bin · understand, discern

What it means

bin (בִּין) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “understand, discern”.

Perceive clearly, distinguish, see what ought to be done.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To understand, realize.
2. To look carefully at something in order to tell it apart.
3. To be very wise and skilled in what one does.
4. To make someone understand, to teach him the way.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

To understand, to discern: to distinguish with the mind. BDB: to separate mentally or distinguish, that is, understand. From the same root comes בִּינָה, “understanding”.

• Asking for understanding 1 Kings 3:9Psalms 119:27
• “To understand the sayings of understanding” Proverbs 1:2
• Understanding the reading of the law Nehemiah 8:8
• “Understand the word and comprehend the vision” Daniel 9:23
• “Discerning”: the one who has discernment Genesis 41:33

How we translate it

“Understand” 67 times, “discerning” 22, “understanding” 14, “understood” 14, “understands” 10… and “consider” 15 when it means to fix one's attention. This edition sets the family: חָכְמָה / בִּינָה / דַּעַת = “wisdom / understanding / knowledge”.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• understand ×67
• discerning ×22
• consider ×15
• understanding ×14
• understood ×14
• understands ×10
• discern ×4
• pay heed ×3
• perceive ×3
• skilled ×3
• others ×15

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×2
• Deuteronomy×5
• 1 Samuel×2
• 2 Samuel×1
• 1 Kings×4
• 1 Chronicles×5
• 2 Chronicles×4
• Ezra×2
• Nehemiah×8
• Job×23
• Psalms×26
• Proverbs×34
• Ecclesiastes×1
• Isaiah×20
• Jeremiah×7
• Daniel×22
• Hosea×3
• Micah×1

• Genesis 41:33

  Now let Pharaoh look for a man discerning and wise and set him over the land of Egypt.

• Genesis 41:39

  Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since Elohim has made known to you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.

• Deuteronomy 1:13

  Provide for yourselves wise, discerning, and known men from your tribes, and I will set them as your heads.”

• Deuteronomy 4:6

  Keep them and carry them out, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the peoples, who will hear all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”

• Deuteronomy 32:7

  Remember the days of old, consider the years of generation and generation; ask your father, and he will declare it to you, your elders, and they will tell you.

• Deuteronomy 32:10

  He found him in a land of wilderness, and in an emptiness of howling, a wasteland; he surrounded him, he cared for him, he guarded him like the pupil of his eye.

• Deuteronomy 32:29

  If only they were wise, they would understand this; they would consider their end!

• 1 Samuel 3:8

  And YHWH called Samuel again, the third time. And he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli understood that YHWH was calling the boy.

• 1 Samuel 16:18

  One of the young men answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who knows how to play, and a mighty man of valor, and a man of war, and discerning in speech, and a man of fine figure; and YHWH is with him.”

• 2 Samuel 12:19

  When David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead; and David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.”

• 1 Kings 3:9

  So give your servant a heart that listens, to judge your people, to discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this people of yours, so great?”

• 1 Kings 3:11

  And Elohim said to him, “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself many days, and have not asked for yourself riches, and have not asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to hear justice,

• 1 Kings 3:12

  look, I have done according to your words; look, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that like you there has not been anyone before you, and after you none will arise like you.

• 1 Kings 3:21

  And I rose in the morning to nurse my son, and I saw that he was dead. But I looked closely at him in the morning, and I saw that it was not my son whom I had borne.”

• 1 Chronicles 15:22

  And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites in the carrying, gave instruction in the carrying, for he understood it.

• 1 Chronicles 25:7

  Their number with their brothers, trained in song for YHWH, all the skilled, was two hundred eighty- eight.

• 1 Chronicles 25:8

  They cast lots for their charge, alike, the small as the great, the skilled with the pupil.

• 1 Chronicles 27:32

  Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a counselor, a man of understanding, and a scribe; and Jehiel son of Hachmoni was with the sons of the king.

• 1 Chronicles 28:9

  And you, Solomon my son, know the Elohim of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing soul; for YHWH seeks out all hearts and understands every inclination of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will let himself be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

• 2 Chronicles 11:23

  He acted with understanding and distributed all his sons through all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to all the fortified cities, and he gave them provisions in abundance, and he asked for a multitude of wives for them.

• 2 Chronicles 26:5

  He set himself to seek Elohim in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of Elohim; and in the days that he sought YHWH, Elohim made him prosper.

• 2 Chronicles 34:12

  The men were working with faithfulness in the work. Over them were appointed Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to direct; and the Levites, all who understood instruments of song,

• 2 Chronicles 35:3

  He said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to YHWH, “Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon son of David, king of Israel, built; it is no longer a burden for you on the shoulder. Now serve YHWH your Elohim and his people Israel.

• Ezra 8:15

  And I gathered them at the river that flows to Ahava, and we camped there three days; and I observed the people and the priests, but of the sons of Levi I did not find any there.

• Ezra 8:16

  And I sent for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, heads, and for Joiarib and for Elnathan, discerning men;

• Nehemiah 8:2

  So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, from man to woman, and all who could understand to listen, on the first day of the seventh month.

• Nehemiah 8:3

  And he read in it before the square that is in front of the Water Gate, from the light until the middle of the day, in front of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were toward the book of the law.

• Nehemiah 8:7

  And Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites were making the people understand the law, and the people were in their place.

• Nehemiah 8:8

  And they read in the book, in the law of Elohim, clearly, and gave the sense, and they understood the reading.

• Nehemiah 8:9

  And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites who made the people understand, said to all the people, “This day is holy to YHWH your Elohim; do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law.

• Nehemiah 8:12

  And all the people went to eat and to drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that they had made known to them.

• Nehemiah 10:28

  And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Nethinim, and all who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of Elohim, their wives, their sons and their daughters, all who knew how to understand,

• Nehemiah 13:7

  and I came to Jerusalem, and I understood the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in making him a chamber in the courts of the house of Elohim.

• Job 6:24

  Teach me, and I will be silent; and make me understand how I have erred.

• Job 6:30

  Is there injustice on my tongue? Or can my palate not discern calamities?

• Job 9:11

  Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him; he goes past, and I do not perceive him.

• Job 11:11

  For he knows empty men, and he sees wickedness; will he not consider it?

• Job 13:1

  Look, my eye has seen all this; my ear has heard and understood it.

• Job 14:21

  His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; or they are brought low, and he does not perceive it.

• Job 15:9

  What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not with us?

And 130 more times.