What Does Job 15:9 Mean in the King James?
What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse makes claimed insight answer one question: what do you understand that is not already present in us?
THE MEANING
The question places your knowledge beside a shared “we”: what do you perceive that is absent from us? It distinguishes knowing from discerning, then asks whether either reaches beyond what others already hold. The question remains a challenge, not a verdict about who understands more.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that confidence alone proves someone possesses insight others lack.
THE ROOT
תָּבִין
tabin
GROWS FROM
בין
b-y-n
To discern, distinguish, or perceive.
“understandest” in this verse is tabin. The Hebrew verb asks what you can discern that is not already “with us.” English can make understanding sound like a private store of information; this root brings out the act of distinguishing and perceiving.
ALSO GROWS
binah: Understanding or discernment.
בִּינָה
This branch shows understanding as a capacity to perceive distinctions, not merely to possess facts.
navon: Discerning or perceptive.
נָבוֹן
The shared root links understanding with the quality of being able to discern.
יָדַעְתָּ
yada'ta
GROWS FROM
ידע
y-d-ʿ
To know, recognize, or perceive.
“knowest” in this verse is yada'ta. The verse pairs knowing with understanding, but the Hebrew roots keep them distinct: yada names knowing or recognizing, while bin names discernment. Together they make the challenge broader than “what facts do you have?”, it asks what you know and what you can truly discern.
ALSO GROWS
yada: To know, recognize, or perceive.
יָדַע
This root carries knowing by encounter as well as recognition, giving “knowest” more depth than information alone.
de'ah: Knowledge or understanding.
דֵּעָה
This branch shows how the act of knowing also names what is known.
THE PATTERN
Knowing and understanding are set alongside what is shared, received, and discerned.
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.THE THREAD
Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?Both verses use בין: Job’s question asks what understanding can distinguish as absent from what is shared, while this verse describes discernment as the ability to distinguish good from bad. The root shows understanding as an act of discernment, not simply a larger store of facts.
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