Bible Lexicons

δοκίμιον , -ου , τό ,

[in LXX: Proverbs 17:3; Proverbs 27:21 (H4715) *;]

usually regarded as a variant form of δοκιμεῖον , a test, and so perh. James 1:3 (v. Mayor, in l), but see next word (cf. Cremer, 212, 702).†

Since Deissmann (BS p. 259 ff.) drew this unsuspected adjective from the papyri to interpret James 1:3 and 1 Peter 1:7—a good example with which to meet those who assert that the papyri have not given us any new meanings for NT words—examples have been further accumulating, e.g. BGU IV. 1065.6 (A.D. 97) ἀπέχειν αὐτὸν τιμὴν χρυσίου δοκιμεί [ο ]υ μναϊαίων ὀκτώι and so .20, ib. 1045 ii. 12 (A.D. 154) τὴν φερνὴν χ [ρ ]υσίου δοκιμίου τετάρτας τέσσαρες, ib. III. 717.8 (A.D. 149) χρυσίου δοκιμείου σταθμῷ Ἀλεξανδρείνῳ, P Tebt II. 392.22 (A.D. 134–5) χρυσίου [δ ]οκιμίου, ";standard gold"; (Edd.). Hort’s divination (1 Pet. p. 42) detected that the needed meaning in the NT passages was ";what is genuine in your faith"; : the papyri have given a welcome endorsement to the master’s instinct, and have at the same time rendered unnecessary his preference for the less well-attested reading τὸ δόκιμον (Notes on Select Readings, p. 102, in The NT in Grk .2 ii. Appendix). For the noun δοκιμεῖον = ";crucible,"; which is found in the LXX, cf. OGIS 308.15 (ii/B.C.) καὶ τῆ (ς) πρὸς θεοὺς εὐσεβείας ἔ [ργ ]ωι καλλί [στω ]ι οὐ μεικρὸν δοκιμεῖον ἀπέλιπεν, Syll 588.96 (c. B.C. 180) δοκιμεῖα. The editor in his note on the last passage compares IGSI 303.28 ff. ἐγδότω δὲ ἡ ἀρχὴ [κ ]αὶ ἐξ οὗ ἂν παραλάβῃ χρυσίου ἀσήμου καὶ ἐπισήμου κατασκευάσαι τῷ θεῷ φιάλην χρυσῆν, καταλιπομένη δοκιμεῖον.