John 5:39

Verse 39. Search the scriptures. The word translated search here means to search diligently or anxiously. It is applied to miners, who search for precious metals--who look anxiously for the bed of the ore with an intensity or anxiety proportionate to their sense of the value of the metal. Comp. See Barnes "Job 28:3". It is applied by Homer to a lioness robbed of her whelps, and who searches the plain to trace out the footsteps of the man who has robbed her. It is also applied by him to dogs tracing their game by searching them out by the scent of the foot. It means a diligent, faithful, anxious investigation. The word may be either in the indicative or imperative mood.