בָּחַן
ba.chan
to test
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew word "בָּחַן" (ba.chan) primarily functions as a verb, meaning to test or evaluate something or someone. The concept of testing is a central aspect of its semantic domain, cognition and perception, implying an examination or analysis of knowledge, reality, or character. In the biblical context, "ba.chan" is used 29 times, suggesting its significance in Hebrew thought. The verb is often associated with evaluating the integrity or purity of individuals (as in the case of testing the sincerity of the heart) or assessing the quality of materials and goods. Its broad range of usage highlights the importance of discernment and evaluation in various aspects of life, from moral judgment to practical assessments. While the specific nature of the tests or evaluations may not be explicitly stated, the frequency and versatility of "ba.chan" indicate a crucial role in examining and understanding the world around us.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
29 total occurrences across the text
that you should visit him every morning, and test him every moment?
Job 12:11Doesn’t the ear try words, even as the palate tastes its food?
Job 23:10But he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I will come out like gold.
Job 34:3For the ear tries words, as the palate tastes food.
Job 34:36I wish that Job were tried to the end, because of his answering like wicked men.
Psalms 7:9Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.
Psalms 11:4Yahweh is in his holy temple. Yahweh is on his throne in heaven. His eyes observe. His eyes examine the children of men.
Psalms 11:5Yahweh examines the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and him who loves violence.
Psalms 17:3You have proved my heart. You have visited me in the night. You have tried me, and found nothing. I have resolved that my mouth shall not disobey.
Psalms 26:2Examine me, Yahweh, and prove me. Try my heart and my mind.
Psalms 66:10For you, God, have tested us. You have refined us, as silver is refined.
Psalms 139:23Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts.
Psalms 81:7You called in trouble, and I delivered you. I answered you in the secret place of thunder. I tested you at the waters of Meribah.”
Psalms 95:9when your fathers tempted me, tested me, and saw my work.
Proverbs 17:3The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but Yahweh tests the hearts.
Jeremiah 6:27“I have made you a tester of metals and a fortress among my people, that you may know and try their way.
Jeremiah 9:7Therefore Yahweh of Armies says, “Behold, I will melt them and test them; for how should I deal with the daughter of my people?
Jeremiah 11:20But, Yahweh of Armies, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind, I will see your vengeance on them; for to you I have revealed my cause.
Jeremiah 12:3But you, Yahweh, know me. You see me, and test my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
Jeremiah 17:10“I, Yahweh, search the mind. I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”
Jeremiah 20:12But Yahweh of Armies, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for I have revealed my cause to you.
Ezekiel 21:13“For there is a trial. What if even the rod that condemns will be no more?” says the Lord Yahweh.
Zechariah 13:9I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, ‘It is my people;’ and they will say, ‘Yahweh is my God.’ ”
Zechariah 13:9I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, ‘It is my people;’ and they will say, ‘Yahweh is my God.’ ”
Malachi 3:10Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says Yahweh of Armies, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there will not be room enough for.
Malachi 3:15Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.’
Genesis 42:15By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go out from here, unless your youngest brother comes here.
Genesis 42:16Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.”
1 Chronicles 29:17I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things. Now I have seen with joy your people, who are present here, offer willingly to you.