Bible Dictionary

CERTIFY

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In biblical usage, certify means to make known, announce, or inform rather than to establish something as certain in the modern technical sense.

Definition

In biblical English, certify means to make known, announce, tell, or inform. It does not ordinarily carry the strong modern technical sense of establishing something as certain.

Biblical Usage

The word translates expressions meaning to show, announce, make known, say, or tell in passages from Samuel, Ezra, Esther, and Galatians. The Revised Version frequently replaces it with “tell” or “make known.”

Historical Background

The English usage reflects Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek verbs of communication. Even the Prayer Book rendering “that I may be certified” means to learn or be informed, not to receive technical certification.

Historical Bible Dictionaries

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)

ser'-ti-fi: Occurs in(1) 2Sa 15:28 (haggidh, "to show," "announce," from naghadh);(2) Ezr 4:14,16; 5:10; 7:24 (hodha`, "to make known," from yedha'; Aramaic for yadha`);(3) Es 2:22 the King James Version ('amar, "to say," "tell," so the Revised Version (British and American)); and(4) Ga 1:11 the King James Version gnorizo, "to make to know," so the Revised Version (British and American).In the English Versions of the Bible, accordingly, the word has not the strong, specific sense of "to make certain," but only the broader sense of "to make to know." Compare Ps 39:5 (Prayer Book version), "that I may be certified how long I have to live."

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