κάμινος

From the study of Revelation 1:15

Range of meaning

A furnace, kiln, or smelting or refining oven. Any enclosed fire hot enough to bake pottery or melt and purify metal.

Against the English

Uniformly 'furnace'. Accurate.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Greek Old Testament: the 'iron furnace' of Egypt (Deuteronomy 4:20); the blazing furnace of Daniel 3; the refining furnace in Isaiah 48:10 and Ezekiel 22:18–22. In the Gospels it is the 'furnace of fire' in Matthew 13:42, 50. Revelation 9:2 uses it for smoke from the abyss.

From the study of Matthew 13:42

Range of meaning

A furnace or kiln: an enclosed, very hot fire used in pottery, metalwork, lime-burning and smelting. Figuratively, a place or time of severe testing or destruction. In Greek it is distinct from klibanos, the domestic baking oven (Matthew 6:30).

Against the English

English 'furnace' now suggests a household heating boiler, or vaguely 'something very hot.' The ancient kaminos was an industrial kiln: a roaring, enclosed blaze whose smoke could be seen from far away (Genesis 19:28; Exodus 19:18). BSB/NLT 'fiery furnace' and NIV 'blazing furnace' keep the intensity. KJV/WEB/YLT 'furnace of (the) fire' keep the Greek wording and with it the echo of Daniel.

How it drifted

Mild. The furnace is often absorbed into later pictures of hell (medieval torture chambers, devils with pitchforks). The verse itself draws only on Daniel and on harvest-time burning.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX (the Greek Old Testament) Daniel 3:6, 11, 15, 20: 'cast into the furnace of fire that burns' (eis tēn kaminon tou pyros tēn kaiomenēn). This is almost word for word what Matthew writes. Elsewhere in the LXX: Egypt as the 'iron furnace' (Deuteronomy 4:20); the 'furnace of affliction' (Isaiah 48:10); refining in the furnace (Ezekiel 22:18–22). Jewish writings of the period: 1 Enoch 54:6 has the archangels throwing the rebel angels into a 'burning furnace'; 1 Enoch 98:3 has the spirits of the wicked 'cast into the furnace of fire.' 4 Ezra 7:36 (late 1st century AD) speaks of 'the furnace of Gehenna.' The Enoch and Ezra texts survive mainly in Ethiopic and Latin translation, so their exact wording is less certain.

From the study of Matthew 13:50

Range of meaning

An enclosed oven or kiln built for very high heat: a potter's kiln, a lime kiln, a smelting or refining furnace for metal, sometimes a large baking oven. It is an industrial fire, not a hearth or campfire.

Against the English

"Furnace" is accurate, but to a modern ear it suggests a basement heating unit or a power-station boiler. BSB/ESV "fiery furnace" and NIV "blazing furnace" call up Daniel 3. KJV/WEB/NASB "furnace of fire" keep the Greek phrase exactly, along with its echo of Daniel.

How it drifted

Modern technology changed what "furnace" brings to mind. The ancient picture was a roaring kiln that melts metal and burns stone into lime.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek Old Testament of Daniel 3:6 has "into the furnace of fire, the burning one" (eis tēn kaminon tou pyros tēn kaiomenēn), the furnace of the three young men. The furnace is also an image of testing and refining (Prov 17:3; Isa 48:10; Deut 4:20 "iron furnace" for Egypt) and of judgment (Mal 4:1 [3:19 Heb] "the day burning like an oven"; Isa 31:9). Jewish writings about the end use it for final punishment: 1 Enoch 98:3 (the spirits of the wicked "cast into the furnace of fire") and 4 Ezra 7:36 ("the furnace of Gehenna shall be disclosed"). Rev 9:2 has "smoke as of a great furnace."