Test or try describes an examination, attempt or challenge whose actor and object determine its character. Genesis names God testing Abraham, but the same account explicitly stops harm to Isaac and provides a ram in his place.
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Full entry for נָסָה (H5254) · Open the biblical lexicon
Test or try describes an examination, attempt or challenge whose actor and object determine its character. Genesis names God testing Abraham, but the same account explicitly stops harm to Isaac and provides a ram in his place.
The BSB source-word alignment has 36 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include test (4), I will test (3), tested (3), to test (3), accustomed [to them] (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 22:1. Its strongest book concentrations include Deuteronomy (8), Psalms (6), Exodus (5), Judges (4).
Test or try describes an examination, attempt or challenge whose actor and object determine its character. Genesis names God testing Abraham, but the same account explicitly stops harm to Isaac and provides a ram in his place. Samuel describes David trying unfamiliar armor and removing it, while Daniel requests a bounded ten-day test from a steward. Exodus and Deuteronomy describe particular tests concerning the people's response to the Lord's instructions, and Deuteronomy also forbids testing the Lord as at Massah.
These are different directions and settings, not permission for a human leader to invent dangerous ordeals. Keep the named actor, object, instruction and limit visible. A narrated divine test cannot authenticate a present claim demanding child harm, and an observed dietary test is not a universal medical prescription. Teach the actual examination or prohibition without assigning the purpose of every current hardship.
A stopped child-sacrifice test, attempted armor, bounded dietary trial, wilderness obedience and forbidden testing of the Lord show different actors and objects. Instructions and limits determine their evaluation.
Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered.
The account explicitly names God testing Abraham, and verses 11-13 stop any harm to Isaac and supply a ram, so that restraint must accompany discussion of the test.
David strapped his sword over the tunic and tried to walk, but he was not accustomed to them. “I cannot walk in these,” David said to Saul. “I am not accustomed to them.” So David took them off.
David tries unfamiliar armor and removes it because he is not accustomed to it, describing an actual attempt rather than a universal demand for dangerous proof.
Do not test the Lord your God as you tested Him at Massah.
The command forbids testing the Lord as at Massah, distinguishing the object and direction of testing from passages about God testing the people.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Tests character or faith through trial; ranges from God proving His people to Satan tempting toward sin.
Tests character or faith through trial; ranges from God proving His people to Satan tempting toward sin.
to test; by implication, to attempt BDB: test Usage: adventure, assay, prove, tempt, try.
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 36 lexical occurrence verses.
נָסָה is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Testing cannot be evaluated without its actor, object and actual instructions. Genesis explicitly names a test and equally explicitly stops the hand against Isaac; the boy must not be harmed, and a ram is supplied. That account does not authorize a present person's claim that God requires child injury. David's attempted armor and Daniel's requested ten-day trial have different practical objects and limits.
Wilderness testing is described through named instructions and remembered events, while Deuteronomy forbids testing the Lord at Massah. James' separate teaching also refuses the claim that God tempts anyone toward evil. Preserve those directions and distinctions rather than turning one verb into a complete explanation of every difficult event. Teach the particular examination, attempt or prohibition that the passage supplies, encourage protection from harm, and leave an individual's medical needs or the hidden purpose of current suffering unassigned.
Deut.6.16
The licensed Hebrew verb includes test and attempt. Sentences about trying armor, testing servants, testing people or testing the Lord have different actors and objects. An English temptation rendering must be read in context instead of making every examination an inducement to evil or every current difficulty a known divine intention.
James 1:12-15 distinguishes perseverance under trial from the claim that God tempts someone toward evil, then describes desire and sin. This Greek instruction can be read beside the Hebrew testing witnesses while preserving the named directions and Genesis' command not to harm Isaac. The connection does not reveal a present person's hardship cause, authorize dangerous ordeals or supply a private diagnosis from a shared English word.