Bible Verses About Knowledge
Introduction
Knowledge in the biblical sense is far richer and far more relational than the contemporary usage of the word most commonly suggests. In the contemporary usage knowledge is the accumulation of information: the facts and the data and the propositions that the educated person has acquired. In the biblical usage knowledge is the intimacy of the relationship in which the knowing and the being known happen together. The Hebrew yada, the word used for the knowledge of God and the knowledge between persons, is the word used for the most intimate human relationship: Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived (Genesis 4:1). The knowledge that the Bible commends is not the knowledge about God but the knowledge of God in the specific relational sense of the person who has been encountered by the God who knows them.
This does not mean that the Bible is indifferent to the knowledge of information or the life of the mind. Proverbs is the most sustained celebration of the life of the intellect in the whole of the Scripture: the getting of wisdom and knowledge and understanding is consistently commended as the pursuit of the person who fears the LORD. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7): the right relationship with the God who is the source of all wisdom is the specific ground on which the knowledge that is worth having is built. The knowledge that begins with the fear of the LORD is the knowledge that orients the mind and the life correctly, while the knowledge that is accumulated without the fear of the LORD is the knowledge that puffs up (1 Corinthians 8:1) rather than building up.
The New Testament's specific contribution to the theology of knowledge is the revelation of God in Jesus Christ: Colossians 2:3's in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge is the specific statement that the knowledge of God is the knowledge of the God who has revealed himself fully in the person of Jesus. The knowledge of God is not the abstract theological information about the divine attributes but the knowing of the God who has made himself known in the specific, concrete, embodied life of the one through whom the fullness of the deity dwells.
These verses speak to anyone who needs the full biblical picture of knowledge rather than either the dismissal of the intellectual life or the reduction of faith to the accumulation of theological information, anyone whose understanding of the knowledge of God needs to be grounded in the relational character that the biblical language describes, and anyone who wants to understand the relationship between the fear of the LORD and the beginning of the knowledge that the Scripture commends.
What the Bible Means When It Talks About Knowledge
The Hebrew word yada describes the knowing that is the intimate, experiential knowledge of the relationship rather than the abstract knowledge of the proposition: the knowledge of God and the knowledge between persons that includes the whole person rather than only the mind. The Hebrew word da'at describes the knowledge that flows from the yada: the accumulated knowing that the relationship produces.
The Greek word gnosis describes the knowledge of the New Testament: the knowing that can be both the genuine knowledge of God in Christ and the inflated knowledge that puffs up without the love that builds up. The Greek word epignosis describes the full, complete, or thorough knowledge: the deeper knowing that Paul consistently prays for the communities he writes to. The Greek word oida describes the knowing from experience: the knowledge that comes from having been in the relationship or the situation.
Bible Verses About the Fear of the LORD as the Beginning of Knowledge
Proverbs 1:7 — ("The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.")
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge is the foundational epistemological statement of the whole book of Proverbs: the right relationship with the God who is the source of all wisdom is the specific starting point of the knowledge that is worth having. The beginning is not only the chronological starting point but the foundational principle: the fear of the LORD is what makes the knowledge genuinely knowledge rather than the accumulation of information without the orientation that gives it meaning. The fools despise wisdom and instruction is the specific contrast: the fool is not the person who lacks intelligence but the person who has dismissed the beginning from which the genuine knowledge flows.
Proverbs 9:10 — ("The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.")
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding is the specific statement of the relationship between the fear of God and the knowledge of God: the knowledge of the Holy One is not the theological information about the divine attributes but the relational knowing of the specific God who is holy. The understanding is the fruit of the knowledge of the Holy One: the person who knows the Holy One in the relational sense is the person who has the understanding that the person without that knowledge lacks regardless of the information they have accumulated.
Bible Verses About God's Knowledge of Us
Psalm 139:1-4 — ("You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely.")
The you have searched me and you know me is the foundational statement of the divine knowledge of the specific person: the knowledge of God is not the general awareness of the human species but the specific, intimate, comprehensive knowledge of the individual person. The you know when I sit and when I rise and you perceive my thoughts from afar and before a word is on my tongue you know it completely are the specific dimensions of the comprehensive knowing: the posture and the movement and the thought and the word are all within the scope of the divine knowledge. The Psalm 139 knowledge of God is not the surveillance of the person by the distant observer but the intimate knowing of the God who is closer to the person than the person is to themselves.
1 Corinthians 13:12 — ("For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; we see dimly, but then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.")
The I shall know fully even as I am fully known is the specific eschatological statement of the knowledge: the present knowing is partial and the future knowing will be the full knowing that corresponds to the present full knowing of the God who knows us completely. The fully known is the present reality: the being fully known is not the future hope but the present condition of the person who is already fully known by the God who knows. The shall know fully is the future completion: the partial knowing of the present will become the full knowing of the face to face encounter.
Jeremiah 1:5 — ("Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.")
The before I formed you in the womb I knew you is the specific statement of the prior knowledge of God: the knowing of the person precedes the formation in the womb and the birth into the world. The before you were born I set you apart establishes the specific purpose within the prior knowledge: the knowing is not only the awareness of the existence but the specific knowing of the person in their calling and their destiny. The prior knowledge of God is not the abstract foreknowledge of the future facts but the intimate knowing of the person before the person exists.
Bible Verses About Knowing God
John 17:3 — ("Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.")
The eternal life defined as knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent is the most comprehensive statement of the relationship between the knowledge of God and the eternal life: the eternal life is not the endless extension of the biological existence but the specific quality of the relationship with the God who is known. The knowing is the yada knowing of the intimate relationship rather than the knowing of the theological proposition: the eternal life is the life of the person who is in the knowing relationship with the Father and the Son.
Philippians 3:8, 10 — ("What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things... I want to know Christ — yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.")
The surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and I want to know Christ are the specific statements of the Paul who has counted everything else as loss for the sake of the knowing: the knowing of Christ is the surpassing worth that makes everything else the loss worth sustaining. The know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings establishes the specific character of the knowing: not the theological information about the resurrection and the sufferings but the knowing that comes from the participation in them. The knowledge of Christ is the knowledge of the person who is being conformed to him.
Hosea 6:6 — ("For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.")
The acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings is the specific statement of the priority: the acknowledgment, the da'at, the relational knowledge of God, is more desired by God than the external performance of the sacrificial obligation. The desire mercy not sacrifice establishes the connection: the knowledge of God that is genuine produces the mercy toward the neighbor rather than the substitution of the religious performance for the relational knowing that produces the mercy. The Hosea 6:6 that Jesus quotes twice in Matthew (9:13 and 12:7) establishes the continuity: the knowing of God and the mercy toward the neighbor are connected in both Testaments.
Bible Verses About the Knowledge That Puffs Up and the Knowledge That Builds Up
1 Corinthians 8:1-3 — ("We know that 'We all possess knowledge.' But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God.")
The knowledge puffs up while love builds up is the specific correction of the Corinthian community that has confused the accumulation of theological knowledge with the maturity that the knowledge was meant to produce: the knowledge without the love is the knowledge that inflates rather than the knowledge that builds. The those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know establishes the specific problem: the confidence in the knowledge is itself the evidence of the incomplete knowing. The whoever loves God is known by God is the specific reversal: the ground of the genuine knowing is not the person's accumulation of the knowledge about God but the person's being known by God.
Colossians 2:2-3 — ("My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.")
The in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge is the specific christological grounding of the knowledge: the complete understanding and the knowing of the mystery of God are found in the Christ in whom the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. The knowledge of God is the knowledge of the God who has revealed himself in Christ: the treasures are hidden in Christ rather than distributed across the range of the human philosophical and religious traditions. The full riches of complete understanding are the specific destination: the knowing of the mystery of God, Christ, is the specific knowledge that produces the complete understanding.
Bible Verses About Growing in Knowledge
Colossians 1:9-10 — ("For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.")
The fill you with the knowledge of his will through all wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives is the specific prayer for the community's knowledge: the knowledge of God's will is the Spirit-given knowledge rather than the humanly-achieved understanding. The so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord establishes the purpose: the knowledge of God's will is the knowledge that produces the worthy life rather than the knowledge that is the end in itself. The growing in the knowledge of God is the ongoing character: the knowledge of God is not the fixed possession of the person who has arrived but the growing relationship of the person who is being filled.
2 Peter 1:5-8 — ("For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.")
The add to your faith goodness and to goodness knowledge is the specific placement of the knowledge in the sequence of the virtues: the knowledge is built on the goodness that is built on the faith, and the knowledge supports the self-control that supports the perseverance. The keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ is the specific purpose: the knowledge of Christ is not the end in itself but the knowledge that produces the effectiveness and the fruitfulness of the life that is growing in the sequence of the virtues.
A Simple Way to Pray These Verses
Knowledge is most honestly prayed from the honest acknowledgment of both the knowing that is genuine and the places where the knowledge has become the puffed-up confidence rather than the humble growing relationship.
Psalm 139:1 — ("You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.") Response: "You know me completely. Before the word is on my tongue you know it. Let the being known by you be the ground I stand on rather than the knowledge I have accumulated about you. I am known. Let me live from the being known rather than from the effort to know enough."
Philippians 3:10 — ("I want to know Christ.") Response: "Let the wanting to know Christ be the specific orientation of my mind and my life. Not the knowledge about Christ as the end but the knowing of Christ in the power of his resurrection and the participation in his sufferings. Let me know him rather than only know about him."
Proverbs 1:7 — ("The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.") Response: "Let the fear of the LORD be the beginning from which my knowing grows. Not the end of the knowing but the beginning. The right relationship with you as the ground on which everything I learn finds its meaning. Let me begin here and keep beginning here."
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Bible say about knowledge? The Bible presents knowledge as fundamentally relational rather than primarily informational: the Hebrew yada describes the intimate knowing of the relationship rather than the accumulation of facts. Proverbs 1:7's fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge establishes the foundational principle: the right relationship with God is the ground on which genuine knowledge is built. Psalm 139:1's you have searched me and you know me establishes the divine side: God's comprehensive knowledge of the person is the specific foundation. John 17:3's eternal life defined as knowing the only true God establishes the destination: the knowledge of God is the eternal life rather than the means to it. And 1 Corinthians 8:1's knowledge puffs up while love builds up establishes the corrective: the knowledge without the love is the knowledge that inflates rather than builds.
What is the difference between the fear of the LORD and the knowledge of God? The Proverbs 1:7's fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge and Proverbs 9:10's fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom alongside knowledge of the Holy One is understanding establish the specific relationship: the fear of the LORD is the foundational posture of the person who is in the right relationship with God, and the knowledge of the Holy One is the relational knowing that the right posture makes possible. The fear of the LORD is not the terror of the person who is afraid of the God who might punish them but the reverence of the person who has understood who God is and what that means for who they are. The knowledge of God grows from the specific posture of the fear of the LORD as the plant grows from the specific ground.
What does it mean that knowledge puffs up? The 1 Corinthians 8:1's knowledge puffs up while love builds up is the specific correction of the Corinthian community that had confused the accumulation of theological knowledge with the spiritual maturity the knowledge was meant to produce. The knowledge that puffs up is the knowledge that has become the possession of the person who uses it to establish their standing rather than the tool that serves the love of the neighbor. The those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know establishes the specific irony: the confidence in the knowledge is itself the evidence of the incomplete knowing. The genuine knowledge of God produces the humility and the love rather than the inflation: the person who truly knows the God who is love is the person who is being formed into the love that builds up.
How can we grow in the knowledge of God? The Colossians 1:9-10's fill you with the knowledge of his will through all wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives establishes the specific source: the knowledge of God is the Spirit-given knowledge that the prayer for filling receives rather than the humanly-achieved understanding that the diligent study alone produces. The 2 Peter 1:5-8's growing sequence of virtues establishes the character of the growth: the knowledge is built on the goodness that is built on the faith, and the growing in the virtues is the growing in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Philippians 3:10's I want to know Christ establishes the specific desire: the growing in the knowledge of God begins with the wanting that the person brings to the relationship, and the wanting produces the participation in the resurrection and the sufferings that is the specific form the knowing of Christ takes.
What is the relationship between knowledge and love in the Bible? The 1 Corinthians 8:1's knowledge puffs up while love builds up and the 1 Corinthians 13:12's I shall know fully even as I am fully known establish the specific relationship: the love and the knowledge are not in competition but in the specific order in which the love is the condition of the genuine knowing rather than the knowledge being the condition of the love. The whoever loves God is known by God of 1 Corinthians 8:3 establishes the specific reversal: the ground of the genuine knowing is not the person's accumulation of the knowledge but the person's being known by the God who is love. The Colossians 1:9-10's growing in the knowledge of God produces the bearing fruit in every good work: the knowledge that is genuine produces the love that is active rather than the inflation that is passive.
