γνῶσις

γνῶσις — gnōsis

γνῶσις, γνώσεως, ἡ (γινώσκω) (from Thucydides down), knowledge: with the genitive of the object, σωτηρίας, Luk 1:77; τοῦ Θεοῦ, the knowledge of God, such as is offered in the gospel, 2Co 2:14, especially in Paul's exposition of it, 2Co 10:5; τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν προσώπῳ Χριστοῦ, 2Co 4:6; Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, of Christ as a saviour, Php 3:8; 2Pe 3:18; with subjunctive genitive τοῦ Θεοῦ, the knowledge of things which belongs to God, Rom 11:33. γνῶσις, by itself, signifies in general intelligence, understanding: Eph 3:19; the general knowledge of the Christian religion, Rom 15:14; 1Co 1:5; the deeper, more perfect and enlarged knowledge of this religion, such as belongs to the more advanced, 1Co 12:8; 1Co 13:2; 1Co 13:8; 1Co 14:6; 2Co 6:6; 2Co 8:7; 2Co 11:6; especially of things lawful and unlawful for Christians, 1Co 8:1; 1Co 8:7; 1Co 8:10 f; the higher knowledge of Christian and divine things which false teachers boast of, ψευδωνομος γνῶσις, 1Ti 6:20 (cf. Holtzmann, Pastoralbriefe, p. 132f); moral wisdom, such as is seen in right living, 2Pe 1:5; and in contact with others: κατά γνῶσιν, wisely, 1Pe 3:7. objective knowledge: what is known concerning divine things and human duties, Rom 2:20; Col 2:3; concerning salvation through Christ, Luk 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: Rom 11:33; 1Co 12:8; Col 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), "γνῶσιςperspicientia veri, σοφίαsapientia 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.)