Discern (Hastings' Dictionary)
To discern (Lat. dis apart, cemert separate) is to separate things so as to distinguish them, as Coverdale, Erasm. Par. 1 Jn, p. 48 : ' It is not the sacramentes that di.sceme the children of God from the cliildren of the devyll ; but the puritie of lyfe and charitie.' So Ezr3" ' the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping.' To discern a person or thing la therefore, In biblical lang.
, to separate out from others, so as to recognize, as On 2T^ ' he dis- cerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands' ; He 413 'the word of God ... is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart ' (x^jT,jeef, UV 'quick to discern'); I Co 1129 'not discerning the Lord's l)ody' ((*j ita- xpian T» r J.tMt tow Kvpiou ; Vulg. non dijudicang corjnis Domini ; Calvin, non discemens ; Wye. 'not wiseli deinynge'; Lulher, dati er nicht unterscheidet ; Tind.
because he maketh no differ- ence of ' ; 90 Cov., Cran., Gen. 1567 ; but Gen. 1560, ' because he discerneth not,' with marg. note, But as thogh these holie mysteries of the Lopdes bodie and blood were commune meats, so without reverence he comnieth unto them'; so Tomson ; Bish. 'making no difference of; Rhem. 'not disceniing the bo<iy of our Ix>rd ' ; whence A V ; but HV ' if he discern not the tx)dy ' — omitting rtS Kv/tito with edd. J , HASTINGS,
This topic also has an entry in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Both articles offer independent scholarly perspectives.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Discern
Discern di-zurn': Five Hebrew words are thus translated: bin, yadha`, nakhar, ra'ah and shama`. It may simply mean "observe" (bin), "I discerned among the youths" (Pr 7:7); or discriminating knowlege, "A wise man's heart discerneth time and judgment" (Ec 8:5, yadha`); "He discerned him not, because his hands," etc. (Ge 27:23, nakhar); "Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked" (Mal 3:18, ra'ah); "So is my lord the king to discern good," etc. (2Sa 14:17, shama`). In the New Testament the words anakrino, diakrino and dokimazo are thus translated, expressing close and distinct acquaintance with or a critical knowledge of things. Used in 1Co 2:14 the King James Version of "the things of the spirit of God"; in 1Co 11:29 of "the (Lord's) body" in the sacrament; in Mt 16:3 of "the face of the heaven"; in Heb 5:14 of a clear knowledge of good and evil as the prerogative of a full-grown man. See also next article. ⇒See the definition of discern in the KJV Dictionary Henry E. Dosker
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia