Does God tempt us or not?

So does God tempt us or not? According to (James 1:13) the answer is no. If he doesn’t tempt us, then why does it appear that he tempted Abraham in (Genesis 22)? Do we have a reason to be confused? Not really.

(James 1:13) He Doesn’t Tempt Anyone

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone

(Genesis 22:1) He Tempted Abraham

King James Version
And it came to pass after these things. that God did tempt  Abraham, and said to him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

New International Version
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.

Does God Tempt Us? No, But He May Test Us!

This is a great example of how a little research can straighten out what some have called a contradiction in the Bible. The word tempt in (Genesis 22:1) is translated from the Hebrew word (nacah). This word means to test, try, prove, tempt, assay, or to put to the proof. As you can see above, the NIV version uses the word tested in their translation. A quick google search of the different translations of this verse will show that most of them use the word tested, prove, or tried for their translation of the word (nacah) in (Genesis 22:1).

The King James Version in this case does not provide us with the best translation for the word (nacah). When you read all of (Genesis 22), it is apparent that God was testing Abraham’s faith in this situation. He was not tempting him. This disproves the idea that Genesis and James were saying opposite things about God.

With technology and the internet at our fingertips, we are provided with a way to easily look into the times where Scriptures may appear to contradict each other. Often times a Hebrew word can have several different meanings when translated. Therefore, you have to look at the context in which the word was used to find out the meaning. In this case, it meant a test that Abraham passed with flying colors.