to know
ya.da denotes knowing or recognizing facts and persons, acquiring skill, making something known, and becoming known.
The sampled verses most often use the Qal forms for knowledge, recognition, or awareness of a person, event, intention, or needed action. Active participles can describe someone competent in an activity; Hiphil forms present making information known, while Niphal forms describe something becoming known.
Senses in use
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Knowing, recognizing, or being aware · dominant
Qal forms occur when a speaker has or lacks awareness of a matter, person, or intention: in 1 Kings 1:11 the APB renders that David does not know Adonijah has become king, and in 1 Samuel 22:22 David says he knew Doeg would tell Saul. The same use includes recognition established by events, as in 1 Kings 20:13, where the promised victory is followed by the APB rendering, “you shall know that I am the LORD.”
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Competence in a practiced activity · occasional
Qal active participles identify a person by demonstrated ability. In 1 Samuel 16:16 and 1 Samuel 16:18, the APB describes a man who “knows how to play the lyre” or “knows how to play,” while 1 Chronicles 12:33 places the participle in a military setting involving battle preparation.
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Making information known · common
Hiphil forms present an agent communicating or disclosing what another person is to know. In 1 Chronicles 16:8 the APB renders the imperative “make known his deeds among the peoples”; in 1 Samuel 10:8, the speaker says he will make known what Saul must do. In 1 Kings 1:27, the APB renders the addressed king as having not “informed” his servants.
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Becoming known or being disclosed · rare
Niphal forms portray a person, fact, or reason as becoming known rather than naming the one who communicates it. In 1 Samuel 22:6 the APB says David “had become known,” and in 1 Samuel 6:3 it says that the reason for the divine hand not turning aside “will be known to you.”
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB commonly uses “know” and “known,” but also uses “make known,” “informed,” “tell,” and “knows how to play.” These renderings reflect whole clauses to the Hebrew form.