Psalm 7:9
Hebrew Bible
8 The Lord judges the nations. Vindicate me, Lord, because I am innocent, because I am blameless, O Exalted One. 9 May the evil deeds of the wicked come to an end. But make the innocent secure, O righteous God, you who examine hearts and kidneys32. 10 The Exalted God is my shield, the one who delivers the morally upright.
Date: 6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Revelation 2:23
New Testament
22 Look! I am throwing her onto a bed of violent illness, and those who commit adultery with her into terrible suffering, unless they repent of her deeds. 23 Furthermore, I will strike her followers with a deadly disease, and then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches kidneys* and hearts. I will repay each one of you what your deeds deserve. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, all who do not hold to this teaching (who have not learned the so-called “deep secrets of Satan”), to you I say: I do not put any additional burden on you.
Date: 92-96 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
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Notes and References
"... The position of the kidneys in the body makes them particularly inaccessible, and in cutting up an animal they are the last organs to be reached. Consequently, they were a natural symbol for the most hidden part of a man (Psalm 139:13), and in Job 16:13 to "cleave the kidneys asunder" is to effect the total destruction of the individual (compare Job 19:27; Lamentations 3:13). This hidden location, coupled with the sacred sacrificial use, caused the kidneys to be thought of as the seat of the innermost moral (and emotional) impulses. So the kidneys instruct (Psalm 16:7) or are "pricked" (Psalm 73:21), and God can be said to be far from the kidneys of sinners (Jeremiah 12:2). In all of these passages "conscience" gives the exact meaning. So the kidneys rejoice (Proverbs 23:16), cause torment (2 Esdras 5:34), or tremble in wrath (1 Maccabees 2:24). And to "know" or "try the kidneys" (usually joined with "the heart") is an essential power of God's, denoting His complete knowledge of the nature of every human being (Psalm 7:9; 26:2; Jeremiah 11:20; 17:10; 20:12; Wisdom of Solomon 1:6; Revelation 2:23) ..."
Easton, Burton Scott
"Kidneys" in Orr, James, et al. (eds.) International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
(pp. 577-578) William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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