Proverbs 17:3

3 A crucible is for silver and a smelter for gold, but the Lord is a tester of hearts.^[a]

Proverbs 17:3 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 17:3

The fining pot [is] for silver, and the furnace for gold
Refiners of silver have their fining pots, in which they purify the silver from the dross; and goldsmiths have their crucibles to melt and purify their gold, by which assays of the worth and value of it may be made; but the Lord trieth the hearts;
there is no vessel, as Gersom observes, in which they can be put and tried by creatures; a man does not know, nor can he thoroughly search and try his own heart, and much less the hearts of others; God only knows and tries them, ( Jeremiah 17:9 Jeremiah 17:10 ) ; The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it by way of similitude, "as the fining pot is for silver" as silver is refined in the pot, and gold in the furnace, so are the hearts of God's people, and their graces tried and purified by him in the furnace of affliction; the variety of troubles they are exercised with are made useful for the purging away of the dross of sin and corruption, and for the brightening of their graces, ( 1 Peter 1:7 ) .

Proverbs 17:3 In-Context

1 Better a dry crust with peace than a house full of feasting with strife.

2 A wise servant will rule over a disgraceful son and share an inheritance among brothers.

3 A crucible is for silver and a smelter for gold, but the Lord is a tester of hearts.

4 A wicked person listens to malicious talk; a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.

5 The one who mocks the poor insults his Maker, and one who rejoices over disaster will not go unpunished.

Footnotes

• [a]. Pr 16:2; 21:2; Isa 48:10