תָּבִ֔ינוּ (tā·ḇî·nū) in Isaiah 6:9: Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
תָּבִ֔ינוּ (tā·ḇî·nū) in Isaiah 6:9
Source Word
The BSB+ row for Isaiah 6:9 links the English rendering "understanding" with תָּבִ֔ינוּ, Strong's H995, and the parsing label V-Qal-Imperf-2mp.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form helps readers hear the address to the people in Isaiah's commission: hearing is named, but true understanding is withheld in the judicial message.
How To Communicate It
Use the form to ask who is addressed and what response is denied by the surrounding line. The plural form keeps the people in view while the passage supplies the judgment context.
What Not To Say
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Do not make the imperfect label prove more than the sentence supports.
- Do not use the stem label by itself to settle a theological claim.
- Do not treat this occurrence as a complete word study for the whole Hebrew lemma.
What Does The Label Mean?
Hebrew-verb
Verb
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Qal
Imperfect
Second person
Masculine
Plural
The imperfect form presents the action as unfolding, expected, desired, or modal in context; Isaiah 6:9 determines how that force is heard.
This form carries the BSB rendering "understanding" within Isaiah 6:9. Isaiah 6 shows the prophet before the holy Lord, receiving cleansing and a commission in the presence of divine glory.
What The Form Does In This Verse
The action rendered "understanding" in Isaiah 6:9
The form stands in the Lord's commission speech to Isaiah, paired with hearing that does not become true understanding.
It names the understanding side of the hearing line, where the people are addressed in a judicial message.
The form does not by itself settle the whole doctrine of hardening, prove a simple future prediction, or make Qal mean the command is simple.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The form belongs to Isaiah 6's hearing-without-understanding commission line.
Second-person plural imperfect in commission speech. addresses the people with the understanding side of the hearing line. Attached to the understanding action in Isaiah 6:9. Governed by the Lord's commission speech to Isaiah. The negative force comes from the surrounding line, not from the verb form by itself.
Who is addressed in this understanding line? The people are addressed as plural hearers in Isaiah's commission message.
Direct: The form directly supports the understanding action, while the surrounding wording supplies the negative force of the line.
The negative force belongs to the clause context and should not be read into the verb form alone. The imperfect must be read inside Isaiah's commission speech rather than as a standalone tense claim.
Imperfect always means future prediction: Isaiah 6:9 supplies the commission-speech context for the imperfect. grammar alone settles hardening: The form explains the addressed action, while the passage governs theological claims.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The BSB+ row for Isaiah 6:9 links the English rendering "understanding" with תָּבִ֔ינוּ, Strong's H995, and the parsing label V-Qal-Imperf-2mp.
H995 is represented here by the lemma בִּין. In this occurrence, the public guide is limited to the BSB rendering "understanding" rather than every possible gloss of the entry.
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural functions inside Isaiah 6:9's commission speech. The surrounding wording governs the negative hearing-without-understanding force.
Isaiah 6 shows the prophet before the holy Lord, receiving cleansing and a commission in the presence of divine glory.
The form fits Scripture's witness to holiness, cleansing, and commissioned speech before the Lord.
When teaching Isaiah 6:9, use this form to show that the people are addressed directly in the hearing-and-understanding line, then keep the interpretation inside the judicial commission.
Do not make the imperfect alone prove future prediction or totalize the doctrine of hardening. The form clarifies the addressed understanding action in this line.