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THE TEMPTATIONS OF THE LORD |
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THE TEMPTATIONS OF THE LORD |
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With the occasional exception, duly noted in the text, we are, in this booklet, dealing with the peirasmoi (Greek, NT) and the massoth (Hebrew, OT) of the Lord. These words can be translated 'temptation', 'trial', 'testing' and so on according to the context.
Were we conducting a thorough study of the tempting, testing or trying of anyone throughout the Scriptures, we would have to investigate the usage and meanings of the words in the following table :-
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Hebrew (OT) |
Greek (NT, Septuagint) |
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(1) |
Nasah, Massah |
Peirazo, Peirasmos |
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(2) |
Bachan |
Dokimazo |
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(3) |
Tsaraph |
Puroomai |
(Psalms 26:2, Hebrew and Septuagint, relates all 6 words as here)
However, since our theme in this booklet is the various temptations of the Lord, we only need to deal with the first group of words. The others (with the exception of four Old Testament references to bachan) are not referred to Him in Scripture.
Quoting from Grimm/Thayer's Creek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (4th Edition) the meanings of peirazo are:-
(1) To try whether a thing can be done; to attempt, endeavour (Acts 9:26; 16:7; 24:6)
(2) To try, make trial of, test (someone) for the purpose of ascertaining his quality, or what he thinks, or how he will behave himself:
(a) in a good sense (Matthew 22:35; John 6:6; Revelation 2:2)
(b) in a bad sense: to test one maliciously, craftily to put to the proof his feelings or judgement (Matthew 16:1; 19:3; 22:18,35; Mark 8:11; 10:2; 12:15; Luke 11:16; 20:23; John 8:6)
(c) to try or test one's faith, virtue, character, by enticement to sin; hence, according to context, to solicit to sin, to tempt (James 1:13; Galatians 6:1; Revelation 2:10) of the temptations of the devil (Matthew 4:1,3; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2; 1 Corinthians 7:5; 1 Thessalonians 3:5)
(d) After the Old Testament usage
(i) of God; to inflict evils on one in order to prove his character and the steadfastness of his faith (1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 2:18; 4:15; 11:17,37; Revelation 3:10)
(ii) men are said 'to tempt God' by exhibitions of distrust, as though they wished to try whether He is not justly distrusted; by impious or wicked conduct to test God's justice and patience, and to challenge Him, as it were, to give proof of His perfection (Acts 15:10; Hebrews 3:9; 1 Corinthians 10:9; Acts 5:9)
We cannot deal exhaustively with Grimm/Thayer's analysis of the usage of the words in the peirazo family. Those passages of Scripture which refer to 'temptations of the Lord' and in which these words occur are examined in detail elsewhere in this booklet. However, we make a few preliminary remarks. Firstly, a brief scan through the passages in which these words occur is sufficient to show that their usages fall into various distinct categories such as those Grimm/Thayer have provided. However, it must be stressed that the problem of deciding into which category to place any particular Scripture is more the job of the theologian or exegete than the lexicographer, whose task is mainly to find what the range of meaning of a word was at the time we are interested in and also to trace its historical development. Thus, the divisions in the quotation are not sacrosanct, though we will not have much call to dispute them. Secondly, we see that the key points of difference in the various usages are:-
(i) The origin of the peirasmos -
External agency
(ii) The purpose (if any) of the peirasmos -
To illustrate the exegetical difficulties, compare and contrast Hebrews 11:17 with Jaames 1:13-14. In the former verse God is said to tempt Abraham, whereas in the latter passage it is stated that God 'tempts no man'. However, the same Greek word is used in both. Clearly then, we have a group of words the span of whose meaning can be determined lexically, but the precise meaning in any Scripture can only be determined exegetically.
Note also that a 'temptation' can be viewed from more than one angle. For instance, contrast the accounts of David's being 'enticed' to number Israel in 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21. In 2 Samuel 24:1 we read that "the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and He moved David against them to say, 'Go number Israel and Judah' " whereas in 1 Chronicles 21:1 we read that "Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel". While there is no explicit reference to 'temptation' in these passages, they illustrate the principle that on occasion God is said to do what He allows others to do. Similarly Job 23:10 "He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me I shall come forth as gold" (tried = bachan), attributes Job's trials to God, but the earlier narrative gives the agent as Satan.
So, we may distinguish between the authority behind the trial / temptation, the agent and the means. For the 'called', all things work together for good (Romans 8:28). For them the 'authority', i.e. the One Who authorises their trials, is always the Lord. He is ultimately in control. However, the agent and the means may be evil, and the intentions of the agent may differ from those of the authority.
To sum up, in this booklet we are properly investigating the peirasmoi of the Lord. Whether these are always 'testings' or sometimes 'temptings' is not something that can be gathered from the Greek word used, for it is the same in both cases. We will have to discuss each peirasmos in context, and then go on to consider what is meant by Hebrews 2:18 "Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted He is able to help those who are being tempted" and Hebrews 4:15 "tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin."
Please address any comments on these documents to theotodman@lineone.net.
© Theo Todman August 2000.
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