H3564 H3564
A smelting furnace or refining pot, used almost exclusively as a metaphor for affliction, testing, and divine purification.
The noun kur (כּוּר) refers to a smelting furnace or crucible used for refining metals, but in biblical usage it functions almost entirely as a metaphor. Egypt is called 'the iron furnace' from which God brought Israel out (Deut 4:20; 1 Kgs 8:51; Jer 11:4), evoking the intense suffering of bondage. Proverbs pairs it with the refiner's crucible: 'The furnace for gold, the crucible for silver, and the LORD tests hearts' (Prov 17:3; 27:21). Ezekiel portrays Israel as dross metals thrown into God's kur (Ezek 22:18–22), while Isaiah speaks of being refined 'in the furnace of affliction' (Isa 48:10). The Arabic cognate كُور confirms the basic metallurgical sense.
Senses
1. furnace, smelting pot — A masculine noun designating a smelting furnace or refining pot for metals, consistently deployed in metaphorical and simile contexts for divine testing, punishment, or purification. Three major image clusters emerge: (a) Egypt as 'the iron furnace' of bondage (Deut 4:20; 1 Kgs 8:51; Jer 11:4); (b) the refiner's crucible that tests character as fire tests gold (Prov 17:3; 27:21); (c) Israel as impure metals cast into God's furnace (Ezek 22:18, 20, 22). Isaiah 48:10 combines both strands: 'I have refined you in the furnace of affliction.' Spanish horno de and German equivalents preserve the metallurgical imagery. Cognate with Arabic كُور and Aramaic כּוּר. 9×
AR["فِي-كُورِ", "كُورٍ", "كُورِ", "مِنْ-كُورِ", "وَ-كورٌ", "وَ-كُورٌ"]·ben["-উনুনে-", "-চুল্লি-থেকে-", "এবং-উনুন", "এবং-স্বর্ণের-চুল্লি", "চুল্লি", "চুল্লি-থেকে", "চুল্লির"]·DE["[בכור]", "[וכור]", "[כור]", "[מכור]", "furnace-von", "von-furnace-von"]·EN["and-a-furnace", "and-furnace", "from-furnace-of", "from-the-furnace-of", "furnace", "furnace-of", "in-the-furnace-of"]·FR["[בכור]", "[כור]", "[מכור]", "de-furnace-de", "et-וכור", "furnace-de"]·heb["ב-כור", "ו-כור", "כור", "מ-כור"]·HI["-भट्ठी-से", "और-भट्टी", "और-भट्ठी", "भट्टी", "भट्ठी", "भट्ठी-में", "भट्ठी-से"]·ID["dalam-dapur-pelebur", "dan-dapur-pelebur", "dapur", "dapur-peleburan", "dari-dapur", "dari-dapur-peleburan"]·IT["[בכור]", "[כור]", "[מכור]", "da-furnace-di", "e-e-furnace", "e-e-un-furnace", "furnace-di"]·jav["ing-pawon", "lan-prapen", "pawon", "pawon-panyuran", "saking-pawon", "saking-prapen"]·KO["그리고-풀무가", "에서-용광로", "용광로", "용광로-에서", "용광로의", "풀무-속에서-", "풀무는"]·PT["de-cadinho-de", "de-fornalha-de", "e-fornalha", "fornalha-de", "forno", "no-forno-de"]·RU["в-горниле", "и-горн", "и-горнило", "из-печи", "печи", "чтобы-раздуть"]·ES["de-horno-de", "del-horno-de", "en-horno-de", "horno", "horno-de", "y-horno"]·SW["katika-tanuru-ya", "kutoka-tanuru", "kutoka-tanuru-ya", "na-tanuru", "tanuru"]·TR["firininda-", "fırından-", "fırının", "fırınından-", "ve-fırın"]·urd["-بھٹی-سے", "اور-بھٹی", "بھٹی", "بھٹی-سے", "بھٹی-میں", "بھٹی-کے"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† כּוּר n.[m.] smelting-pot or furnace (Arabic كُور; NH id.; Aramaic id., ܟܽܘܪ; Ethiopic ከውር: )—pot or furnace for smelting metals, but alw. in metaph. or sim. of human sufferings in punishment or discipline: iron (fig. of Egypt as place of bondage) מִכּ׳ הַבַּרְזֶל Dt 4:20 Je 11:4, מִתּוֹךְ כ׳ הַבּ׳ 1 K 8:51; gold כ׳ לַזָּהָב Pr 17:3 = 27:21 (‖ מַצְרֵף); various metals Ez 22:18, 20, 22; once בְּכוּר עֹ֑נִי Is 48:10 in a smelting-pot of a affliction.