H998 — בִּינָה (biynah)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H998
Original: בִּינָה
Transliteration: biynah
Pronunciation: bee-naw
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: בִּין (biyn, H995) — to separate mentally, discern, understand
Occurrences: 38 unique verses (40 tokens)
Books: 8
First Occurrence: Deu 4:6 — "Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H995 (biyn); understanding — knowledge, meaning, perfectly, understanding, wisdom.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
understanding (all forms)	30	78.9%
wisdom (by thy wisdom / from thine own wisdom)	2	5.3%
knowledge (after knowledge)	1	2.6%
meaning (for the meaning)	1	2.6%
perfectly	1	2.6%
other (and, of, understand)	3	7.9%

Overwhelmingly rendered "understanding" — nearly 4 out of 5 uses.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Proverbs	14	1.5
Daniel	4	1.1
Job	9	0.8
Isaiah	5	0.4
1 Chronicles	2	0.2
2 Chronicles	2	0.2
Deuteronomy	1	0.1
Jeremiah	1	0.1

Heavily concentrated in wisdom literature (Proverbs, Job = 23 of 38 verses, 61%). Daniel accounts for 4 uses (11%), all tied to Daniel's gift of discernment. Absent from Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and the Torah (except one Deuteronomy verse).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Paired with Wisdom as a Divine Gift¶

1Ch 22:12 — "Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel"
Isa 11:2 — "the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might"
Dan 1:20 — "in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them"
Job 38:36 — "Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?"

2. Something to Be Actively Acquired¶

Pro 4:5 — "Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not"
Pro 4:7 — "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding"
Pro 16:16 — "How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!"
Pro 23:23 — "Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding"
Pro 2:3 — "if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding"

3. Discernment Capacity — Practical or Situational¶

1Ch 12:32 — "children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do"
2Ch 2:13 — "a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father's"
Job 34:16 — "If now thou hast understanding, hear this"
Job 38:4 — "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding"

4. Connected to Fear of the Lord / Moral Insight¶

Pro 9:10 — "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding"
Job 28:28 — "the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding"
Pro 9:6 — "Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding"

5. Self-Reliance Warning¶

Pro 3:5 — "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding"
Pro 23:4 — "Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom"

6. Daniel's Prophetic Discernment¶

Dan 8:15 — "when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning"
Dan 9:22 — "O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding"
Dan 10:1 — "a thing was revealed unto Daniel... and he had understanding of the thing"

7. What God Can Remove or Withhold¶

Isa 29:14 — "the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid"
Job 39:17 — "God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding"
Isa 27:11 — "it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
חׇכְמָה (chokmah)	H2451	16x (42%)	"wisdom and understanding" — paired as complementary qualities
יָדַע (yada)	H3045	7x (18%)	"to know understanding" — biynah as an object of knowing
בִּין (biyn)	H995	6x (16%)	Root verb alongside its noun — "perceive... understanding"
מוּסָר (muwcar)	H4148	4x (11%)	"instruction and understanding" — pedagogical pairing
חָכָם (chakam)	H2450	4x (11%)	"wise... understanding" — describing wise persons
קָנָה (qanah)	H7069	4x (11%)	"get/acquire understanding" — active pursuit language

Word Family / Cognates¶

H995 בִּין (biyn) — root verb: to separate mentally, discern, understand, consider
H8394 תָּבוּן (tabuwn) — related noun from same root: intelligence, understanding, reason

Synonyms¶

H3948 לֶקַח (leqach) — received teaching or instruction closely paired with understanding.
H4148 מוּסָר (muwcar) — instruction or discipline as the training context for understanding.
H6097 עֵצָה ('etsah) — counsel within the same discernment field.
H8454 תּוּשִׁיָּה (tushiyyah) — sound wisdom or resourcefulness allied to understanding.

Antonyms¶

H6612 פֶּתִי (pethiy) — the simple or naive person, set opposite to mature discernment.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
תָּבוּן (tabuwn)	H8394	"understanding" (11v)	tabuwn = faculty of intelligence/reason; biynah = discerning insight, often a gift
שֶׂכֶל (sekel)	H7922	"understanding" (5v)	sekel = practical prudence, good sense, successful insight
לֵב (leb)	H3820	"understanding" (5v)	leb = heart/mind as organ of thought; biynah = the quality of comprehension
בִּין (biyn)	H995	"understanding" (5v)	biyn = the verb "to understand/discern"; biynah = the noun, the capacity itself
שׇׂכְלְתָנוּ (soklethanuw)	H7924	"and understanding" (3v)	Aramaic equivalent of sekel; appears only in Daniel's Aramaic sections

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[002004002007] Know — other words: אוה (H183), אוה (H184), אֹות (H226), אַחֲוָה (H262), אַחֲוָה (H264), אלף (H502).

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
σύνεσις (synesis) G4907	19	7.25	Primary equivalent — "mental putting together, intelligence"
σοφία (sophia) G4678	16	6.25	When biynah appears alongside chokmah, LXX sometimes renders both as sophia
φρόνησις (phronesis) G5428	6	6.80	"Mental activity, practical wisdom" — high PMI despite lower frequency
παιδεία (paideia) G3809	3	5.31	"Education, training" — contextual rendering in instructional passages