StrongerBible

dokimazō

δοκιμάζω

GreekG1381“test, approve, ...”

Appears 22 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Luk 12:56 (2×)Luk 14:19Rom 1:28Rom 2:18Rom 12:2Rom 14:221Co 3:131Co 11:281Co 16:32Co 8:82Co 8:222Co 13:5Gal 6:4Eph 5:10Php 1:101Th 2:4 (2×)1Th 5:211Ti 3:101Pe 1:71Jn 4:1
Root family
Names & words formed with this
Word studyResearch-gradedok-ee-MAH-zohverb

What dokimazō means

to put something to the test to find out whether it is genuine, and so to prove and approve it

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

At its root this word belongs to the assayer: the goldsmith holding a coin over the flame to see whether it is real, or the official who scrutinizes a candidate before letting him take office. That concrete picture drives every use, from a man going out to try out five yoke of oxen he has just bought (Luke 14:19) to the command to test everything and hold on to what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Two things always travel together here, and they are two moments of one action rather than two separate ideas. First comes the examination: you subject something to real, hands-on trial to discover its true quality. Then comes the verdict: because the whole point of an assay is to certify what is genuine, the word carries a hopeful, positive slant. One tests expecting and hoping that what is tested will pass. So the same word can lean toward the examining ("test, examine, put to the trial") or toward the outcome ("prove, approve, recognize as genuine"), depending on the sentence.

The New Testament stretches this everyday word across a wide range.

  • Fire will test the true worth of each person's work (1 Corinthians 3:13)
  • trials refine faith the way fire refines gold (1 Peter 1:7)
  • the renewed mind can sift and approve what God wants (Romans 12:2)
  • deacons are vetted before they serve (1 Timothy 3:10)
  • the community must weigh spirits and prophecies (1 John 4:1)
  • each believer must examine himself (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Behind all of it stands the Old Testament picture of God as the refiner who tests hearts, burning off the dross so that what is pure remains.

Because the aim is always to certify the genuine, the word never merely condemns. Even its sharpest use, where people who refused to reckon God worth acknowledging are handed over to a mind that itself fails the test (Romans 1:28), works by turning the assayer's verdict back on them.

Nuances

1ato try something out by hands-on inspection to learn its true quality
Luk 12:56 (2×)Luk 14:19
1bto test a person, their work, or their faith so as to establish and certify that it is genuine
1Co 3:131Co 16:32Co 8:82Co 8:22Gal 6:41Th 2:4 (2×)1Ti 3:101Pe 1:7
1cto sift and discern what is good, approving what truly matters and what pleases God
Rom 2:18Rom 12:2Eph 5:10Php 1:101Th 5:211Jn 4:1
Php 1:10

Whether the phrase rendered "the things that differ" means discerning right from wrong or approving what is truly excellent.

  • minorityIt means discerning the things that differ, a moral capacity to distinguish right from wrong.; J. B. Lightfoot, St Paul's Epistle to the Philippians; M. R. Vincent, Philippians and Philemon (ICC)
  • majorityIt means approving the things that really matter or are superior, a love-informed discernment; the two options are complementary rather than opposed.; G. D. Fee, Paul's Letter to the Philippians (NICNT); P. T. O'Brien, The Epistle to the Philippians (NIGTC); M. Silva, Philippians (BECNT, 2nd ed.)
1dto examine oneself, to see whether one truly measures up
1Co 11:282Co 13:5
1eto approve or think worthwhile, to give something one's sanction
Rom 1:28Rom 14:22

What scholars say about dokimazō

Every major lexicon converges on a two-sided core (BDAG s.v. δοκιμάζω; Louw-Nida 27.45 for the process, 30.98 for the result): to submit something to critical examination in order to discover its true nature, and to render a favorable verdict as a result. The two are successive moments of one action, not separate meanings. Etymologically the word-group traces to the root behind δέχομαι ("receive, accept"), so δόκιμος preserves the sense "acceptable after examination" (LSJ; NIDNTTE), which gives the tester's optimism (Spicq, TLNT 1:353-361). Documentary evidence recovered by Deissmann and catalogued in Moulton-Milligan shows the verb and its cognates saturating first-century commercial life (assayed coin and gold: ἀργύριον δόκιμον, χρυσίον δοκίμιον) and civic life (the Athenian δοκιμασία, the formal vetting of magistrates), so the perfect passive δεδοκιμασμένος reads almost as "certified". In the Septuagint δοκιμάζω renders chiefly בָּחַן and צָרַף, the vocabulary of God refining hearts as silver (Ps 65:10 LXX; Zech 13:9; Prov 17:3; Wis 3:6), while πειράζω usually renders נָסָה, the wilderness-testing tradition. On the δοκιμάζω/πειράζω relationship, Trench (Synonyms sec. lxxiv) and Grundmann (TDNT 2:255-260) argued for a fixed distinction (approval-oriented vs. potentially hostile), which Barr (Semantics of Biblical Language), Silva (Biblical Words), and Carson (Exegetical Fallacies) rightly qualified as a tendency, not a rule, given passages like 2 Cor 13:5. Three passage-level cruxes recur in the commentaries: τὰ διαφέροντα in Phil 1:10 and Rom 2:18 (Lightfoot/Vincent vs. Fee/O'Brien/Silva); the nature of the self-examination in 1 Cor 11:28 (Fee, Thiselton, Garland, Hays favor a relational, ecclesial reading over introspective piety); and the sense of the noun τὸ δοκίμιον in 1 Pet 1:7, where Hort's conjecture that it means "genuine element" was confirmed by Deissmann's papyri (χρυσίον δοκίμιον), now followed by Achtemeier, Elliott, and Jobes.

Where scholars disagree about dokimazō

How sharply this word ("test with a view to approval") can be distinguished from its near-synonym peirazo ("test", often "tempt").

  • minorityThe word is distinctively testing carried out expecting and hoping for approval, so unlike peirazo it is never used of hostile testing meant to make someone fail.; R. C. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament, sec. lxxiv; W. Grundmann, TDNT 2:255-260
  • majorityThe positive orientation is a real statistical tendency but not a fixed lexical rule; context decides the sense, and in some passages the two verbs are functionally synonymous (e.g. 2 Corinthians 13:5).; J. Barr, The Semantics of Biblical Language; M. Silva, Biblical Words and Their Meaning (rev. ed.); D. A. Carson, Exegetical Fallacies (2nd ed.); BDAG, s.v. δοκιμάζω
In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • BDAG (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich, 3rd ed.), s.v. δοκιμάζωlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. δοκιμάζω, δόκιμοςlexicon
  • Louw-Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the NT Based on Semantic Domains, 27.45; 30.98lexicon
  • C. Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, 1:353-361lexicon
  • W. Grundmann, 'δόκιμος κτλ.', TDNT 2:255-260theological-dictionary
  • M. Silva (ed.), NIDNTTE, δέχομαι/δοκέω word-grouptheological-dictionary
  • Moulton-Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, s.v. δοκιμάζωlexicon
  • R. C. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament, sec. lxxivmonograph
  • J. Barr, The Semantics of Biblical Languagemonograph
  • M. Silva, Biblical Words and Their Meaning (rev. ed.)monograph
  • D. A. Carson, Exegetical Fallacies (2nd ed.)monograph
  • G. D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT)commentary
  • A. C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NIGTC)commentary

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of δοκιμάζω

present active infinitive

δοκιμάζειν

Luk 12:56, Luk 12:56, Rom 12:2, Php 1:10

present active imperative 2p

δοκιμάζετε

2Co 13:5, 1Th 5:21, 1Jn 4:1

present active imperative 3s

δοκιμαζέτω

1Co 11:28, Gal 6:4

aorist active indicative 1p

ἐδοκιμάσαμεν

2Co 8:22

aorist active indicative 3p

ἐδοκίμασαν

Rom 1:28

aorist active infinitive

δοκιμάσαι

Luk 14:19

aorist active subjunctive 2p

δοκιμάσητε

1Co 16:3

future active indicative 3s

δοκιμάσει

1Co 3:13

perfect passive indicative 1p

δεδοκιμάσμεθα

1Th 2:4

present active indicative 2s

δοκιμάζεις

Rom 2:18

present active indicative 3s

δοκιμάζει

Rom 14:22

present active participle dative m s

δοκιμάζοντι

1Th 2:4

present active participle nominative m p

δοκιμάζοντες

Eph 5:10

present active participle nominative m s

δοκιμάζων

2Co 8:8

present passive imperative 3p

δοκιμαζέσθωσαν

1Ti 3:10

present passive participle genitive n s

δοκιμαζομένου

1Pe 1:7