Reprobate

Reprobate (from Latin reprobatus, rejected after testing) translates the Hebrew ma'as (rejected) and Greek adokimos (failing the test, disqualified) in the KJV. Jeremiah 6:30 uses the image of a failed refining process: refuse silver they are called, for the LORD has rejected them. In the New Testament, adokimos describes a mind that God gives over to its own perversity (Romans 1:28 — God gave them up to a reprobate mind), land that has been cleared and bears only thorns (Hebrews 6:8), and Paul's own fear of being disqualified after preaching to others (1 Corinthians 9:27). 2 Timothy 3:8 describes those who oppose the truth as reprobate (disqualified) concerning the faith.

In Reformed theology, reprobation is the doctrinal counterpart to election — God's sovereign decision to pass over certain individuals and allow them to face the consequences of their sin. The term in the KJV, however, more often refers to practical failure of moral and spiritual testing than to eternal decretal reprobation.