be useful
sa.khan describes being of benefit or service, and in two Hiphil clauses being acquainted or accustomed.
The predominant attested use concerns benefit or profit in relation to a person, speech, or conduct. Participial forms also occur of persons in service to a king or household, while two Hiphil clauses concern becoming acquainted and customary behavior.
Senses in use
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Being beneficial or bringing profit · dominant
In Job 15:3 the Qal imperfect is in the question about arguing with a word that is not useful, and in Job 22:2 it occurs twice in the question whether a person can be useful to God. The same Qal form is used in Job 34:9 and Job 35:3 in statements about profit or gain; Psalm 139:3 has a Hiphil perfect in a clause the APB renders, "you have made all my ways useful."
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A person available for service · occasional
In 1 Kings 1:2 and 1 Kings 1:4, feminine singular Qal participles describe the young woman who stands before the king, is useful to him, and ministers to him in the APB rendering. In Isaiah 22:15, a masculine singular Qal participle occurs in the address to Shebna, identified in the verse as over the household; the APB does not isolate the term's specific English contribution.
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Becoming acquainted or accustomed · occasional
Job 22:21 uses a Hiphil imperative in the command that the APB renders, "Acquaint yourself now with him." Numbers 22:30 contains Hiphil infinitive-absolute forms in the donkey's question about whether it had been accustomed to act in that way.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the benefit-oriented clauses with "useful," and elsewhere uses "profit" or "gain" in the surrounding questions. It renders the Hiphil contexts as "Acquaint yourself" and "accustomed," while it is a whole-verse translation to the Hebrew forms.