1 Peter 1:7

τὸ δοκίμιον. It is commonly stated that τὸ δοκίμιον must be a substantive and is equivalent to δοκιμεῖον = a means of testing. It certainly has that meaning in Proverbs 27:21, δοκίμιον� = fire is the test for silver and gold, from which passage St Peter probably borrows the word πύρωσις in 1 Peter 4:12.

In James 1:3, from which St Peter is probably borrowing, the meaning process of testing would give a good sense, but in St Peter the meaning required is the approved character which is the result of testing. Dr Hort therefore prefers the reading given in four cursive MSS. 25, 56, 69, 110, τὸ δόκιμον (neuter adjective) = the approved element or genuineness of your faith—as opposed to spurious faith which proves to be dross. For such a construction cf. 2 Corinthians 8:8, τὸ τῆς ὑμετέρας�. But Deissmann, Bible Studies, pp. 259–262, shews that in the Fayyûm Papyrus documents δοκίμιος or δοκιμεῖος occurs several times as an adjective applied to gold and was a recognized variant for δόκιμος (cf. ἐλευθέριος for ἐλεύθερος, καθάριος for καθαρός). He would therefore regard δοκίμιον as an adjective in Psalms 12:6, τὰ λόγια κυρίου λόγια ἅγνα� = “the words of the Lord are pure words, genuine silver, purified by fire, seven times refined, for the land.” So in 1 Chronicles 29:4; Zechariah 11:13, some MSS. of the LXX. read δοκιμίου, δοκίμιον or δοκίμειον for δοκίμου and δόκιμον.

Arethas on Revelation 9:4 (Cramer Cat. p. 315) probably uses οἱ δὲ τὸ δοκίμιον ἑαυτῶν διὰ πυρὸς παρεχόμενοι to mean those who prove their genuineness. So Oecumenius interprets τὸ δοκίμιον as meaning τὸ κεκριμένον, τὸ δεδοκιμασμένον, τὸ καθαρόν. Probably therefore both in St Peter and in St James τὸ δοκίμιον is a neuter adjective and means proved genuineness. In this case the passage in St James is more closely allied to Romans 5:4, but whereas St Paul regards patient endurance as productive of approved genuineness (δοκιμή), St James reverses the process and regards faith already tested and proved genuine as a ground for future endurance.

χρυσίου τοῦ�, i.e. gold, a property of which it is to perish. The meaning may be either: Gold, despite its perishable character, is not destroyed but only purified by the fire, so a fortiori your faith will survive and will only he purified by trials; or, If it is worth while to employ trial by fire to test a perishable substance like gold, a fortiori such a process may be employed to arrive at a far more valuable result, viz. to prove the purity of your faith. Therefore suffering is not a strange chance but part of God’s loving purpose (cf. 1 Peter 4:12).

εὑρεθῇ may be taken with εἰς ἔπαινον = result in praise, etc., or better with πολυτιμότερον. The purity of your faith discovered by this trial by fire is a far more valuable discovery than that of the purity of refined gold. The discovery is made by God as the refiner.

ἔπαινον δόξαν τιμήν might refer either to men or to God, that those who emerge from the trial will receive praise, glory and honour from God, or that the approved character of His children will redound to God’s own glory. Possibly both ideas are included, for God is always glorified when men attain His loving purpose.

ἐν� (objective genitive). The phrase is certainly sometimes used of the final revelation of Christ at the Second Advent (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:7; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; and (?) Revelation 1:1).

The absence of the article does not preclude the meaning “the revelation of Jesus Christ,” because where the noun in the genitive is anarthrous the noun which governs it frequently becomes anarthrous also, e.g. θελήματι θεοῦ, 1 Peter 4:2, but to τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, 1 Peter 3:17; cf. διʼ ἀναστάσεως Ἰ. X., 1 Peter 1:3; πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, 1 Peter 1:20.

But that final revelation is only the climax of a long series of progressive revelations whenever Christ is revealed to or in any of His members (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:1; Galatians 1:12; Galatians 1:16; and (?) Revelation 1:1), and this thought is not excluded here though it culminates in the final revelation. So there are many “comings of the Son of Man” in various crises of history but all lead up to His final Coming.