📖 Biblical Definition
To know, in Scripture, is rarely abstract data-acquisition. It is relational, experiential, and covenantal — a Hebrew way of seeing built into every layer of the Bible. The verb covers marital intimacy ("Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived", Genesis 4:1), divine recognition ("the LORD knoweth them that are his", 2 Timothy 2:19; John 10:14), and the disciple’s growing acquaintance with Christ ("this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent", John 17:3). Christian knowing is therefore never merely informational. The devil knows facts about God; the saint knows God. The difference is everything — the difference between hell and heaven.
📜 KJV Continual Tense
In KJV: knoweth — not "knew once" but "keeps on knowing."
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When KJV renders the verb as knoweth, the -eth marks the Greek present indicative active. "Knoweth" is ongoing knowing — relationship-language, not data-language.
John 10:14: "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine." The mutual knowing is continuous; the Shepherd does not periodically inventory His sheep.
2 Timothy 2:19: "The Lord knoweth them that are his." Not "knew them at conversion"; He keeps knowing them, in every moment of every trial. The continuous tense is pastoral comfort.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
To recognize, perceive, and have relational acquaintance with.
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To perceive with certainty; to recognize; in Scripture, especially to have relational and experiential acquaintance — covenantally, intimately, savingly. Distinguished from mere awareness (Greek oida often) by the experiential force of ginōskō.
📖 Key Scripture
John 17:3 — "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."
2 Timothy 2:19 — "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his."
Genesis 4:1 — "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Flattened to data-acquisition ("I know that" as fact-storage) rather than the relational, covenantal, experiential knowing Scripture means.
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Information-age knowing is database-knowing — you have the facts, you can recite them. Scripture’s knowing is the slower, deeper acquaintance of relationship across time. Adam knew Eve; God knows His people; the disciple knows Christ. None of it is downloadable.
Recover the relational depth: to "know God" in Scripture is not to have mastered theology but to have walked with Him long enough that the soul shows His shape.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek ginōskō; Hebrew yada.
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['Greek', 'G1097', 'ginōskō', 'to know experientially']
['Greek', 'G1492', 'oida', 'to know intuitively']
['Hebrew', 'H3045', 'yada', 'to know, perceive, experience']
Usage
"Biblical knowing is relational, not just informational."
"The Lord knoweth them that are His — perpetual recognition."
"To know Christ is the goal; to know about Christ is the start."