DE KAKENTREXWN TH
DIONIA, MALISTA KATA TWN PEIRAZONTWN H TWN PONARA
DRWNTWN.
These [i.e., portions of Scorpio in Hermes], too, are
very fruitful, on the whole progressing poorly in
understanding, most of all concerning (the) evil of those
who attempt or practice evil.
[The works of Vettius Valens are now being translated
into English by ( Golden Hind Press). The
translation of this passage has been supplied to me by my
friend and co-worker, Don Wendland.]
The evidence of these texts indicates that in Secular Greek when
used as a verbal, PEIRAZW bears the meaning "to try" in the sense
of "to try to do something", "to make an effort", "to attempt".
[Cf. "PEIRAZW", in BAG, 640.]
The instances in secular Greek literature where PEIRAZW is used
with a direct and not a verbal object consist of Aelius Herodianus,
Schematismi Homerici 114.2, Aesop, Fabulae 234, Anacreontea 28.12;
33.14, Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.10, Aristophanes, The
Wasps 1129, Aristophanes Byzantinus Epigrammata demonstrativa
2.1.6, Arrian, The Discourses of Epictetus 1.9.27, Diodorus
Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 2.58.5, Dionysius Halicarnassensis,
Antiquitates Romanae 7.12.3; 10.12.6; 13.4.3, Epicurus, Fragment
29.15.15, Herodotus, History 6.86.3, Historia Alexandri Magni
1.23.13; 1.33.32, Homer, Odyssey 9.281; 16.319; 23.114, Josephus,
The Jewish War 1.654; 4.340; Jewish Antiquities 6.210; Against
Apion 2.215, Lucian, Podagra 149; 165; 279, Lucilius, Epigram 183,
Menander, Fragments 42.319, Philo, On Dreams 1.194; The Preliminary
Studies 163.10, Philodemus, On Methods of Inference 32, Philon of
Byzantium, Belopoecia 50.34; 51.9, Polybius, The Histories 5.69.5,
Plutarch Cleomenes 7.3; Moralia 230a; 508a, Ps. Apollodorus, The
Library 2.5.9; 3.98.2 [Again, according to Frazer's enumeration],
Sextus Empiricus, Adversus Mathmaticos 1.40, Soranus, Gynaeciorum
libri iv 2.43.1, Strabo, Geography 16.4.24, Vettius Valens,
Additamenta 4.24, and Vita Aesopi (Vita G) 64.2 (cf. also,
Alexander Aphrodisiensis, Problematica 2.54; in Aristotelis
Sophisticos Enlenchos commentarium 89.4; 96.28, 30; 97.27, PSI 927,
25; PEIRAZOMENH (P. British Museum Fragment 2208), and Scholia on
Aristophanes, Plutus 575. The evidence of these texts indicates
that when not used as a "verbal", but with a direct object, PEIRAZW
was thought to bear the meaning of "try" not in the sense of "to
attempt, etc." but in the sense of "to try out", "to make trial of"
specifically to determine or to demonstrate the character or
reliability of what or whomever was being "tried".
Some examples are illustrative. In Od. 23.114 Odysseus
requests that he be "tried" by Penelope (hH TOI MATER ENI
MEGAROISIN EADON PEIRAZEIN EMEQEN) in order to show her that he is
not a liar when he claims to be her long lost husband (cf. Od.
23.114). In Od. 16.319 Telemachus describes Odysseus' move to
"sound out" (PEIRHQEIMEN) the servants on their estate "to find out
which are loyal and respect us, and which have forgotten their duty
to the fine prince they have in you" (cf. Od. 16.305) [The
translation is that of A.T. Murray, The Odyssey, 2 Vols. (New York:
G. Putnam & Sons, 1919), p. ] as an unnecessary "trying" (ANDRWN
D' OUK AN EGWGE KATA STRQMOUS EQELOIMI hHMEAS PEIRAZEIN): their
loyalty is unquestionable. In Argonautica 2.46 the son of Zeus is
said to "try" his arms (PHLE DE XEIRAS PEIRAZWN) in order "to see
if they were pliant as before and were not altogether numbed by
toil and rowing" (EIQ' hWS PRIN EUTROXALOI FOREONTAI MHD' AMUDIS
KAMATW TE KAI EIRESIH BARUQOIEN) [R.C. Seaton, The Argonautica (New
York: Macmillan, 1912), p. 105]. At Podagra 149, 165, 279 men are
noted as having "tried" all manner of things, including metals,
juices, saps of trees, the bones, sinews, skins, fat, marrow,
urine, dung, and milk of animals, and the boiled carcasses of
weasels, field mice, lizards, toads, frogs, hyenas, antelopes, and
foxes, in order to discover a remedy against gout and its attendant
pains.
[Podagr 149
EC OU GAR EFUN PRWTON ANQRWPOIS GENOS,
TOLMWSI PANTES TOUMON EKBALEIN SQENOS,
KUKWNTES AIEI FARMAKWN TEXNHMATA.
ALLOS GAR ALLHN EP' EME PEIRAZEI TEXNHN.
For ever since the race of men was born,
They all essay to exorcise my might.
By ever mixing drugs most cunningly.
Each man a different wile against me tries.
Podagr 165
[SFURAQOUS OREIAS AIGOJ, ANQRWPOU KOPRON, ALEURA KUAMWN,
ANQOS ASSIOU LIQOU:]
EYOUSI FRUNOUS, MUGALAS, SAURAS, GALAS,
BATRAXOUS, hUAINAS, TRAGELAFOUS, ALWPEKAS.
POION METALLON OU PEPEIRASTAI BROTOIS;
TIS OUXI XULOS; POION OU DENDROU DAKRU;
ZWWN hAPANTWN OSTA, NEURA, DERMATA,
STEAR, hAIMA, MUELOS, OURON, APOPATOS, GALA.
And weasels, field mice, lizards, toads they boil,
The frog, hyena, antelope, or fox.
What metal has not been by mortals tried?
What juice? What exudation from a tree?
All creatures' bones, sinuews and skins they try,
Their fat, blood, marrow, urine, dung or milk.
Podag 279
ALL' EIA, THNDE SUMBASIN SUNQWMEQA,
KAI PEIRASWMEN EITE FARMAKOU SQENOS
hUPERTERON PEFUKEN EIT EMAI FLOGES.
But come, upon these terms let us agree:
Lets test this mighty remedy to find
If it or if my burning pain prevails].
In Josephus, Jewish War 4.340, the "trying" that certain judges are
said to have experienced at the hands of the Zealots was a
particular ordeal which was designed to determine whether these men
would be true to their calling and not pervert justice.
But there is more. In certain of these texts the "trying"
signified by the use of PEIRAZW is thought of as the probing and
putting to the proof, for good or ill, of a persons's piety or his
willingness to be faithful and obedient to moral or covenantal
obligations. For instance, in The Library 2.5.9 Ps. Apollodorus
(third cent. B.C.E.) speaks of Poseidon and Apollo setting out "to
try" Laomedon, the King of Troy and father of Priam, when he had
abandoned himself to hUBRIS, specially to see whether Laomedon
would continue in his impiety or was both capable and willing to
repent of his not giving the gods their due. And at The Library
3.98.2 we read that the fifty sons of the patriarch Lycaon were
"tried" by Zeus because Zeus wanted to determine whether or not
these men would give in to the arrogance (hUPERHFANIA) toward other
men and impiety (ASEBEIA) to the gods for which they were known
(cf. 3.98.1) or instead would be true to him with respect to his
demands for men to provide hospitality (CENIA) when called upon to
do so.
[On hospitality as a (cultic/religious) obligation among
Greeks, see G. Stahlin, "CENOS, KTL.", TDNT 5 (1967), pp.
1-36, esp. pp. 17-18.]
So we find, then, that non-Biblical Greek writers use PEIRAZW not
only for the concept of "attempting" but also for that of
"testing". Moreover, the "testing" signified by this latter use of
the verb is thought of as one of two kinds: one where what is put
to the proof, that is, experimentally ascertained through hardship
or trial, is a person's or a thing's reliability or character, and
another where it is the extent of one's fidelity or obedience to
one's moral or covenantal obligations.
Conclusions: the meaning of PEIRAZW in non-biblical Greek
With respect to the use and meaning of PEIRAZW in non-Biblical
Greek two conclusions seem warranted by the evidence. First, the
verb stands for "to try" in one or another of two senses: (1) "to
attempt" "to endeavor" "to try to do something" and (2) "to test"
"to put to the proof" specifically to determine or to demonstrate
the character or worth of someone or something or the nature and
extent of one's faithfulness or willingness to be obedient,
particularly in the context of moral or covenantal obligation.
Second, the factor determining when PEIRAZW is to be seen as
bearing the former sense of "to try" is the use of the verb
intransitively or in a verbal construction.
It would seem, then, that in non-Biblical Greek - save for
those instances where the verb PEIRAZW is used as a verbal -
nothing is said PEIRAZEIN except with a distinct reference to some
kind of objective probing or proving.
[Cf. F.J.A. Hort, The Epistle of James (London:
Macmillan, 1909), p. 4; see also J.H. Moulton and G.
Milligan, The Vocabulary of The Greek New Testament
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960), p. 501.]
2. the use and meaning of PEIRAZW in Greek biblical and related
literature
a. the use and meaning of PEIRAZW in the Septuagint version of
the Hebrew Scriptures
Only once in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures,
at Deut. 4:34, do we find PEIRAZW used in a "verbal" construction:
EI EPEIRASEN hO QEOS EISELQWN LABEIN hEAUTW EQNOS EK
MESOU EQNOUS, KTL.,
and there the meaning of the verb is obviously "to try" in the
sense of "to venture", "to endeavor" or, as the RSV has it, "to
attempt" ["Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation
for himself from the midst of another nation..."..]. In each of
its other twenty nine other instances, PEIRAZW is used with a
direct object, specifically either things (Eccl. 2:1; 7:24), men
(Gen. 22:1; Ex. 15:25; 16:4; 20:20; Deut. 8:2; 13:3; 33:8; Jdgs.
2:22; 3:1, 4; 1 Kngs. 10:1//2 Ch. 9:1; 32:31; Ps. 25(26):2;
34(35):16; Dan. 1:12, 14; 12:10), or God (Ex. 17:2, 7; Num. 14:22;
Jdgs. 6:39; Is. 7:12; Ps. 77(78):41, 56; 94(95):9). The question
of the sense or senses with which the verb is used within these
instances has been taken up and investigated by J. Korn (J.H. Korn,
PEIRASMOS: Die Versuchung des Glaubigen in der greischischen Bible
(Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1937), H. Seesemann ("PEIRA, KTL."',
TDNT 6 (1968), pp. 23-36), and B. Gerhardsson (The Testing of God's
Son (Matt. 4:1-11 & Par) (Lund: C.W.K. Gleerup, 1966) with
differing results. Korn and Gerhardsson argue that, whatever other
nuances may here be attached to the verb, in *these* instances
PEIRAZW is always used with reference to an attempt, i.e., the kind
of "trying out" in which one experimentally ascertains the
condition of things [Cf. also B. Van Iersel, The Bible on the
Temptations of Man (DePere, Wisc.: St. Norbert Abbey Press, 1966),
p. 4], a putting on trial in an attempt to determine reliability,
a probing to unveil the true character of whom or what is "tried"
[Korn, PEIRASMOS, pp. 24-26; Gerhardsson, The Testing of God's Son,
pp. 25-28]. Moreover, in the instances where the "trying" referred
to is of men by God or of God by men, PEIRAZW bears an even more
specific meaning: "to test faithfulness and obedience" [Korn,
PEIRASMOS, pp. 31-34; Gerhardsson, The Testing of God's Son, pp.
27-31]. Seesemann, however, will not admit to such consistency of
usage. For though he, too, sees that PEIRAZW is certainly used in
the majority of instances in the LXX of the Hebrew Scriptures to
signify a "putting of character or covenant fidelity to the test",
this is, he believes, not the case in all the instances of its
appearance there - that in at least some of its occurrences the
verb is employed without any hint of an idea of "proving", whether
of faithfulness or character or of any other virtue or quality.
Rather, according to Seesemann, PEIRAZW is also used with the sense
of "to experience", "to gain experience of" or "to educate through
trial" [Seesemann, "PEIRA", pp. 24, 26].
It is important for my larger purpose - viz. outlining what is
possibly being said when in the New Testament the word PEIRAZW is
used with reference to Jesus - to know who is correct in this
regard. For the sense or senses with which a word is used in the
Septuagint often conditions if not establishes the meaning(s) that
word has when it is used in the New Testament [On this, see J.W.
Wevers, "The Septuagint" in IDB Vol 4 (Nashville/New York: Abingdon
Press, 1962), pp. 273-278, esp. p. 277], and the range of
signification set there is frequently determinative for future
usage in other, later Greek Biblical and associated literature.
Let us, then, turn to the instances of the verb in the
Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures where PEIRAZW is
used with a direct and not a verbal object which Seesemann sees as
devoid of any idea of "testing" and examine them to see whether or
not Seesemann is correct in concluding that the verb has a wider
range of meaning there than Korn and Gerhardsson allow. The
instances in question are 1 Kings 10:1//2 Ch. 9:1; Eccl. 7:23; and
Psalm 25:2 [Seesemann, "PEIRA", pp. 24, 26].
(1) I Kings 10:1//2 Chron. 9:1
In this instance PEIRAZW is used with Solomon and his "name", that
is, his wisdom, as its objects [On this, see J. Gray, I & II Kings
(London: SCM Press, 1964), pp. 241-42]. The Queen of Sheba, on a
commercial visit to Jerusalem (cf. 1 Kings 10:2, 10, 13; 2 Chron.
9:2), and having heard of Solomon's sagacity (HKOUSEN TO ONOMA
SOLOMON) comes to Solomon "to try" him (PEIRASAI AUTON/SALWMWN).
According to Seesemann, PEIRAZW here has the sense of "to
experience" [Seesemann, "PEIRA", p. 24] so that the reason the
Queen comes to Solomon is to become acquainted with his wisdom at
first hand. This indeed may be part of the case, but it is not all
of it. For the Queen's purpose is not so much to bask in Solomon's
sagacity as it is to determine whether or not he actually has it.
This is clear from the fact that the Queen "tries" Solomon with
riddles or hard questions (AINIGMASIN, 1 Kings 10.1; 2 Chron. 9:1).
In the ancient world to "try with riddles" was an activity that
aimed specifically at discovery not dalliance, proving not play [On
this, see H.P. Mller, "Der Begriff `Rtsel' im alten Testament",
VT 20 (1970), pp. 465-89, esp. pp. 477-79], and the Queen's
engagement in it implies not only a disbelief on her part that
Solomon is actually wise but the suspicion that, as a new king of
a new nation, he could hardly yet possess the diplomatic skills and
experience in statecraft that made for wisdom. It is also clear
from the Queen's actual statements that before she came to him, she
did not believe Solomon possessed wisdom (cf. 1 Kings 10:7; 2
Chron. 9:6), but that, given how he has responded to her questions,
she now knows that this is true (cf. 1 Kings 10:6; 2 Chron. 9:5).
So the "trying" here is not an "experiencing", but a "testing", a
"putting to the proof".
(2) Eccl. 7:23(24)
Here PEIRAZW is used with reference to the truth of an adage.
The "teacher" speaks of how he has "tried" the traditional wisdom
that a righteous man prospers in his righteousness (PANTA TAUTA
EPEIRASA, cf. vs. 19). Seesemann sees PEIRAZW here as meaning "to
experience" [Seesemann, "PEIRA", p. 24] and the "teacher"
accordingly saying that he has had some acquaintance with what the
adage adduces. While this is doubtless true on one level, it is not
a wholly adequate assessment of all that, or even what, PEIRAZW
signifies here. For, as vs. 26 makes plain, the "teacher" "tries"
the adage in order to know whether the adage truthfully mirrors
reality and can be counted on to provide guidance for his life.
Since, then, the purpose of the "trying" referred to here is to
determine reliability, the primary sense that PEIRAZW bears in this
instance is "to put to the proof".
(3) Psalm 25(26):2
In this verse PEIRAZW is used with reference to `David'. Here
`David' cries out in a heartfelt petition for God "to try" him
(PEIRASON ME). Seesemann feels that here PEIRAZW means "to educate
through trial", so that what `David' is expressing here is a desire
to be made obedient to God and his ways [Seesemann, "PEIRA", p.
26]. This, however, seems unlikely, for, in the first place, there
is no indication here that `David' is either ignorant of God's ways
or disobedient toward them. Indeed the presupposition of the verse
is that he is a man who is not only innocent of any past infidelity
to God but also one who, possessing full knowledge of what God
requires of him, will maintain his faithfulness despite pressing
inducements to the contrary. Second, what `David' desires when he
cries out to be "tried" is to be able to demonstrate all of this.
This is clear from the fact that in vs.1 the "trying" which `David'
desires is envisaged as something which is also a "proving by
trial" (DOKIMAZW) and a "trial by fire" [On PUROW here as
synonymous with "to put to the proof", see F. Lang, "PUR, KTL",
TDNT 6 (1968), pp. 928-52, esp. p. 949]. In light of this, PEIRAZW
here obviously means "to put to the proof", "to test".
Conclusions: the meaning of PEIRAZW in the LXX of the Hebrew
Scriptures
Contrary to Seesemann's claim, the meaning that PEIRAZW bears from
instance to instance of its use in the Septuagint translation of
the Hebrew Bible does not vary significantly. While in some of
these instances the verb may bear the sense of "to experience" "to
become acquainted with", it never does so to the exclusion of the
meaning "to test","to put to the proof" [See B. Van Iersel, The
Bible on the Temptations of Man, p. 4]. There is, however, some
variance in these texts regarding the objective that the action
signified by PEIRAZW is envisaged as having. In some instances of
its use the objective of the "trying/testing" is to gain knowledge
of, or to determine, a person's or a thing's character or
reliability. In other instances its objective is to uncover the
depth of a person's faithfulness and obedience to covenantal
obligations. So we may say that in the Septuagint translation of
the Hebrew scriptures PEIRAZW, when not used as a verbal, means "to
test" in one or the other of two basic ways: "to put character or
reliability to the proof" or "to probe and determine faithfulness".
b. the use and meaning of PEIRAZW in the Apocryphal books of the
Septuagint
Unlike its usage in Secular Greek literature and in the Septuagint
translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, PEIRAZW is never used in the
Apocrypha of the Septuagint intransitively or with a verbal object.
It appears only in conjunction with a direct object, in a total of
seventeen instances. It usage in this form is also somewhat
widespread, appearing in eight out of the twelve books or additions
to books found there, the exceptions being Baruch, the Epistle of
Jeremiah, the Additions to Daniel, and the Prayer of Mannaseh. In
these seventeen instances it has as its objects things (Sir. 39:4),
men (Wis. 2:17, 24; 3:5; 11:9; Sir. 4:17; 13:11; 31(34):10; 37:27;
Tobit 12:13; Judith 8:25; 26), and God (Wis. 1:2; Sir. 18:23 and
Judith 8:12). Gerhardsson consistently and Korn in the main see
the primary sense with which PEIRAZW is used in each of these
instances as "to test", "to put to the proof" especially over
faithfulness and obedience to covenantal obligations when men or
God are the object of the verb (i.e., in Wis. 1:2; 2:17-18; 2:24;
3:5; 11:9; 12:26; Sir. 4:17; 13:11; 18:23; 31(34):10-11; 37:27;
Tob. 12:13; Judith 8:12, 25-26).
[Korn (PEIRASMOS, p. 47) takes exception to this only in
two instances, Wis. 2:24 and 12:26, where he sees the
verb used to represent "a natural experience" (Erfahren)
and as an expression for "being aware of" respectively.
For whether or not this is the case, see below.]
Seesemann disputes this, viewing PEIRAZW as having little or no
reference to "testing", either of character or faithfulness, in
Wis. 3:5; 11:9; Sir. 4:17, even though the verb is used in these
instances in reference to men being "tried" by God or one of his
agents.
[In Sir. 4:7 it is Wisdom herself who does the "trying".]
Here instead, he argues, the verb "approximates closely to the
predominantly Gk. [sic] concept of education []..."
[Seesemann, "PEIRA", p. 26], and rather than denoting the idea of
"proving", its primary sense in these instances is "to teach" "to
instruct through trial" [Seesemann, "PEIRA", p. 26].
Now there is no disputing that in these last three passages
PEIRAZW is indeed linked with themes of discipline and education.
Wisdom 11:9, for instance, specifically speaks of God's "trying" of
Israel during the Exodus as a "disciplining" resulting in Israel
being led into "knowledge".
[Here it is the knowledge of how God treats Israel
differently from other nations: hOTE GAR EPEIRASQHSAN,
KAIPER EN ELEEI PAIDEUOMENOI, EGNWSAN PWS MET' ORGHS
KRINOMENOI ASEBEIS EBASANIZONTO]
And in Sir. 4:17 the terms PEIRAZW and PAIDEIA are used in close
conjunction if not synonymously. But it is by no means certain
that the idea of discipline/education conceived of in these
passages is that which is embodied in the Greek idea of .
[On the difference between the Greek and Jewish
conceptions of PAIDEIA, see G. Bertram, "Der Begriff der
Erziehung in der griechischen Bibel" in Imago Dei:
Beitrage zum theologische Anthropologie Fest. G. Kruger
(Geissen: A. Topplemann, 1932), pp. 33-51].
More importantly, it simply does not follow that in these passages
PEIRAZW is not employed with the meaning "to test" and/or "to put
faith and obedience to the proof". For, contrary to what Seesemann
seems to assume, in the Biblical witness the concepts of
"education/discipline" and "testing" are not mutually exclusive. On
the contrary, as Deut. 8:2-5 shows, they are intimately bound up
with one another:
And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your
God has led you these forty years in the wilderness that
he might humble you, "trying" you (ELPEIRASH SE) to know
what was in your heart, whether you would keep his
commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you
hunger and fed you with manna, which your fathers did not
know; that he might make you know (hINA ANAGGEILH SOI)
that man does not live by bread alone, but than man lives
by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of God ...
And you shall know that as if any man should discipline
(PAIDEUSAI) his son, so the Lord your God will discipline
(PAIDEUSEI) you.
[This perception that the concepts of
"education/discipline" and temptation/"testing" are not
mutually exclusive, indeed, that they are thoroughly
intertwined, is also to be found in Clement of
Alexandria, Stromata 4.16.104, a text in which proof that
"testing" and "disciplining/education" are two sides of
the same coin is derived directly from Wis. 3:5-8!]
On what grounds, then, does Seesemann base his contention? It is,
notably, a belief that in and behind these texts the primary
assumption is that "... there is no longer any real danger of
failing the test and resisting God" [Seesemann, "PEIRA", p. 26].
Is this indeed the case? It is certainly not, for instance, in Sir.
4:17. Here, the "trying" to which God, through his agent, Wisdom,
is said to subject often a righteous man is presented as something
which can as easily lead to the "tested" man being shown faithless
and to God's forsaking him as it can to the man's exaltation:
For at first she [Wisdom] will walk with him by crooked
ways and bring fear and dread upon him, and torment him
with her discipline (KAI BASANISEI AUTON EN PAIDIA
AUTHS), until she may trust his soul and "try" him by her
laws (KAI PEIRASEI AUTON EN TOIS DIKAIWMASIN AUTHS). Then
will she return the straight way unto him, and comfort
him, and show him her secrets. But if he go wrong
(APOPLANHQH), she will forsake him (EGKATALEIFEI AUTON),
and give him over to his own ruin (KAI PARADWSEI AUTON
EIS XEIRAS PTWSEWS AUTOU).
Nor is it the case in Wis. 3:5. where God is presented as
rewarding, after "chastening a little", the righteous (cf. 3:1),
who having been "tried" by God (EPEIRASEN AUTOUS) in the same sort
of trial that gold undergoes when it is passed through a smelting
fire (cf. 3:6), have proven themselves "worthy" of divine favour
(KAI EUREN AUTOUS ACIOUS hEAUTOU). Now in this text the very
reason that the righteous, having been "tried" by God, are so
greatly exalted is not because under "testing" they could not show
themselves unfaithful to God and his ways, but because they could
and yet did not. So there is no assumption here of the "testing" to
which God subjects men as being impossible to fail.
Nor can this idea of an impossibility of failing "tryings" sent
from God be attributed to Wis. 11:9. The "trying" referred to here
is specifically that which is noted in Deut. 8:2-5 as having
befallen the Wilderness Generation after the Exodus from Egypt.
[Cf. W.J. Deane, The Book of Wisdom (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1881), p. 169; J. Reider, The Book of Wisdom (New
York: Harper & Brothers, 1957), p. 142; D. Winston, The
Wisdom of Solomon (Garden City: Doubleday, 1979), p.
229.]
And it is beyond doubt that this "trying" was one in which there
was a very real, not to mention a very grave, danger of failing and
resisting God [Cf. Deut. 8:11, 17-20].
In light of this, the question then arises: what sense does
PEIRAZW have in these instances? It is, surely, as Korn and
Gerhardsson here insist, "to put faithfulness and obedience to the
proof". For what is "put to the test" in Sir. 4:17 is the
willingness of those who desire to serve Wisdom to commit
themselves to God's ways (cf. 4:13-16). What is intended to be
discovered by the "testing" referred to in Wis. 3:5 is whether
those who are "tried" are ACIOS TOU QEOU. And the "trying"
recollected in Wis. 11:9 is something that was instigated
specifically so that God would know whether those subjected to it
"would keep his commandments or not" (Deut. 8:2).
But can it be maintained, as Gerhardsson (without exception)
and Korn (in the main. See above, note 000) assert, that in every
other instance of the usage of PEIRAZW in the Apocrypha of the
Hebrew Scriptures in which men or God are the object of the verb
(i.e., Wis. 1:2; 2:17-18; 2:24; 12:26; Sir. 13:11; 18:23;
31(34):10-11 [S]; 37:27; Tob. 12:13; Jdth. 8:12, 25-26) the primary
meaning of the verb is "to try" in the sense of "to test"? At first
glance, taking the recent history of translation of two of these
instances into English as our guide here, the answer appears to be
"no". Do not Wis. 2:24 and 12:26 stand as evidence against this?
Let us turn to these texts to see.
The text of Wis. 2:24 runs FQONW DE DIABOLOU QANATOS EISHLQEN
EIS TON KOSMON, PEIRAZOUSIN DE AUTON hOI THS EKEINOU MERIDOS ONTES.
To determine the meaning which PEIRAZW has here, we must first
establish just what the verse in which the verb appears is actually
intent to assert. There are two possible options. The first,
advanced by the majority of commentators and translators,
[Cf., e.g., R.H. Charles, The Book of Wisdom in The
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament 2 Vols.
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913) Vol. 1, p. 555; Deane,
Wisdom, pp. 122-123; A.T.S. Goodrick, The Book of Wisdom
(New York: Macmillan, 1913), pp. 119-121; Reider, Wisdom,
p. 159; Winston, Wisdom, p. 245; see also the
translations of the RSV, NAB, JB, and the NEB. As I noted
above (see note 000)]. Korn also supports this position.]
is that the intention of the verse is twofold: (1) *to lay at
Satan's feet the origin and existence in the world of death and all
its scourges* and (2) *to make known the dreadful fate,
characterized by the explosion of the illusion that death has no
sting, that lies in store for those who side with Satan*. If this
is the case, then PEIRAZW would here be equivalent to "to
experience", for we would have in the verse the following thought:
It was the devil's envy that brought death into the
world, as those who are his partners will discover (JB).
The second option is that the intention behind the verse is *the
desire to unveil the mentality of the "wicked", "the ungodly," and
to explain why they continually and characteristically subject "the
righteous" to outrage and torment*. If this is the case, then
PEIRAZW would here have the meaning "to put to the proof", for the
thought of the verse would be
through the envy of an evil adversary death came into the
world and those who are like that adversary [in that
they, too, are goaded by envy], and take his [or death's]
side, inflict death [on the righteous] as a test.
Upon examination, the first option proves untenable. Laying
aside the question of the likelihood of hO DIABOLOS being here a
reference to the Devil (i.e., Satan),
[For arguments against the view that hO DIABOLOS here
means the Devil, see J.A.F. Gregg, The Wisdom of Solomon
(Cambridge: CUP, 1909), pp. 22-23.]
we must note that it is patently not the author of Wisdom's view,
as this option assumes, that man has been subjected to mortality
through no fault of his own but as a result of a superhuman and
supermundane power freely and sinisterly interfering with the
course of the world [On this, see Y. Amir, "The Figure of Death in
the 'Book of Wisdom'" JJS 30 (1979), pp. 154-178, esp. pp. 161-
162]. On the contrary, he believes that the cause of this is, as
he himself expressly notes, the deeds and words of wicked men (Cf.
1:16). Accordingly, if our author stood against the idea that the
responsibility for the present state of the world lies in an
initiative that proceeded from outside the world, then we can
hardly expect that it was his intention in 2:24 to make such a
claim or to discuss the final fate of those who side with "the
Devil" [Gregg, The Wisdom of Solomon, p. 23].
What then of the second option? Surely it must be the case.
For what has just been described at length in the material
preceding 2:24 (cf. 2:10-20) is how the "wicked", those who "call
with deed and word for death" (1:16) plot to secure the
condemnation of the righteous to a shameful death to show as
wanting both the endurance of the righteous and their commitment to
"gentleness (EPIEKIAN) as well as their claim that the final end of
the virtuous will be happy (MAKARIZEI). Moreover, it is precisely
to give an explanation both of the mentality of the "wicked"
(notably already described in 1:16 as "those who are worthy to be
of death's portion", [ACIOI EISI THS EKEINOU MERIDOS EINAI]), and
of the motivation of their desire to prove that the "righteous" are
wrong to hold the belief that death is not annihilation, *that is
the intent of the larger passage (i.e., 1:(1)12-3:12) in which 2:24
appears*.
[Cf. not only Wis. 2:1 but also 2:21, which specifically
brings 2:24 under the rubric "This is the way they
reason" (TAUTA ELOGISANTO).
It should also be noted that explaining the ways of
the wicked with respect to the righteous, and not
recounting the wicked's final fate, is what the Vulgate
sees as the intention of Wis. 2:24 (Imitantur autem illum
qui sunt ex parte illius.).]
In light of this, we must conclude that PEIRAZW is here used
with the meaning of "to test", "to put to the proof".
[See A.M. Dubarle, "La Tentation Diabolique Dans Le Livre
De La Sagesse (2,24)", in Melanges Eugene Tisserant,
Vol. 1 (Citta del Vaticano: Biblioteca apostolica
Vaticana, 1964) pp. 187-195; H.A. Kelly, "The Devil in
the Desert", CBQ 26 (1964), pp. 190-220, esp. pp. 206-7
n. 40.]
But what of PEIRAZW in Wis. 12:26? There is a long standing
tradition, as witnessed to by most of this verse's translators and
commentators, and supported by Korn [Korn, , p. 47], that
here PEIRAZW means "come to know" or "experience".
[Cf., e.g., R.H. Charles, The Book of Wisdom, p. 555;
Reider, The Book of Wisdom, p. 159; Winston, The Wisdom
of Solomon, p. 245; see also the translations of the RSV,
NAB, JB, and the NEB.]
But there are two considerations that stand against this. First,
this is not the way in which PEIRAZW is employed in any of the
other instances of the verb's usage in Wisdom. Second, as Wis.
18:20, 25, and 19:5 show, when the author of Wisdom wants to
express the idea "to experience", he uses not PEIRAZW but PEIRA.
But does, then, the verb mean, as we have so far seen it does
elsewhere in the Greek Apocrypha, "to test" or "to put to the
proof"? Two considerations indicate that this must be the case. In
the first place, "to test", "to put to the proof" is, as we have
seen above, the sense PEIRAZW bears in each of the five other
instances in which the author of Wisdom uses it (i.e., in Wis. 1:2;
2:17, 24; 3:5; 11:9). And in the second place, the thought of the
verse - which, under this reading of the sense of PEIRAZW, would be
"For those who have not been brought to a right mind by light
chastisement will prove themselves to be worthy of God's (ultimate)
judgement" - coheres well with the thought of the verse's context
which is an exploration of the link between persistent and culpable
idolatry and the descent upon it of the "utmost" limit of
condemnation [Cf. vvs. 23-27].
It would seem, then, that we should indeed assert that in
every instance of the usage of PEIRAZW in the Apocrypha of the
Hebrew Scriptures in which men or God are the object of the verb,
the primary meaning of the verb is "to try" in the sense of "to
test". And so Septuagintal usage of transitive PEIRAZW whose object
is man or God is consistent. But what of the one instance (i.e.,
Sir. 39:4) in which PEIRAZW has a thing as its object. What sense
does the verb have there? The text reads:
EN GH ALLOTRIWN EQNON DIELEUSETAI,
AGAQA GAR KAI KAKA EN ANQRWPOIS EPEIRASEN.
The object of the "trying" referred to here, "good and evil", is
the wisdom lore of other cultures [On this, see A.A. Di Lella and
P.W. Skehan, The Wisdom of Ben Sira (Garden City: Doubleday, 1981),
p. 452]. Since the one doing this "trying" is the one devoting
himself to the study of the Law of the Most High (cf. 39:34) and
since, as vss. 5-8 note, the purpose of "trying" this lore is to
determine whether it is in any way useful both in bringing an
understanding of God's mysteries and engendering an deep devotion
to the "Law of the Lord's covenant", PEIRAZW is unquestionably
being used here with the sense of "to test", in this case, "to test
reliability or utility".
Conclusions: the meaning of PEIRAZW in the Apocrypha of the LXX
The examination of the use of PEIRAZW in the Apocrypha reveals
several things: (1) that when used intransitively or with a verbal
object, the verb always bears the meaning "to attempt"; (2) that
when used with a direct and not a verbal object it is consistently
employed to convey the meaning "to test"; and (3) in these latter
instances, the "testing" is the experimental ascertaining, often
through hardship or trial, of character, reliability, utility, or
integrity or the nature and extent of obedience and faithfulness to
covenantal obligations.
c. the use and meaning of PEIRAZW in the Greek Pseudepigrapha
In the Greek Pseudepigrapha PEIRAZW appears only three times, in 4
Macc. 9:7 and 4 Macc. 15:16 [A], and in a fragment (preserved for
us by Eusebius in his Praeparatio Evangelica 9.25.1-4, esp. vs. 3)
of a "life of Job" by Aristeas the Exegete (prior to the 1st
century B.C.E.),
[The work comes to us at third-hand since Eusebius has
drawn his excerpt of Aristeas from Alexander Polyhistor's
quotation of Aristeas' "life of Job". For a discussion of
Aristeas, his work, and the date and provenance of his
"life of Job", see R. Doran, "Aristeas the Exegete" in
The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. J. Charlesworth, 2
Vols. (Garden City: Doubleday, 1985), Vol. 2, pp. 855-
858.]
never as a "verbal" but only with a direct object. What sense does
it bear in these instances? In 4 Macc. 9:7 it is clearly "to test"
"to put to the proof, specifically to determine the nature and
extent of one's faithfulness and obedience, since here those who
are "tried" - the pupils of the aged martyr Eleazar who dies for
his faith during the persecutions of the Jews under Antiochus
Epiphanes (cf. 4 Macc. 4:15-26) - call out to be so in order that
they may show themselves worthy of their teacher, willing to
persevere through torture and even die for "religion's sake"
(EUSEBIA, cf. vs. 8).
"To try" in the sense of "to test" "to put to the proof" -
and, again, specifically one's faithfulness and obedience - is also
the meaning which PEIRAZW bears in 4 Macc. 15:16. For here, too,
the "trying" signified by the verb has the effect of disclosing
that the one "tried" - in this instance, a mother who was faced
with the choice of urging her sons to disobey God's law or seeing
them one by one tortured and put to death (cf. 15:2-3) - remained
steadfast in her resolve (OU METETREYEN SE, vs. 18), "brought
perfect religion to birth" (THN EUSEBEIAN hOLOKLHRON APOKUHSASA,
vs. 17), and "swerved not for religion's sake" (OU METEBALLETO DIA
THN EUSEBEIAN, vs. 14, cp. vs. 4). Indeed, it was carried out to
see if her "soul" was like Abraham's (cf. 14:20), loving piety even
better than her sons (15:1) [On this, see Korn, PEIRASMOS, pp. 28-
30.].
Likewise, in our fragment from Aristeas the Exegete,
[Of which the relevant portion of the text reads TOUTON
DE TON 'IWB PROTERON 'IWBAB ONOMOZESQAI. PEIRAZONTA D'
AUTON TON QEON EMMEINAI, KTL.]
PEIRAZW also means "to put to the test", "to prove". The "trying"
referred described by Aristeas is not only that which the Book of
Job portrays God subjecting Job to in Job. 1-3, that is, a "testing
of Job's faithfulness", but, according to Aristeas, the very
purpose of the "trying" he describes is to see if Job will "endure"
(EMMEINAI).
So, as in the Apocrypha of the Septuagint as well as in the
Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, we find that
according to the Greek Pseudepigrapha PEIRAZW used with a direct
object has no meaning other than "to test". "to put to the proof".
d. the use and meaning of PEIRAZW in the extant fragments of the
non-Septuagintal Greek versions of the Hebrew Scriptures
In the extant fragments of the versions of the Hebrew Scriptures
produced by Aquila,
[On Aquila, see H.B. Swete, Introduction to the Old
Testament In Greek, 2nd ed.(Cambridge: CUP, 1914), pp.
31-42; S.K. Sonderlund, "Septuagint" in ISBE 4; gen. ed.
G.W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988), pp. 400-
409, esp. p. 404.]
Symmachus,
[On Symmachus, see Swete, Introduction, pp. 49-53; L.J.
Liebreich, "Notes on the Greek Version of Symmachus", JBL
63 (1944), pp. 97-105; Sonderlund, "Septuagint", p. 405.]
and Theodotion,
[On Theodotion, see Swete, Introduction, pp. 42-49;
Sonderlund, "Septuagint", pp. 404-405.]
PEIRAZW appears only once with a verbal object (Aquila, Deut.
28:56). In all of its other instances there the verb appears is
used transitively with a real or implied direct object (Symmachus,
Gen. 44:15; Deut. 33:8; Mal. 3:10; Theodotion, Dan. 1:12, 14, here
limited to either men or God.
The Aquilan text ([hHS] OUK EPEIRASEN TARSOS PODOS AUTHS
hUFISTASQAI EPI THS GHS APO THS TRUFHS KAI APALOTHTOS [cp. LXX, hHS
OUXI PEIRAN ELABEN hO POUS AUTHS BAINEIN EPI THS GHS DID THN
TRUFEROTHTA KAI DID THN hAPALOTHTA]) is a literal rendering of the
statement "[The tender and delicate woman among you] who would not
venture to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for
delicateness and tenderness ...". It is obvious that PEIRAZW is
used here to convey the meaning "to try" in the sense of "to try to
do something". But what of the other instances of its use by
Symmachus and Theodotion? We shall investigate them one by one.
a. texts in Symmachus
1) Gen. 44:15
KAI GAR EGNWTE HOTI PEIRASMW PEIRAZEI hOMOIOS EMOI (cp.
LXX, OUK OIDATE hOTI OIWNISMW OIWNIEITAI hO ANQRWPOS OIOS
EGW)
The speaker here is Joseph, the son of Jacob and here Prime
Minister of Egypt, addressing his brothers as they were brought
before him when one of his cups (which he had secreted among their
baggage) had been found in their possession by his servants. His
intention here in announcing that he is one who "tries" with a
"trial" is to let his brothers know not only how foolish it is for
people to think that they could steal from his house with impunity,
but that such a crime, when and if it occurred, could not remain
long undiscovered nor the identity of its perpetrator long
concealed. He is a man who will probe the situation until he
discovers what he wants to know. In light of this, PEIRAZW must
surely mean "to test" "put to the proof".
2) Deut. 33:8
TELEIOTHS SOU KAI DIDAXH SOU TW ANDRI TW hOSIW, hON
EPEIRASAS EN DOKIMASIA: EDOKIMASAS AUTON EPI TOU hUDATOS
THS ANTILOGIAS (cp. LXX, DOTE DEUI DHLOUS AUTOU, KAI
ALHQEIAN AUTOU TW ANDRI TW hOSIW, hON EPEIRASAN AUTON EN
PEIRA, ELOIDORHSAN AUTON EF hUDATOS ANTILOGIAS).
Here PEIRAZW is obviously used with the meaning of "to test" and
more specifically "to test faithfulness and obedience". Not only is
it cast in parallelism with DOKIMAZW, but the purpose of this
"trying" was to discover whether the one "tried" (in this instance
Levi) would keep God's covenant (cf. vs. 9). Moreover, its outcome
disclosed that the one "tried" was hOSION [On hOSIOS, see F. Hauck,
"hOSIOS, KTL.", TDNT 5 (1967), pp. 489-493].
3) Mal. 3:10
(KAI) PEIRASATE DH ME (cp. LXX, EPISTREYATE [A DOKIMASATE] DH
ME EN TOUTW)
The speaker here is God. His petition that he be "tried" is part of
a declaration of his covenant faithfulness and is made to apostate
"sons of Jacob" (vs. 7) who have denied him his full complement of
tithes and first-fruits because they no longer believe that doing
so will bring them the covenant blessings he had once promised for
such actions. The specific intention behind the petition is that
they discover that they are wrong in this. Accordingly, PEIRAZW
here must mean "to test" "to put to the proof", especially
faithfulness and obedience to one's covenantal obligations.
b. texts by Theodotion
1) Dan. 1:12
PEIRASON DE TOUS PAIDAS SOU EF' hHMERAS DEKA, KAI DOTWSAN
hHMIN APO TWN SPERMATWN, KAI FAGOMEQA KAI hUDWR PIOMEQA.
(cp. LXX, PEIRASON DE TOUS PAIDAS SOU EF' hHMERAS DEKA.
KAI DOQHTW hHMIN APO TWN OSPRIWN THS GHS)
In this text the petition to be "tried" comes from Daniel of
Judah, here a captive in the palace of Babylon during the Exile,
refusing to comply with a royal order to eat unclean food, and is
addressed to the man responsible for seeing that this order is
carried out, the chief steward in Nebuchadnezzar's court. The
background of the petition is Daniel's claim that, contrary to the
steward's expectations, he and a small band of Jews also subject to
the order would be no worse for wear if they did not defile
themselves but ate only vegetables and water instead of the
appointed meat and drink. Daniel makes his request to be "tried" to
show the steward that for those striving to be faithful to divine
prohibitions concerning defilement, such abstinence would prove not
harmful, as the steward initially fears, but beneficial (cp. vv. 8,
13). The "trying" that Daniel requests is, therefore, an action
which determines not only whether this confidence is justified, but
whether Daniel is a man whose word can be trusted. In light of
this, PEIRAZW, here, then, obviously bears the meaning "to test".
2) Dan. 1:14
KAI EPEIRASEN AUTOUS hHMERAS DEKA. (cp. LXX, KAI
EPEIRASEN AUTOUS hHMERAS DEKA)
The "trying" referred to here is the "putting to the test" that
Daniel requests he and his fellow Jews be subjected to in Dan.
1:12, that is, a "trying" the purpose of which is to show that
something he claims to be true about himself and others will turn
out to be so. So there is little doubt that PEIRAZW is used here
with the meaning "to test".
Conclusions: the meaning of PEIRAZW in the extant fragments of
Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion
In the non-Septuagintal Greek versions of the Hebrew Scriptures
PEIRAZW seems to bear only three possible meanings: first, "to try"
in the sense of "to try to do something". "to attempt"; second, "to
try" in the sense of "to test" "to prove the character or integrity
of someone"; third, "to test faithfulness and obedience to
religious/covenantal obligation". The first meaning appears when
the verb is employed with a verbal object, the second two meanings
when the verb possesses a direct object.
[That transitive PEIRAZW was primarily understood (by
Symmachus at least!) in the period in which Symmachus
worked as bearing the meaning "to test character or
faithfulness" is underscored by the fact that Symmachus
refuses to render NASAH in Eccl. 7:23(24) (where it has
the meaning "to try something out" "to test a thing's
reliability") as the LXX does, by PEIRAZW. Instead, he
uses the verb PEIRAOMAI. "to try" in the sense of "try
out" (TOUTWN EPEIRAQHN EN SOFIA [cp. LXX, PANTA TAUTA
EPEIRASA EN SOFIA]).]
(5) the use and meaning of PEIRAZW in the New Testament and early
Christian literature
Syntactically, New Testament and early Christian usage of PEIRAZW
is for the most part of a piece with Secular Greek and Septuagintal
usage in that its general employment is either as a "verbal" (seven
times) or with a direct object (fifty five times). It is, however,
also employed on several occasions in substantival participial form
as a designation or title for a person or supernatural being (Matt.
4:3; 1 Thes. 3:5; Stromata 3.12.80.2; 4.4.13.1-2 (twice); 7.3.20.5;
Clementine Homily 3.55.3). The six instances of its usage as a
"verbal" are Acts 9:26: 16:7; 26:4, Ignatius, Magnesians 7.1;
Clementine Homily 16:13.4, and Clement of Alexandria, Stromata
4.12.85.1-2. The first Acts text reads:
PARAGENOMENOS DE EIS IEROUSALHM EPEIRAZEN KOLLASQAI TOIS
MAQHTAIS, KAI PANTES EFOBOUNTO AUTON MH PISTEUONTES hOTI
ESTIN MAQHTHS...
And when he [Paul] had come to Jerusalem he tried to join
himself to all the disciples, and they were all afraid of
him, not believing he was a disciple.
The second Acts texts reads:
ELQONTES DE KATA THN MUSIAN EPEIRAZON EIS THN BIQUNIAN
POREUQHNAI, KAI OUK EIASEN AUTOUS TO PNEUMA IHSOU
and when they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to
go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow
them; (RSV)
The third text reads:
hOS KAI TO IERON EPEIRASEN BENHLWSAI
He even tried to profane the Temple ... (RSV)
The Ignatian text reads:
MHDE PEIRASHTE EULOGON TI FAINESQAI IDIA hUMIN, ALL' EPI
TO AUTO MIA PRUSEXH, KTL.
Do not try to make anything appear right for you by
yourselves, but let there be in common one prayer ...
The text of the Homily reads
PRWTOIS ESTWSAN hAI XEIRES SOU LIQOBOLHSAI AUTON.
EPEIRASEN GAR SE APOSTHNAI APO KURIOU TOU QEOU SOU.
For he [the false prophet] hath tried to turn thee from
the Lord thy God.
The text from Clement reads:
PEIRAZEI GAR hO DIABOLOS EIDWS MEN HO ESMEN, OUK EIDWS DE
EI hUPOMENOUMEN: ALLA APOSEISAI THS PISTEWS hHMAS
BOULOMENOS KAI hUPAGESQAI hEAUTW PEIRAZEI.
For the devil testing us [through the threat of
martyrdom], knowing what we are, but not knowing if we
will hold out, but wishing to dislodge us from the faith,
attempts also to bring us into subjection to himself.
>From this we can see that in New Testament and early Christian
usage PEIRAZW employed as a "verbal" bears the meaning "to try" in
the sense of "to strive after", "to endeavor", "to attempt".
The instances of the use of PEIRAZW with a direct object,
excluding those in the Synoptic Gospels and in Hebrews in which
Jesus is the verb's object, are John 6:6; 8:6; Acts 5:9; 15:10; 1
Cor. 7:5; 10:9, 13; 2 Cor. 13:5; Gal. 6:1; 1 Thes. 3:5 (twice);
Heb. 2:18; 3:9; 11:17, 39; James 1:13 (three times), 14; Rev. 2:2,
10; 3:10; Hermas Sim. 7:1; 8:2.7; Ignatius Mag. 7:1; Egerton
Papyrus 2, fragment 2 recto, lines 44-59; Logion 91 of the Gospel
of Thomas (twice); Martyrdom of Paplus and Agathonice 19.2; The
Acts of John 10:13 (recension); 40.1; 57.5-6 (three times)
(recension); 88.3; 90.22; Justin's Dialogue with Trypho 103.6;
125.4; Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks 9.84.3;
10.95.2; Christ the Educator 1.8.62; Stromata 2:20.103; 3.6.51;
3.12.80; 3.15.96; 4.4.13 (twice); 4.12.85 (twice); 4:16.104
(twice); 7.3.20; 7.12.74; Ecolgae propheticae 53.2.3; Excerpta ex
Theodoto 1.5.4. 9.46; and Ps. Clement, Homily 2 43.1; Homily 3 39.5
(two times); 43.2; 55.2-3 (three times); Homily 12 29.4; and Homily
16 13.4-5 (five times).
[Those Synoptic and Hebrews instances of the use of
PEIRAZW with Jesus as its object are, as we have seen
above, Matt. 4:1; 16:1; 19:3; 22:18, 35; Mk. 1:13; 8:11;
10:2; 12:15; Lk. 4:2; 10:25; 11:16; Heb. 2:18; 4:15.]
The object of the verb is here either men (including Jesus) or God.
What meaning does PEIRAZW bear in them? It is safe to say, as even
a random sampling of the evidence shows, that the verb is almost
always used with the sense of "to put to the proof faithfulness and
obedience to covenantal obligations". The "trying" referred to, for
instance, in 1 Cor 7:5 (MH APOSTEREITE ALLHLOUS, EI MHTI AN EK
SUMFWNOU PROS KAIRON hINA SXOLASHTE TH PROSEUXH KAI PALIN EPI TO
AUTO HTE, hINA MH PEIRAZH hUMAS hO SATANAS DIA THN AKRASIAN hUMWN)
is certainly meant to be understood in this sense, since it is
explicitly designated as something that is to be carried out by
Satan, the one who puts faithfulness to the test. So, too is the
"trying" of which Acts 15:10 warns (NUN OUN TI PEIRAZETE TON QEON,
EPIQEINAI ZUGON EPI TON TRAXHLON TWN MAQHTWN hON OUTE hOI PATERES
hHMWN OUTE hHMEIS ISXUSAMEN BASTASAI;) since it contains an
indirect reference to the action forbidden in Deut. 6:16, the
"making trial of God", which is putting his loyalty to his covenant
to the proof. And such is the "trying" referred to in Martyrdom of
Paplus and Agathonice 19.2 since it is noted there that "being
tried" is something which is aimed specifically at "proving" a
peson's piety (KAI KATA SUGXWRHSIN QEOU PEIRAZEI TON ANQRWPON,
ZHTWN PLANHSAI THS EUSEBEIAS).
But is this the case in every instance? Are there no
exceptions. Using Seesemann and the recent history of translation
of the relevant New Testament texts as our guide here, there are
several texts which are claimed as qualifying for this, namely, 2
Cor. 13:5 and Rev. 2.2, where PEIRAZW has been thought to mean only
"to examine",
[Cf., e.g., the RSV's translation of PEIRAZW in 2 Cor.
13:5. See also on this, Seesemann, "PEIRA", p. 28.]
and John 6:6 where the verb has been construed as meaning "to
prove" but only with the intention of seeing what the person
"proved" will do or say, not the nature and extent of his
faithfulness.
[Seesemann, "PEIRA", p. 28. It is to be noted that
Seesemann also sees certain of the Marcan (and therefore
Matthean and Lucan) instances in which PEIRAZW is used
with reference to Jesus (i.e., Mk. 8:11 [par Matt. 16:2;
Lk. 11:16]; Mk. 10:2 [par Matt. 19:2], and Mk. 12:15 [par
Matt. 22:18]) as having no specifically "religious" sense
(i.e., "to put faithfulness to the test"). Rather, in his
opinion, the verb is employed there with the "academic"
sense of "to examine". In my The Temptations of Jesus in
Early Christianity (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,
1995) I put Seesemann's reading of the Markan passages
"to the test" and found it wanting.]
But are these instances really exceptions? John 6:6, where
Jesus "tries" Philip (TOUTO DE ELEGEN PEIRAZWN AUTON) by asking him
if he thinks it possible for them to feed the "huge" crowd that
they see gathering around them, does not really seem to be so. As
vs. 7 notes, Jesus already knows that he himself is the bread of
life and as such will provide the crowd with food. What is "tried"
here is Philip's faith in Jesus as this figure [Cf. C.K. Barrett,
The Gospel According to John (London: SPCK, 1955), p. 228].
Nor does 2 Cor. 13:5 seem to be an exception. The "trying" to
which here Paul urges the Corinthians to subject themselves should,
if honestly applied, reveal whether they are all that they claim to
be EN TH PISTEI, that is, whether they are faithful to their
confession and are leading Christian lives [Cf. V.P. Furnish, II
Corinthians (Garden City: Doubleday, 1984), p. 571]. In any case,
it is hardly likely that PEIRAZW here means "to examine". The verb
is cast by Paul synonymously with DOKIMAZW, "to prove" [Furnish, II
Corinthians, p. 572].
A stronger case can be made for Rev. 2:2. Here the Seer speaks
of the fact that the church of Ephesus had "tried" evil men who had
claimed to be apostles and found them to be liars (KAI EPEIRASAS
TOUS LEGONTAS hEAUTOUS APOSTOLOUS KAI OUK EISIN KAI hEURES AUTOUS
YEUDEIS). Since this could hardly have been done without some
scrutiny of these men, "examine" seems here to be a fair rendering
of PEIRAZW. But that "examine" is the full or only sense that the
verb bears here is doubtful. As Hermas, Mand. 11:11-15 notes, in
the early church false apostles were found to be such specifically
when they were "put to the proof" (DOKIMAZEIN OUN APO THS ZWHS KAI
TWN ERGWN TON ANQRWPON TON LEGONTA hEAUTON PNEUMATOFORON), and, as
The Didache 11 remarks, when they were challenged to show "the
fruits of the Lord". An intense probation is envisaged here [H.B.
Swete, The Apocalypse of John (London: Macmillan, 1907), pp. 25-
26]. So on top of "to examine", PEIRAZW here must also mean "to
prove", "to test character and integrity" [R.H. Charles,
Revelation, 2 Vols. (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1920), Vol. 1, p.
50].
In light of these observations, we may conclude that throughout
early Christian literature PEIRAZW, when used with a direct object,
is never employed without something of the idea of "testing" and
especially "testing of faithfulness" attached to it.
But what of the instances where PEIRAZW is used substantively
to denote a person or supernatural being? What meaning does it bear
there? There can be little doubt that there, too, a basic sense of
"to test", "to prove", specifically obedience and faithfulness,
stands behind this usage since in all instances the activity that
the "one who tries" is engaged in at the time of the designation,
the activity which earns him the title hO PEIRAZWN, is the proving
of a pious one's loyalty to covenantal obligations.
[Cf., e.g., 1 Thes. 3:5:
For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent
that I might know your faith, for fear that somehow the
tempter (hO PEIRAZWN) had tempted you (MH PWS EPEIRASEN
hUMAS) and that our labor would be in vain" (RSV);
see also Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 4.4.13:
"Whence, as is reasonable, the Gnostic, when called,
obeys easily, and gives up his body to him who asks; and
previously divesting himself of the affections of this
carcass, not insulting the tempter (TON PEIRAZONTA), but
rather in my opinion, training him and convincing him,
`From what honour and what extent of wealth
fallen'
as says Empedocles, here for the future he walks with
mortals. He, in truth, bears witness to himself that he
is faithful and loyal to God, and to the tempter (TW
PEIRAZONTI), that he in vain envied him who is faithful
through love, and to the Lord, of the inspired persuasion
in reference to his doctrine, from which he will not
depart through fear of death..."]
Conclusions: the meaning of PEIRAZW in early Christian literature
In the New Testament and early Christian literature PEIRAZW seems
to bear only two possible meanings: first, "to try" in the sense of
"to attempt" "to try to do something"; second, "to try" in the
sense of "to test faithfulness and obedience to covenantal
obligation". The first meaning appears when the verb is employed
with a verbal object, the second when the verb possesses a direct
object.
PEIRAZW in biblical Literature: Summary and Conclusions
My investigation indicates that throughout all of Greek biblical
literature PEIRAZW is employed consistently in only one or the
other of two basic ways: (1) with a verbal object and then to mean
"to try" in the sense of "to try to do something", "to attempt"
and (2) without a verbal object and then to bear the meaning of
"try" in the sense of "to try out", "to make trial of", that is,
"to test" specifically to determine, in the instances where things
are "tried" by men or men are "tried" by adversity or other men,
the character or reliability of what or whomever was being "tried",
or, in the cases when men "try" God or God or one of his agents
"tries" men, the extent of one's faithfulness and obedience to
covenantal obligations. There is some indication that PEIRAZW with
a direct object was known or used by writers in the biblical
tradition to mean "to experience", but this is very slight, and
even where the verb may bear this sense it certainly not to the
exclusion of the sense of "to test" [Van Iersel, The Bible on the
Temptations of Man, pp. 3-6].
2. EKPEIRAZW
a. the use and meaning of EKPEIRAZW in the Septuagint translation
of the Hebrew Scriptures
As noted above, EKPEIRAZW, "to try", appears in the Septuagint
version of the Hebrew Scriptures only in the book of Deuteronomy
and in the Book of Psalms. In these instances the verb is used only
with reference either to God (Deut. 6:16, twice; Ps. 77[78]:18) or
to men (8:2, 16) and never with a verbal object. To insure that we
fully understand which sense of "to try" the verb is intended to
bear in these instances, I shall examine them case by case.
1) Deut. 6:16
This verse records a warning from Moses to the people of
Israel that once they have been brought into the land, which, by
virtue of divine decree, they are to possess (cf. Deut. 6:1, 10;
7:1), they are not to "try" God (OUK EKPEIRASEIS KURION TON QEON
SOU) in the manner in which they "tried" him (hON TROPON
ECEPEIPASASQE) when, at Rephidim, they demanded that he, through
Moses, provide water for them to drink (cf. Ex. 17:2-7). As this
"trying" involved a testing of God specifically to see if he would
prove faithful to his revealed character [Gerhardsson, The Testing
of God's Son, pp. 28-29; Seesemann, "PEIRA", pp. 27-28], then the
"trying" here forbidden the Israelites is also of the type which
"puts to the test". Accordingly, EKPEIRAZW here means "to try" in
the sense of "to prove", "to test".
2) Deut. 8:2
In this verse Moses commands the people of Israel to recall
that they have been led by God for forty years in the wilderness so
that they might be humbled and "tried" (hOPWS AN KAKWSH SE KAI
EKPEIRASH SE). As the verse goes on to relate, this "trying" was
carried out so that God might know whether Israel would keep be
faithful to him and keep his commandments (KAI DIAGNWSQH TA EN TH
KARDIA SOU, EI FULACH TAS ENTOLAS AUTOU H OU). So here, as in the
case of PEIRAZW in Deut. 6:16, the connotation of the verb is
also "to try" in the sense of "to put to the proof".
3) Deut. 8:16
Here God is again recalled as having humbled and "tried" the
people of Israel (hINA KAKWSH SE KAI EKPEIRASH SE) when he led them
through "the great and terrible wilderness" (cf. vvs. 14-15).
Since, on the one hand, the "trying" is said in the second half of
this verse to have been carried out in order to do Israel "good" in
the end (KAI EKPEIRASH SE KAI EU SE POIHSH EP' ESXATWN TWN hHMERWN
SOU), PEIRAZW is used here to connote an act of discipline. But
since, on the other hand, the "trying" is associated contextually
with God's stated desire to discover what was in Israel's heart and
attempt to probe the depth and quality of her faith [Cf. Deut.
8:2], the verb also bears here the sense of "putting to the
proof".
4) Ps. 77(78):18
Here EKPEIRAZW is obviously used with the sense of "to put to
the proof". The "trying" referred to in this verse - that of God by
the "fathers" of Israel when after the Exodus from Egypt they found
themselves apparently stranded in the wilderness without bread or
meat (cf. vs. 20) and demanded that God provide them with the food
they craved - arises out of doubt on the part of the "fathers" that
God has the will or the power to deliver them from danger and death
(cf. vs. 22) and has as its purpose determining whether or not God
could be trusted to fulfill his promises to them.
Conclusions: the meaning of EKPEIRAZW in the Septuagint
The Septuagintal usage of EKPEIRAZW is consistent. It is never used
without some reference to probing. Moreover, in all of its
instances it is employed to connote the idea of "trying" in the
sense of "testing", specifically the "testing of faith and
obedience to given covenantal obligations".
b. the use and meaning of EKPEIRAZW in the New Testament and early
Christian literature
In the New Testament and early Christian literature EKPEIRAZW is
never used as a "verbal" but only with a direct object. Its objects
are limited to God (Matt. 4:7; Lk. 4:12; 1 Cor. 10:9) and men
(Hermas, Vis. 5.3; Man. 12.5.4).
In the instances where the object of the verb is God,
EKPEIRAZW is obviously used with the experimental sense of "to
try", that is, "to test" and more specifically "to test
faithfulness or obedience to covenantal obligations". For the first
two instances contain a direct reference to Deut. 6:16, and the
third to both Ps. 78:18 and Numbers 21:4, all of which are texts in
which Israel's "putting God to the test" by challenging his ability
and will to be faithful to his covenant promises is the main theme
[On this as the theme of these texts, see Seesemann, "PEIRA", pp.
27-28; Gerhardsson, The Testing of God's Son, pp. 28-31].
But what of the instances where the object of PEIRAZW is men?
What meaning does the verb bear there? Certainly it is "to test
faithfulness and obedience" sense in Hermas Vis. 5:3. When the
speaker refers there to his being "tried", it is because he has the
sense that he is being asked to abandon his loyalty and devotion to
the commandments that the Shepherd, into whose hands he [Hermas]
was handed over, had given him. "To test faithfulness or obedience"
is also the sense it has in Man. 4.3.6. The "trying" referred to
there involves whether one who has been given a calling by God
will, at the promptings of the devil, abuse the gift of repentance
given him by God. And there is no doubt that this is also the sense
it is employed with in Man. 12.5.4. As 12.5.1 notes, those who
succumb to the "trying" have failed to be strong in the in God's
commandments, not submitting to them. Furthermore, the "trying"
reveals who is "full of faith" (PLHREIS EISIN EN TH PISTEI) and who
is only "half full" (APOKENOUS).
Conclusions: the meaning of EKPEIRAZW in early Christian literature
As this evidence indicates, in the New Testament and in early
Christian literature EKPEIRAZW meant "to test" and consistently
bore the more specific sense "to test faithfulness and obedience".
In other words, there is no change in the meaning that EKPEIRAZW
bears in these works from the meaning it bears in the Septuagint.