דִּין
din
judgment
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# The Hebrew Word דִּין (din): Judgment and Legal Decision The Hebrew word *din* appears twenty times in the biblical text with the core meaning of "judgment." This term denotes the process and outcome of making legal determinations or decisions, particularly in contexts where disputes require resolution or where authority figures must evaluate and pronounce verdicts. The word carries the weight of formal adjudication rather than casual opinion—it represents binding determinations made through established procedures. The relatively modest frequency of *din* in biblical texts (20 occurrences) suggests it was used selectively to mark significant moments of judgment and decision-making. This sparing usage may reflect the formal nature of the term; it appears to have been reserved for weighty matters requiring official assessment rather than everyday deliberation. The consistency of its meaning across these occurrences indicates that ancient Hebrew speakers recognized *din* as a specific legal concept rather than a general word for thinking or deciding. The significance of *din* lies in its designation of a concrete act of judgment with real consequences. Unlike more abstract terms for wisdom or discernment, *din* points to the pronouncement itself—the moment when judgment is rendered and authority is exercised. Understanding this word provides insight into how biblical texts conceptualized the formal structures of justice and decision-making in ancient Israelite society.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
20 total occurrences across the text
Then the king said to the wise men, who knew the times (for it was the king’s custom to consult those who knew law and judgment;
Job 19:29be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishments of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment.”
Job 35:14How much less when you say you don’t see him. The cause is before him, and you wait for him!
Job 36:17“But you are full of the judgment of the wicked. Judgment and justice take hold of you.
Job 36:17“But you are full of the judgment of the wicked. Judgment and justice take hold of you.
Psalms 9:4For you have maintained my just cause. You sit on the throne judging righteously.
Psalms 76:8You pronounced judgment from heaven. The earth feared, and was silent,
Psalms 140:12I know that Yahweh will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the needy.
Proverbs 20:8A king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his eyes.
Proverbs 22:10Drive out the mocker, and strife will go out; yes, quarrels and insults will stop.
Proverbs 29:7The righteous care about justice for the poor. The wicked aren’t concerned about knowledge.
Proverbs 31:5lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the justice due to anyone who is afflicted.
Proverbs 31:8Open your mouth for the mute, in the cause of all who are left desolate.
Isaiah 10:2to deprive the needy from justice, and to rob the poor among my people of their rights, that widows may be their plunder, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
Jeremiah 5:28They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They don’t plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they don’t defend the rights of the needy.
Jeremiah 5:28They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They don’t plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they don’t defend the rights of the needy.
Jeremiah 22:16He judged the cause of the poor and needy; so it was well, then. Wasn’t this to know me?” says Yahweh.
Jeremiah 30:13There is no one to plead your cause, that you may be bound up. You have no healing medicines.
Deuteronomy 17:8If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise, and go up to the place which Yahweh your God chooses.
Deuteronomy 17:8If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise, and go up to the place which Yahweh your God chooses.