1 Kings 8:51

After all, ¹  they are your people and your special possession ²  whom you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron-smelting furnace. ³ 

for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.

(for they are Your people and Your inheritance which You have brought forth from Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace),

for they are your people––your special possession––whom you brought out of the iron–smelting furnace of Egypt.

They are, after all, your people and your precious inheritance whom you rescued from the heart of that iron-smelting furnace, Egypt!

For they are your people and your heritage, which you took out of Egypt, out of the iron fireplace;

(for they are your people and heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron-smelter).

"(for they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, out of the iron furnace),

After all, ¹  they are your people and your special possession ²  whom you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron-smelting furnace. ³ 

¹ tn Or “for.”

² tn Heb “inheritance.”

³ tn The Hebrew term כּוּר (kur, “furnace,” cf. Akkadian ku„ru) is a metaphor for the intense heat of purification. A כּוּר was not a source of heat but a crucible (“iron-smelting furnace”) in which precious metals were melted down and their impurities burned away (see I. Cornelius, NIDOTTE 2:618-19). Thus Egypt served not as a place of punishment for the Israelites, but as a place of refinement to bring Israel to a place of submission to divine sovereignty.

sn From the middle of the iron-smelting furnace. The metaphor of a furnace suggests fire and heat and is an apt image to remind the people of the suffering they endured while slaves in Egypt.