On 1 Cor 3:15, see:
1 Corinthians 3:15: A very un-Protestant Biblical Verse
New Testament (outside 1 Cor 3:15):
That the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with
fire (δια πυρος), might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the
appearing of Jesus Christ. (1 Pet 1:7)
1 Clement:
For
his hospitality and godliness Lot was saved from Sodom, when all the country
round about was judged by fire (δια πυρος) and brimstone; the Master
having thus fore shown that He forsaketh not them which set their hope on Him,
but appointeth unto punishment and torment them which swerve aside. (1 Clement
11:1 | J. B. Lightfoot translation)
The following come from the New English
Translation of the Septuagint (NETS):
Every object that shall pass
through in fire (δια πυρος) shall also be cleansed. Nevertheless, it
shall be purified with the water for purification, and whatever things do not
go through fire shall pass through water. (Num 31:23)
And he would sacrifice in
Gaibenenom, and he led his children through fire (δια πυρος) according
to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord utterly destroyed from before
the sons of Israel. (2 Chron 28:3)
"The first year of the reign
of Cyrus: King Cyrus ordered that the house of the Lord that is in Ierousalem,
where they make offerings with perpetual fire (δια πυρος), be built (1
Esdras 6:23)
You mounted persons on our heads;
we went through fire (δια πυρος) and water, and you brought us out to
revival. (Psa 66:12 [LXX: 65:12])
And I will draw the third through
the fire (δια πυρος), and I shall test them by fire as silver is tested
by fire, and I shall prove them as gold is proven. He will call on my name, and
I will listen to him, and I will say, "This is my people," and he
will say, "The Lord is my God." (Zech 13:9)
And if you should pass through
water, I am with you, and rivers shall not overwhelm you, and if you should go
through fire (δια πυρος), you shall by no means be burned; the flame
shall not consume you, (Isa 43:2)
Intertestamental Literature
Unless otherwise stated, the
following translations are taken from The Pseudepigrapha (English),
Translated by Craig A. Evans, assisted by Danny Zacharias, Matt Walsh, and
Scott Kohler. Copyright © 2008 Craig A. Evans
"The
fiery and pitiless angel, holding the fire in his hand, is the archangel
Puruel, who has power over fire, and teaches the works of men through fire (δια
πυρος)." (Testament of Abraham [A] 13:11)
"Suppose,
then that I alone am content while the rest of the demons troubled you, being
discouraged, should speak all the truth. Through fire (δια πυρος) they
will cause the forest of wood being gathered by you for the building in
sanctuary to be destroyed." (Testament of Solomon [A] 14:5)
Those
who are registered are also to be branded on their bodies by fire (δια πυρος)
with the ivy-leaf symbol of Dionysus, and they shall also be reduced to their
former limited status. (3 Maccabees 2:29 | NRSV; Evans omits “by fire” although
δια πυρος is part of the Greek text)
But
you, for the wicked and despotic slaughter of us, shall, from the Divine
vengeance, endure eternal torture by fire (δια πυρος). (4 Maccabees 9:9)
How,
then, can we avoid according to these men mastery of passion through right
reasoning, since they drew not back from the pains of fire (δια πυρος)?
(4 Maccabees 13:5)
We
now shudder at the recital of the affliction of those young men; but they not
only beheld, and not only heard the immediate execution of the threat, but
undergoing it, persevered; and that through the pains of fire (δια πυρος).
(4 Maccabees 14:9)
And
he used to put you in mind of the scripture of Esaias, which says, Even if you
pass through the fire (δια πυρος), it will not burn you. (4 Maccabees
18:14)
Josephus:
Αnd how much they despised any
punishments that could be inflicted on them; this last because one of the
people of Jotapata had undergone all sorts of torments, and though they made
him pass through a fiery (δια πυρος) trial of his enemies in his
examination, yet would he inform them nothing of the affairs within the city,
and as he was crucified, smiled at them. (Wars of the Jews 3:321)
Philo of Alexandria:
The sacred laws having been
written in five books, the first is called and inscribed Genesis, deriving its
title from the creation ('genesis') of the world, which it contains at the
beginning; although there are ten thousand other matters also introduced which
refer to peace and to war, or to fertility and barrenness, or to hunger and
plenty, or to the terrible destructions which have taken place on earth by the
agency of fire (δια πυρος) and water; or, on the contrary, to the birth
and rapid propagation of animals and plants in accordance with the admirable
arrangement of the atmosphere, and the seasons of the year, and of men, some of
whom lived in accordance with virtue, while others were associated with
wickedness. (De Abrahamo 1:1)
Why so? Because, not only mere
handicraft trades, but also nearly all other acts and businesses, and
especially all such as have reference to any providing of or seeking for the
means of life, are either carried on by means of fire (δια πυρος)
themselves, or, at all events, not without those instruments which are made by
fire (δια πυρος). On which account Moses, in many places, forbids any
one to handle a fire on the sabbath day, inasmuch as that is the most primary
and efficient source of things and the most ancient and important work; and if
that is reduced to a state of tranquillity, he thought that it would be
probable that all particular works would be at a stand-still likewise. (De Vita
Mosies 2:219)
Accordingly, in savage wars the
first, the middle, and the last power which is excited is that of fire (δια
πυρος), to which the enemies trust more than they do to their squadrons of
infantry, or cavalry, or to their fleets, or to their unlimited supplies of
arms and naval stores. For if any one with good aim shoots a fiery arrow among
a numerous squadron of ships he may burn it with all the crews, or he may thus
destroy vast camps with all their baggage, and furniture, and equipments, on
which the army rested its hopes of victory. (De specialibus legibus 4:28)
