What does בָּחַן (yiḇḥănû) mean in the Bible?
To test or examine is to assess what is present rather than accept an appearance uncritically. In the selected passages, God examines the heart, and a praying person invites His searching attention.
Hebrew · H974
בָּחַן
To test or examine is to assess what is present rather than accept an appearance uncritically. In the selected passages, God examines the heart, and a praying person invites His searching attention.
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בָּחַןH974
Pronunciationyiḇḥănû
What does בָּחַן (yiḇḥănû) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for בָּחַן (H974) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H974?
The BSB source-word alignment has 29 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include test (3), Test me (3), and test them (2), tests (2), who examines (2).
Where does בָּחַן (yiḇḥănû) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 42:15. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (9), Jeremiah (6), Job (5), Genesis (2).
What This Word Actually Means
To test or examine is to assess what is present rather than accept an appearance uncritically. In the selected passages, God examines the heart, and a praying person invites His searching attention. Proverbs contrasts the testing places for silver and gold with the Lord's testing of hearts. Jeremiah declares that God searches the heart and examines the mind when judging a person's ways.
Psalm 139 asks Him to test the speaker's concerns and lead in the everlasting way. These uses do not give another person God's complete knowledge of the inner life. They encourage truthful openness before Him while limiting human claims. Testing in Scripture can have other subjects and purposes, so its particular force must be taken from the whole sentence and setting.
How the Bible Uses It
The selected witnesses identify the Lord as examiner of hearts and show prayer inviting His knowledge, while related contexts distinguish communal testing and Job's confidence amid distress.
- Prov.17.3
A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but the Lord is the tester of hearts.
The proverb contrasts silver's crucible and gold's furnace with the Lord as tester of hearts, giving divine examination its distinct object.
- Jer.17.10
I, the Lord, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
The Lord expressly searches heart and mind and judges a person's deeds, following the passage's warning about the heart's deceitfulness.
- Ps.139.23
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
The speaker asks God to test his concerns and then to expose an offensive way and lead him, so the prayer seeks truthful guidance.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Ittest3×1 Chronicles 29:17, Job 12:11, Malachi 3:15
Test me3×Psalms 26:2, Psalms 139:23, Malachi 3:10
and test them2×Jeremiah 9:7, Zechariah 13:9
tests2×Job 34:3, Psalms 11:5
who examines2×Jeremiah 11:20, Jeremiah 20:12
-1×Zechariah 13:9
[and] test him1×Job 7:18
and test1×Jeremiah 12:3
and tried Me1×Psalms 95:9
and try1×Jeremiah 6:27
examine1×Psalms 11:4
have tested us1×Psalms 66:10
I examine1×Jeremiah 17:10
I tested1×Psalms 81:7
is the tester1×Proverbs 17:3
may be tested1×Genesis 42:16
testing will come1×Ezekiel 21:13
were tried1×Job 34:36
when He has tested me1×Job 23:10
who searches1×Psalms 7:9
You have tried1×Psalms 17:3
you will be tested1×Genesis 42:15
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 42:15תִּבָּחֵ֑נוּtoyou will be testedVerb - Nifal - Imperfect - second person masculine pluralGenesis 42:16וְיִבָּֽחֲנוּ֙tomay be testedConjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive imperfect - third person masculine plural1 Chronicles 29:17בֹּחֵ֣ןtotestVerb - Qal - Participle - masculine singularJob 7:18תִּבְחָנֶֽנּוּ׃to[and] test himVerb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular | third person masculine singularJob 12:11תִּבְחָ֑ןtotestVerb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singularJob 23:10בְּ֝חָנַ֗נִיtowhen He has tested meVerb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular | first person common singularJob 34:3תִּבְחָ֑ןtotestsVerb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singularJob 34:36יִבָּחֵ֣ןtowere triedVerb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person masculine singularPsalms 7:9וּבֹחֵ֣ןtowho searchesConjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singularPsalms 11:4יִ֝בְחֲנ֗וּtoexamineVerb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 42:15
Aligned rows29
Books represented9
Genesis21 Chronicles1Job5Psalms9Proverbs1Jeremiah6Ezekiel1Zechariah2Malachi2
Source forms
בֹּחֵ֣ן3xbō·ḥên1 Chronicles 29:17, Jeremiah 17:10, Jeremiah 20:12
תִּבְחָ֑ן2xtiḇ·ḥānJob 12:11, Job 34:3
אֶבְחָֽנְךָ֨1x’eḇ·ḥā·nə·ḵāPsalms 81:7
בֹ֔חַן1xḇō·ḥanEzekiel 21:13
בֹּחֵ֥ן1xbō·ḥênJeremiah 11:20
בָּחֲנ֛וּ1xbā·ḥă·nūMalachi 3:15
בְּ֝חָנ֗וּנִי1xbə·ḥā·nū·nîPsalms 95:9
בְּחָנֵ֣נִי1xbə·ḥā·nê·nîPsalms 26:2
Parsing patterns
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular4x1 Chronicles 29:17, Jeremiah 11:20, Jeremiah 17:10, Jeremiah 20:12
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular | third person masculine plural2xJeremiah 9:7, Zechariah 13:9
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular2xJeremiah 6:27, Jeremiah 12:3
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular2xPsalms 7:9, Proverbs 17:3
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular | first person common singular2xPsalms 26:2, Psalms 139:23
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular2xJob 12:11, Job 34:3
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive imperfect - third person masculine plural1xGenesis 42:16
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural | first person common singular1xMalachi 3:10
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not demand invasive disclosure by claiming to act as God's heart examiner.
- Self-examination should not become permission to pronounce hidden guilt upon a distressed neighbor.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim testing earns salvation; these passages describe God's knowledge and prayer, not meritorious acceptance.
- Do not claim you know another person's heart as God does; the selected witnesses reserve that searching knowledge to Him.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Testing that reveals true quality through refinement; metaphorically, trial that exposes character or faith.
Strong'sH974
Lexical occurrences29 versesWord forms3 forms13 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkPsalms 11:4–7Source Gloss
to test (especially metals); generally and figuratively, to investigate
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Testing that reveals true quality through refinement; metaphorically, trial that exposes character or faith.
to test (especially metals); generally and figuratively, to investigate BDB: examine Usage: examine, prove, tempt, try (trial).
Grammatical Forms
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups3Aligned forms13
Qalbasic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense10×
Participle active1Chr 29:17 · Jer 11:20 · Jer 17:10 · Jer 20:124×
ImperfectJob 12:11 · Job 34:3 · Ps 11:4 · Ps 11:54×
PerfectMal 3:15 · Ps 17:32×
Pualintensive passive — intensive action received by the subject1×
PerfectEzek 21:181×
Niphalpassive or reflexive — the subject receives or experiences the action2×
ImperfectGen 42:15 · Job 34:362×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Old Testament Witnesses
To test, examine, or prove; specifically used of testing metals for purity
Showing 1 selected witness from 29 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
בָּחַן is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
The decisive distinction in these witnesses is not that careful examination is possible only in religious settings. It is that the Lord knows the heart in a way human observers do not. Proverbs gives Him the task that a crucible performs for silver, while Jeremiah names both His searching knowledge and His righteous judgment. Psalm 139 turns that reality into prayer: the speaker asks to be known and led rather than claiming to have mastered his own motives.
This supports humility, confession, and receptiveness to God's word. It does not justify manipulative demands for disclosure or confident diagnoses of a neighbor's inner life. Job's words about being tested must also remain his speech within suffering. Let God be the heart's examiner without confusing that authority with human discernment.
Anchor passage
Ps.139.23
Doctrinal connections
- Proverbs 17:3 assigns the testing of hearts to the Lord rather than a human furnace operator.
- Jeremiah 17:9-10 joins the heart's deceitfulness with God's searching knowledge and righteous judgment.
- Psalm 139:23-24 turns divine knowledge into a request for examination and everlasting guidance.
- Psalm 26:1-3 asks for testing within a prayer claiming integrity and attention to God's loving devotion.
- Job 23:8-12 preserves Job's confidence about testing while he struggles to perceive God's presence.
- Psalm 66:10-12 combines testing and refining within communal memory of affliction and deliverance.
The Hebrew comparator describes testing and examination, including metaphorical investigation. The selected clauses explicitly name God and the inner life; neither the verb nor a Strong's identifier grants human omniscience.
From Old to New Testament
Prayerful openness to God's knowledge can be compared thematically with Christian repentance and discernment. The selected Hebrew verb does not by itself establish a New Testament quotation, nor does testing earn acceptance through Christ.