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Bible Dictionaries
Cunning
King James Dictionary
or CUNNING, a. G. See Can.
1. Knowing skillful experienced well-instructed. It is applied to all kinds of knowledge, but generally and appropriately, to the skill and dexterity of artificers, or the knowledge acquired by experience.
Esau was a cunning hunter. Genesis 23 .
I will take away the cunning artificer. Isaiah 3 .
A cunning workman. Exodus 38 .
2. Wrought with skill curious ingenious.
With cherubs of cunning work shalt thou make them. Exodus 26 .
The foregoing senses occur frequently in our version of the scriptures, but are nearly or quite obsolete.
3. Artful shrewd sly crafty astute designing as a cunning fellow.
They are resolved to be cunning let others run the hazard of being sincere.
In this sense, the purpose or final end of the person may not be illaudalbe but cunning implies the use of artifice to accomplish the purpose, rather than open, candid, or direct means. Hence,
4. Deceitful trickish employing stratagems for a bad purpose.
5. Assumed with subtilty artful.
Accounting his integrity to be but a cunning face of falsehood.
CUNNING, n.
1. Knowledge art skill dexterity.
Let my right hand forget her cunning. Psalms 137 .
2. Art artifice artfulness craft shrewdness the faculty or act of using stratagem to accomplish a purpose. Hence in a bad sense, deceitfulness or deceit fraudulent skill or dexterity.
Discourage cunning in a child cunning is the ape of wisdom.
Dictionary of Words from the King James Bible. Public Domain. Copy freely.
Material presented was supplied by Brandon Staggs and was derived from the KJV Dictionary found on his website located at av1611.com.
The unabridged 1828 version of this dictionary in the SwordSearcher Bible Software.
Entry for 'Cunning'. King James Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/kjd/c/cunning.html.
