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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - Romans 5:4 - 5:4
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Experience (δοκιμήν)
Wrong. The word means either the process of trial, proving, as 2Co 8:2, or the result of trial, approvedness, Phi 2:22. Here it can only be the latter: tried integrity, a state of mind which has stood the test. The process has already been expressed by tribulation. Rev. renders probation, which might be defended on the ground of English classical usage. Thus Shakespeare:
“And of the truth herein
This present object made probation.
“Hamlet,” i., 1
Jeremy Taylor: “When by miracle God dispensed great gifts to the laity, He gave probation that He intended that all should prophecy and preach.”
But probation has come to be understood, almost universally, of the process of trial. The more accurate rendering is proof or approval.