Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
REFIN'ER. This word is often used figuratively by the sacred writers. Its peculiar force in the passage Mal 3:3 will be seen when it is remembered that refiners of silver sit with their eyes steadily fixed on the furnace that they may watch the process, and that the process is complete and perfected only when the refiner sees his own image in the melted mass. Similar passages occur.