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Skill; Skilful

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Encyclopedias
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
• Skill; Skilful
Lexicons
• חָכְמָה
• חֶרֶשׁ , חָרָשׁ
• לָמַד

skil , skil´fool (forms of ידע , yādha‛ ( 2 Chronicles 2:14 , etc.), בּין , bı̄n (1 Chronicles 15:22 ), שׂכל , sākhal (Daniel 1:4 , etc.), למד , lāmadh (1 Chronicles 5:18 ), חכם , ḥākham (1 Chronicles 28:21 ), חרשׁ , ḥārash (Ezekiel 21:31 ), יטב , yāṭabh (Psalm 33:3 ); in Apocrypha ἐμπειρία , empeirı́a (The Wisdom of Solomon 13:13), ἐπιστήμη , epistḗmē (Sirach 1:19; 38:3, 6); adverb εὐμαθῶς , eumathṓs (The Wisdom of Solomon 13:11)): As a verb "to skill," meaning to have understanding or to be dexterous, common in Elizabethan English and in the King James Version and the English Revised Version (1 Kings 5:6; 2 Chronicles 2:7 f; 2 Chronicles 34:12 ), is obsolete. The American Standard Revised Version substitutes such expressions as "knoweth how" (1 Kings 5:6 ) and "were skillful with" (2 Chronicles 34:12 ). As a noun the word is used in the sense of "knowledge" (Ecclesiastes 9:11 ), "insight" (Daniel 1:17 ), and "wisdom" (1 Chronicles 28:21 ). The adjective skillful is used in corresponding senses, especially in the American Standard Revised Version, where it takes the place of "cunning" ( Exodus 26:31; Exodus 31:4; Exodus 35:33 , Exodus 35:35; Exodus 38:23; 2 Chronicles 2:7 , 2 Chronicles 2:13 , 2 Chronicles 2:14; Song of Solomon 7:1; Isaiah 40:20; Jeremiah 10:9 ) and of "curious" (Exodus 35:32 ), where the Hebrew ḥāshabh suggests planning or devising, and thus what we should call "original" work. Both the English Revised Version and the American Standard Revised Version use the word in place of "eloquent" (Isaiah 3:3 ), "right" (Ecclesiastes 4:4 ) and "cunning" (1 Chronicles 25:7 ). In the first of these instances the Hebrew word means "understanding"; in the second, it refers to the manner of doing a thing, and in the third, to the training that makes one "skilled." the Revised Version (British and American) uses the word "skilled" of those that "took the war upon them" (Numbers 31:27 the King James Version). Skillfulness ( Psalm 78:72 ) is used with reference to the hands, not only in their work, but also in guiding (as, e.g., a pilot). To play well (Hebrew hēṭı̄bhū naggēn ), is rendered "play skillfully" (Psalm 33:3 ). "Unskillful" is used with reference to the uninitiated in the sense of "inexperienced" (Hebrews 5:13 , ἄπειρος , apeiros ).