understanding
bi.nah is discernment sought, taught, granted, and used to grasp words, visions, and wise conduct.
The noun most often denotes a valued and cultivable quality of discernment associated with wisdom, instruction, and the right course of life. It also names comprehension given for words, plans, or visions, and the intellectual capacity that people or creatures may possess, lack, or apply.
Senses in use
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Cultivated discernment for wise instruction · dominant
The singular noun is presented as something to seek, acquire, and know alongside wisdom and discipline: in Proverbs 2:3 the APB renders a call to seek it, while Proverbs 4:5 and Proverbs 16:16 speak of acquiring it. In Proverbs 9:6 it marks a way to follow, and Proverbs 23:23 places it with truth, wisdom, and discipline.
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Comprehension of a message, plan, or vision · common
In Daniel 8:15, Daniel seeks this noun after seeing a vision; in Daniel 9:22, the APB renders the stated purpose of the speaker's coming as giving Daniel understanding. Daniel 10:1 places it with Daniel's grasp of a revealed vision, while Jeremiah 23:20 speaks of understanding the plans of God's heart in later days.
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Capacity for perception and judgment · occasional
The noun can identify a capacity attributed, withheld, or tested. In Job 38:4 the APB frames the question around having it when declaring the earth's foundation, and Job 39:17 says that it was not apportioned to the creature; Isaiah 27:11 describes a people as lacking it. Its construct forms also occur with a person's own capacity in Proverbs 3:5 and Job 39:26.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly uses “understanding,” especially in statements of seeking, receiving, or lacking it, as in Daniel 9:22 and Job 39:17. Some clauses provide less certain English correspondence, including 1 Chronicles 12:33 and 2 Chronicles 2:11.