Proverbs 30:5
Proverbs 30:55Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
is read devotionally in JW publications as a general affirmation of God's reliability and the trustworthiness of his word. The Watchtower applies it to Jehovah's promises for the future paradise earth and the protection promised to faithful Witnesses through Armageddon. The verse rarely functions to test the organisation's role as interpreter between Scripture and the believer.
"Every saying of God is refined" — the Hebrew tsaraf is the smelting metaphor: God's word is purified, tested, reliable. Pair with ("All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial… so that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work") and ("do not go beyond the things that are written"). If Scripture itself is refined and sufficient, no additional channel of doctrinal interpretation is required to make a person fully competent before God. The Watchtower's claim that the Bible cannot be properly understood without the Governing Body's mediation contradicts what and say about Scripture's own nature. The Berean test () is the right test, applied to every teacher — including the Governing Body.