Rabbi Roodyn

ט) אֲשֶׁר נִסּוּנִי אֲבוֹתֵיכֶם בְּחָנוּנִי גַּם רָאוּ פָעֳלִי:

When your ancestors tested Me; they tried Me, even though they had seen My work.

Rav Hirsch explains that there is a difference between the words נסוני  and בחנוני, which are generally translated and ‘tested’ and ‘tried’.

He claims that נסה  is ‘to put to the test’, to see whether someone is indeed capable of a certain achievement. We use the word נסיון to describe a challenge or a test that is placed in our way to reveal our full potential.

The word בחון  has a slightly different connotation, namely to determine the degree of value and strength inherent in another. The modern Hebrew word for exam is therefore מבחן.

This pasuk is therefore saying, ‘What they had already experienced concerning G-d’s power was not sufficient for them, they constantly demanded new proofs’. It then continues to say, ‘And yet they have already tried Me and had also seen פעלי, My work that I performed for them, and through them,  on My own accord, and the work that I was about to accomplish’.

The Jewish people, having received all these proofs of Divine, omnipotence, could have recognised Hashem’s supremacy and become convinced of His providence, yet they failed to do so.