Word study

Intelligence

2 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “intelligence”. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.

At a glance

How often each original word is translated “intelligence” or one of its forms.

Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • שׇׂכְלְתָנוּ soklethânûinsighttranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H7924Noun  ·  Translated: intelligence 2, understanding 1

    Daniel 5:11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners. Your own father, the king,

    Daniel 5:14 I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that you have insight, intelligence, and extraordinary wisdom.

    Full study and all 3 verses →
  • בִּינָה bînâhunderstandingtranslated this way 1 time of its 36 uses · Strong’s H998Noun  ·  Translated: understanding 27, insight 3, understand 2

    Isaiah 29:14 Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”

    Full study and all 36 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • συνετός synetósintelligent, prudent, wisetranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s G4908Adjective  ·  Translated: learned 2, intelligence 1, intelligent 1

    Acts 13:7 an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, a man of intelligence, summoned Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.

    Full study and all 4 verses →
  • σύνεσις sýnesisunderstandingtranslated this way 1 time of its 7 uses · Strong’s G4907Noun  ·  Translated: understanding 4, insight 2, intelligence 1

    1 Corinthians 1:19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

    Full study and all 7 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
  2. Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.

Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.