Proverbs 27:21

As the crucible is for silver and the furnace is for gold, ¹  so a person ²  is proved ³  by the praise he receives. ⁴ 

The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives.

The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, And each is tested by the praise accorded him.

Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is tested by being praised.

The purity of silver and gold is tested by putting them in the fire; The purity of human hearts is tested by giving them a little fame.

The heating-pot is for silver and the oven-fire for gold, and a man is measured by what he is praised for.

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, so a person is tested by being praised.

The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, And a man is valued by what others say of him.

As the crucible is for silver and the furnace is for gold, ¹  so a person ²  is proved ³  by the praise he receives. ⁴ 

¹ sn Once again this proverb uses emblematic parallelism. The crucible and the furnace are used to refine and thus reveal the pure metals. The analogy is that praise will reveal the person because others will examine and evaluate what an individual has done in order to make the public acclamation.

² tn Heb “and a man,” but the context does not indicate this is limited only to males.

³ tn The verb “is proved” was supplied in the translation in view of the analogy. Many English versions supply “tested” for the same reason.

sn The proverb is saying that public praise is usually a good measure of the qualities and contributions of a person. The other side of it is that righteousness is often denounced, but the proverb is not addressing everything that people say.

⁴ tn Heb “by [the] praise of him.” The pronominal suffix is an objective genitive, meaning “the praise about him” (= “the praise he receives”). Some commentators would take the suffix as a subjective genitive, meaning “the praise he gives”; this would mean people stand revealed by what they praise (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 168). That does not seem to work as well with the emblem of the first line which indicates being tested. The LXX adds a couplet: “The heart of the transgressor seeks evil; but the upright heart seeks knowledge.”