What Does Hebrews 3:9 Mean in the King James?
When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Seeing God’s works for forty years does not end the demand to put God to proof.
THE MEANING
You can witness God’s work and still keep testing whether God is trustworthy. Forty years holds that seeing in view for a long stretch; exposure to evidence alone does not settle trust.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that seeing enough evidence automatically produces trust dissolves here: seeing and testing can continue side by side.
THE ROOT
πειράζω
peirazō
GROWS FROM
πειρ-
peir-
Trial or attempt; putting someone or something to the test.
“tempted” in this verse is peirazō. The Greek verb can mean trying, testing, or putting to proof, so the verse holds testing and tempting within the same action. The Hebrew Psalm this verse echoes uses נִסּוּנִי (nissuni, “they tested me”) from נסה (nāsāh, “test, put to proof”), the same root behind Massah and Deuteronomy 8:2’s “to prove thee.”
ALSO GROWS
peirasmos: Trial, testing, or temptation.
πειρασμός
This related noun carries the same range of testing language, showing that “temptation” belongs to a wider family of trials.
peiraō: To try, attempt, or test.
πειράω
This related verb makes the action of putting something to the test visible beneath the verse’s wording.
δοκιμάζω
dokimazō
GROWS FROM
δοκιμ-
dokim-
Testing or examining to establish what is genuine or approved.
“proved” in this verse is dokimazō. The verse sets a second testing image beside the first: God is examined as though the test could establish who God is. That examination occurs while God’s works are being seen, keeping proof and witness together in one scene.
ALSO GROWS
dokimos: Approved, genuine, or tested and found sound.
δόκιμος
This branch shows the family’s focus on what proves genuine under examination.
dokimē: Proof or tested character.
δοκιμή
This branch carries the result of testing, illuminating the verse’s language of proving.
THE PATTERN
Seeing a divine act does not automatically end the demand for further proof.
And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.THE THREAD
And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.The Hebrew Psalm behind Hebrews 3:9 uses נסה (nāsāh, “test, put to proof”) for the fathers’ test of God; Deuteronomy 8:2 uses that same root for God’s testing of the people to reveal what is in their heart. The direction changes, but the shared root ties testing to what comes into view under pressure.
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