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Bible Lexicons
Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary Greek Lexicon
Strong's #1108 - γνῶσις
- Thayer
- Strong
- Mounce
- knowledge signifies in general intelligence, understanding
- the general knowledge of Christian religion
- the deeper more perfect and enlarged knowledge of this religion, such as belongs to the more advanced
- esp. of things lawful and unlawful for Christians
- moral wisdom, such as is seen in right living
- Book
- Word
- Parsing
did not use
this Strong's Number
γνῶσις, εως, ἡ,
I
1. seeking to know, inquiry, investigation, esp. judicial, τὰς τῶν δικαστηρίων γ. D. 18.224; τὴν κατὰ τοῦ διαιτητοῦ γ. Id. 21.92, cf. 7.9, Lycurg. 141; γ. περὶ τῆς δίκης PHib. 1.92.13 (iii B. C.).
2. result of investigation, decision, PPetr. 3p.118 (iii B. C.).
II
1. knowing, knowledge, Heraclit. 56; opp. ἀγνωσίη, Hp. Vict. 1.23 (dub.); opp. ἄγνοια, Pl. R. 478c; ἡ αἴσθησις γ. τις Arist. GA 731a33: pl., Θεὸς γνώσεων κύριος LXX 1 Kings 2:3. higher, esoteric knowledge, 1 Corinthians 8:7; 1 Corinthians 8:10, Ephesians 3:19, etc.; χαρισάμενος ἡμῖν νοῦν, λόγον, γνῶσιν PMag.Par. 2.290.
2. acquaintance with a person, πρός τινα Test. ap. Aeschin. 1.50; τῶν Σεβαστῶν IPE 1.47.6 (Olbia).
3. recognizing, Th. 7.44.
4. means of knowing, [ αἱ αἰσθήσεις] κυριώταται τῶν καθ' ἕκαστα γ. Arist. Metaph. 981b11.
III
1. being known, γνῶσιν ἔχει τι, = γνωστόν ἐστι, Pl. Tht. 206b.
2. fame, credit, Hdn. 7.5.5, Luc. Herod. 3. means of knowing: hence, statement in writing, PLond. 5.1708, etc. (vi A. D.). = γνῶμα, Hsch. s. h. v.
γνῶσις, γνώσεως, ἡ (γινώσκω) (from Thucydides down), knowledge: with the genitive of the object, σωτηρίας, Luke 1:77; τοῦ Θεοῦ, the knowledge of God, such as is offered in the gospel, 2 Corinthians 2:14, especially in Paul's exposition of it, 2 Corinthians 10:5; τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν προσώπῳ Χριστοῦ, 2 Corinthians 4:6; Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, of Christ as a saviour, Philippians 3:8; 2 Peter 3:18; with subjunctive genitive τοῦ Θεοῦ, the knowledge of things which belongs to God, Romans 11:33. γνῶσις, by itself, signifies in general intelligence, understanding: Ephesians 3:19; the general knowledge of the Christian religion, Romans 15:14; 1 Corinthians 1:5; the deeper, more perfect and enlarged knowledge of this religion, such as belongs to the more advanced, 1 Corinthians 12:8; 1 Corinthians 13:2, 8; 1 Corinthians 14:6; 2 Corinthians 6:6; 2 Corinthians 8:7; 2 Corinthians 11:6; especially of things lawful and unlawful for Christians, 1 Corinthians 8:1, 7, 10f; the higher knowledge of Christian and divine things which false teachers boast of, ψευδωνομος γνῶσις, 1 Timothy 6:20 (cf. Holtzmann, Pastoralbriefe, p. 132f); moral wisdom, such as is seen in right living, 2 Peter 1:5; and in contact with others: κατά γνῶσιν, wisely, 1 Peter 3:7. objective knowledge: what is known concerning divine things and human duties, Romans 2:20; Colossians 2:3; concerning salvation through Christ, Luke 11:52. Where γνῶσις and σοφία are used together the former seems to be knowledge regarded by itself, the latter wisdom as exhibited in action: Romans 11:33; 1 Corinthians 12:8; Colossians 2:3. ("γνῶσις is simply intuitive, σοφία is ratiocinative also; γνῶσις applies chiefly to the apprehension of truths, σοφία superadds the power of reasoning about them and tracing their relations." Lightfoot on Colossians, the passage cited. To much the same effect Fritzsche (on Romans, the passage cited), "γνῶσις perspicientia veri, σοφία sapientia aut mentis sollertia, quae cognita intellectaque veritate utatur, ut res efficiendas efficiat. Meyer (on 1 Corinthians, the passage cited) nearly reverses Lightfoot's distinction; elsewhere, however (e. g. on Colossians, the passage cited, cf. 9), he and others regard σοφία merely as the more general, γνῶσις as the more restricted and special term. Cf. Lightfoot as above; Trench, § lxxv.)
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γνῶσις , -εως , ἡ
(< γίγνώσκω ),
[in LXX chiefly for H1844;]
1. a seeking to know, inquiry, investigation.
2. knowledge, in NT, specially of the knowledge of spiritual truth: absol., Luke 11:52, Romans 2:20; Romans 15:14, 1 Corinthians 1:5 (Lft., Notes, 147) 1 Corinthians 8:1; 1 Corinthians 8:7; 1 Corinthians 8:10-11; 1 Corinthians 13:2; 1 Corinthians 13:8; 1 Corinthians 14:6, 2 Corinthians 6:6; 2 Corinthians 8:7; 2 Corinthians 11:6, Ephesians 3:19, Colossians 2:3, 1 Peter 3:7, 2 Peter 1:5-6; c. gen. obj., σωτηρίας , Luke 1:77; τ . δόξης τ . θεοῦ , 2 Corinthians 4:6; τ . θεοῦ , 2 Corinthians 2:14; 2 Corinthians 10:5; Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ , Philippians 3:8 (v. Deiss., LAE, 383.8), 2 Peter 3:18; c. gen. subjc., θεοῦ , Romans 11:33; λόγος γνώσεως , 1 Corinthians 12:8; ψευδωνύμου γυώσεως , 1 Timothy 6:20.†
SYN.: σοφία G4678, φρόνησις G5428 (cf. ἐπί -γνωσις and v. Lft. on Col 23; Cremer, 156).
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.
An interesting example of this word in its more general sense is afforded by P Lond 130.15 (i/iiA.D.) (= I. p. 133) where a horoscope is prefaced by a letter in which the writer urges his pupil to be attentive to the laws of the art which the ancient Egyptians had discovered and handed down—ἀπέλειπον τὴν περὶ αὐτῶν γνῶσιν . P Hib I. 92.13 (B.C. 263) ἕως γνώσεως περὶ τῆς δίκης is translated by the editors ";until the decision of the suit."; So in P Hal I. 1.25 (iii/B.C.) ὅ ]ταν ἡ γνῶσις ἀναγνωσθῆι παρὰ δικαστῶν ἢ δια [ι ]τητῶν ἢ κριτῶν , and several times in the correspondence of Abinnaeus (iv/A.D.), as P Lond 234.18 (c. B.C. 346) (= II. p. 287) ἀνενεχθήσεται εἰς γνῶσιν τοῦ αὐτοῦ κυρίου μου [δο ]ῦκος . In P Oxy X. 1253.20 (iv/A.D.), an official report of certain military requisitions made at Oxyrhynchus by some officers, they render τῆς γνώσεως τῶν ὑφ᾽ ἑκάστου παρασχεθέντων , ";the account of what was provided by each"; (Edd.). In a Christian letter of iv/A.D., P Oxy VI. 939.4, the word has the additional connotation of ";solicitous"; knowledge, when a dependent writes to his master ὡς ἐν ἄλ ]λοις πλείστοις νῦν ἔτι μᾶλλον ἡ πρὸς σὲ [τοῦ δεσπό ]τ ̣ου θεοῦ γνῶσις ἀνεφάνη ἅπασιν ἡμῖν , ";as on many other occasions so now even more plainly than ever has the regard of the Lord God for you been revealed to us all"; (Edd.).
Dibelius (HZNT ad l.) finds a technical meaning derived from Greek mysticism in the use of γνῶσις in Philippians 3:8 διὰ τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς γνώσεως Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ κυρίου μου , and quotes the Hermetic prayer from Pap. Mimaut (cited by Reitzenstein Hellenist. Mysterienreligionen p. 113 ff.), χάριν σοι οἴδαμεν , ὕψιστε · σῇ γὰρ χάριτι τοῦτο τὸ φῶς τῆς γνώσεως ἐλάβομεν . . . χαίρομεν ὅτι ἐν σώμασιν ἡμᾶς ὄντας ἀπεθέωσας τῇ σεαυτοῦ θέᾳ . Deissmann, on the other hand, thinks that there is here no reference to speculative knowledge of Christ, but to personal and pneumatic acquaintance with Christ, and illustrates this meaning of the word from a i/A.D. decree of the Byzantines, Latyschev I. 47.6 f., which boasts of a citizen of Olbia that μέχρι τᾶς τῶν Σεβαστῶν γνώσεως προκό [ψ ]αντος , ";he had advanced to personal acquaintance with the Augusti (Augustus and Tiberius)"; : see LAE, p. 383 n..8. It may be added that Dieterich’s conclusion, based on the use of γνῶσις in the magic papyri, that ";the ‘Knowledge,’ which also plays so large a part in Christian teaching, is specially due to Greek influence"; (Abraxas, p. 134) is rejected by Norden Agnostos Theos, p. 96 n..1.
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