Biblical knowledge is primarily relational and covenantal, not merely informational. The Hebrew yada encompasses everything from sexual intimacy ("Adam knew Eve," Gen 4:1) to the deepest covenant relationship ("I know you by name," Exod 33:17). To "know God" in Scripture is not to know about God — it is to be in a living, personal, transformative relationship with him. The "knowledge of good and evil" which Adam and Eve sought was not data — it was autonomy, the claiming of the right to define reality apart from God. In the NT, eternal life is defined as knowing God and Christ (John 17:3). Paul's great desire is not to know more theology but to know Christ — experientially, sufficiently, at the cost of everything (Phil 3:10). The "knowledge of God" fills the earth as the goal of history (Hab 2:14).
KNOWL'EDGE, noun [from know.] 1. A clear and certain perception of that which exists, or of truth and fact; the perception of the connection and agreement, or disagreement and repugnancy of our ideas.
2. Learning; illumination of mind; acquaintance with fact. "Knowledge is the object of our faculties." — Locke
3. Cognizance; recognition. "The knowledge of a fact."
4. Skill; as a knowledge of seamanship.
5. Sexual intercourse — in the phrase "to have knowledge of a woman."
Webster's theological note: The Scripture distinguishes between saving knowledge (personal acquaintance with God through faith) and mere intellectual apprehension. "This is eternal life, that they know thee." John 17:3.
• Proverbs 1:7 — "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction."
• John 17:3 — "And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
• Philippians 3:8 — "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."
• Hosea 4:6 — "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me."
• Habakkuk 2:14 — "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea."
H1847 — da'at (דַּעַת): knowledge; from yada; encompasses intellectual knowing, experiential knowing, and intimate covenant knowing; the fruit of the tree was "knowledge of good and evil" — not academic knowledge but moral autonomy.
H3045 — yada (יָדַע): to know; 950+ uses in OT; used for sexual union, personal acquaintance, observational knowledge, and covenantal relationship with God.
G1108 — gnosis (γνῶσις): knowledge; also the name of a heresy (Gnosticism) that claimed secret spiritual knowledge as the path to salvation — Paul warns against "what is falsely called knowledge" (1 Tim 6:20).
G1922 — epignosis (ἐπίγνωσις): full/precise knowledge; intensified form; used for the saving knowledge of God (Col 1:9–10; 2 Pet 1:2–3) — not surface acquaintance but deep, life-changing recognition.
Modern culture equates knowledge with information — data, facts, credentials. Biblical knowledge is relational. You can know every fact about a person and not know them. The tragedy of modern Christianity is theologians who know about God but do not know God — who can define every doctrine but whose hearts are cold. Jesus' warning in Matthew 7:23 is terrifying: "I never knew you." Not "I never knew about you" — he's omniscient — but "I had no covenant relationship with you." Conversely, the NT's use of epignosis for saving knowledge means the knowledge that transforms, not just informs. The tree of knowledge of good and evil in Eden represented autonomous knowing — the human claim to define reality apart from God. That same spirit operates in every ideology that insists on self-definition over divine revelation.
PIE root *ǵneh₃- = to know Latin: gnoscere → cognition, recognize, notion, noble Greek: gignosko (γιγνώσκω) → gnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, agnostic Germanic: know, knowledge, can (ability = knowing how to) Hebrew יָדַע (yada, H3045) The most intimate verb in Hebrew: "Adam knew Eve" (Gen 4:1) = sexual union "I know you by name" (Exod 33:17) = intimate covenant favor "They did not know the LORD" (Judg 2:10) = covenant rupture → Biblical knowledge is not spectator knowledge. It is participatory. Two trees in Eden: Tree of Life → sustained relationship with God (dependent knowing) Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil → autonomous moral authority (independent knowing) The Fall = choosing information-as-power over relationship-as-life
• "Eternal life is not going to heaven when you die — it is knowing God (John 17:3). If knowing God is eternal life, then not knowing God is death — right now, not just later."
• "Hosea 4:6 — God's people destroyed for lack of knowledge. Not ignorance of current events. Not lack of financial literacy. Lack of knowing God. The most dangerous illiteracy in the church."
• "Paul had more biblical knowledge than anyone in the room — and he called it all dung (Phil 3:8) compared to knowing Christ. The goal of all theology is the knowledge of Christ, not the accumulation of theological facts."