Hebrew word · H1779

דִּין

din

judgment

Judgment, verdict; a legal case or lawsuit; the right a party is owed in court. The verb din means to judge, to plead someone's case, or to vindicate.

Appears 20 times in 17 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) judgment

1a) judgment

1b) cause, plea

1c) condemnation, judgment

1d) dispute, legal suit, strife

1e) government

Aramaic equivalent: din (דִּין "judgment" H1780)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Proverbs 31:8

Range of meaning

Judgment, verdict; a legal case or lawsuit; the right a party is owed in court. The verb din means to judge, to plead someone's case, or to vindicate.

Against the English

KJV and BSB say "cause," meaning lawsuit (as in "cause of action"). ESV, NIV and NRSV say "rights." YLT says "right." "Rights" brings in modern rights language. "Cause" now suggests a campaign or charity. The Hebrew means the actual case before a judge.

How it drifted

The legal sense of "cause" has faded in everyday English. Now it mostly means a movement or a charitable concern.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeremiah 22:16 praises King Josiah: "he judged the cause (din) of the poor and needy" (din ani ve'evyon), the same phrase as Proverbs 31:9. In Ugaritic poetry (Syria, c. 1300 BC) the ideal king Danel "judges the case (dn) of the widow, adjudicates the cause of the orphan." King Kirta is rebuked by his son for failing to do exactly this. The cognate word is the same.

From the study of Proverbs 22:10

Range of meaning

A legal case or claim, a judgment, a dispute brought for decision; the verb means "to judge, plead, contend". Elsewhere: "the cause (dîn) of the poor" (Prov 29:7; 31:8), "the cause of the orphan" (Jer 5:28).

Against the English

Most modern versions generalise it to "quarreling" (BSB, ESV) or "quarrels" (NIV, WEB). KJV's "strife" is broader still. These are not wrong, but they lose the legal flavour: grievances, accusations and formal disputes, not only raised voices.

Used elsewhere in the period

The noun mostly appears in legal settings: Deuteronomy 17:8, Esther 1:13, and Proverbs 29:7 and 31:5, 8.

From the study of Proverbs 20:8

Range of meaning

A legal case or dispute; the verdict given in it; the right or claim of a party, especially a weak party (e.g., 'the cause of the poor', Prov 29:7; 31:5, 8–9; Jer 5:28; 22:16). The related verb din means to judge, plead a cause, or secure someone's rights.

Against the English

'Judgment' is accurate, but to modern ears it can sound mainly negative, like condemnation. Din covers the whole legal process, including vindicating the person who was wronged.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in the Hebrew Bible's legal and wisdom language, with Aramaic and Akkadian cognates (dīnu, 'lawsuit, verdict') used for royal and court judgments across Mesopotamia.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 2

  1. Deuteronomy 17:8 דִּ֣ין לְדִ֗ין dispute, and dispute

    If a case is too difficult for you to judge, whether the controversy within your gates is regarding bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults, you must go up to the place the LORD your God will choose.

    Here: A legal claim or plea. It is the case one party brings against another.

Esther · 1

  1. Esther 1:13 וָדִֽין׃ and judgment

    Then the king consulted the wise men who knew the times, for it was customary for him to confer with the experts in law and justice.

Job · 4

  1. Job 19:29 שַׁדּֽוּן׃ ס that a judgment

    then you should fear the sword yourselves, because wrath brings punishment by the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.”

  2. Job 35:14 דִּ֥ין [the] case

    How much less, then, when you say that you do not see Him, that your case is before Him and you must wait for Him,

    Here: Courtroom language: the lawsuit or case Job has filed against God (13:18; 23:4; 31:35). It means the matter waiting to be decided, not punishment.

  3. Job 36:17 וְדִין־ דִּ֖ין and judgment of, judgment

    But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked; judgment and justice have seized you.

Psalms · 3

  1. Psalm 9:4 וְדִינִ֑י and cause my

    For You have upheld my just cause; You sit on Your throne judging righteously.

    Here: "And my lawsuit / my plea." Nearly a synonym of mishpat. Paired with it, the sense is "my whole rightful case." Elsewhere this word is used for the claim of the weak that rulers are supposed to hear (Jer 5:28; 22:16; Prov 29:7).

  2. Psalm 76:8 דִּ֑ין judgment

    From heaven You pronounced judgment, and the earth feared and was still

    Here: A legal ruling, the decision of a judge in a case. Verse 9 says this verdict went against the attacking armies and was given in order to rescue the lowly. It means a ruling that settles the case, not only a sentence of punishment.

  3. Psalm 140:12 דִּ֣ין [the] cause of

    I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy.

    Here: The afflicted person's lawsuit: their claim, their complaint, the case they cannot win alone. 'Doing the din' of someone means taking up their case and deciding it in their favour.

Proverbs · 5

  1. Proverbs 20:8 דִ֑ין judgment

    A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out all evil with his eyes.

    Here: The work of deciding disputes: hearing the parties, giving a verdict, defending the person who has been wronged. It is courtroom language, not a word about punishment in general.

  2. Proverbs 22:10 דִּ֣ין dispute

    Drive out the mocker, and conflict will depart; even quarreling and insults will cease.

    Here: Usually a legal word: a case, a claim, a lawsuit. Here it covers the endless arguing, accusations and court-style wrangling the scoffer keeps going, possibly real litigation at the city gate.

  3. Proverbs 29:7 דִּ֣ין [the] case of

    The righteous consider the cause of the poor, but the wicked have no regard for such concerns.

    Here: A legal word: the lawsuit, plea or rightful claim of the poor. It is tied grammatically to the next word: 'the case of the poor'. It names something specific and legal, not a general sympathy.

  4. Proverbs 31:5 דִּ֣ין [the] cause of

    lest they drink and forget what is decreed, depriving all the oppressed of justice.

    Here: The lawsuit or legal claim someone brings before the king, and so the verdict they are owed. It does not mean the king's 'judgment' in the sense of his discernment. It means the other person's case.

  5. Proverbs 31:8 דִּ֝֗ין [the] cause of

    Open your mouth for those with no voice, for the cause of all the dispossessed.

    Here: The person's lawsuit: the case they need heard and the right they are owed in court. It is a legal word, not a general "cause" in the modern campaigning sense. The same word appears in verse 5 (a drunk king perverts the din of the afflicted) and in verse 9 (defend the din of the poor).

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 10:2 מִדִּין֙ from judgment

    to deprive the poor of fair treatment and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people, to make widows their prey and orphans their plunder.

    Here: 'From a hearing' or 'from (their) case'. The weak are shoved away from the court process itself, so their claim never gets a fair hearing.

Jeremiah · 4

  1. Jeremiah 5:28 דִּ֣ין דִּ֥ין a cause, [the] cause of

    They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.

    Here: 'A cause' or 'a case.' It is placed first for emphasis: 'a case, they did not plead it.'

  2. Jeremiah 22:16 דִּין־ [the] cause of

    He took up the cause of the poor and needy, and so it went well with him. Is this not what it means to know Me?” declares the LORD.

    Here: The noun built from the same root as the verb: literally 'he judged the judgment' or 'he pleaded the plea'. Repeating the root stresses the action. It means he really saw their case through to justice.

  3. Jeremiah 30:13 דִּינֵ֖ךְ cause your

    There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sores, no recovery for you.

    Here: "Your case." Verb and noun come from the same root ("judge your judgment"), a standard Hebrew phrase for defending someone's legal rights. The suffix is feminine: the people (Jacob/Zion) are spoken to as a woman.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.