Biblical Word Studies Class 3
What's Your KUW-Q?

C. Michael Holloway
27 September 1998

1. Prayer
2. Review of we've done in the two previous weeks.
1. In the first week, I told you the basic goal of the class, which is to increase our understanding of the meaning of certain words used in the Bible.
2. I also told you that our approach will be to concentrate on determining the meaning of certain English words as they appear in the New American Standard translation.
3. Last week, we looked at the word heart. We saw that the word and its variants occurs fairly often in the Bible (855 times in 792 verses in the NASB)
4. We also saw that the word has several different meanings, but that it primarily has one particular meaning. What is that? Most often the word heart expresses the totality of a person's nature and character and includes all 3 of the traditional personality functions of man: emotion (or affections), thought, and will. An example verse is Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding.
5. Finally, we discussed three applications that arise from understanding the Biblical use of the word heart.
1. Given the prevailing attitude of our culture, which emphasizes emotions above all else, be very careful about using the word heart.
2. When you hear others using the word heart, make sure you know what they mean before you either agree or disagree with them.
3. Most importantly, cultivate a Biblical psychology, one that recognizes that the intellect, the affections, and the will form an integrated whole, not separate parts.
3. That's what we've done the last two weeks. The topic for today is knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. We're going to try to cover this topic in just this one class, but we'll continue into next week if that's necessary.
1. For this week, the homework that I asked you to consider was this: do the words knowledge, understanding, and wisdom refer to the same thing in the Bible, or do they refer to something different?
2. Of those who did the homework, how many of you decided that they refer to basically the same thing?
3. How many think they refer to something different?
4. Before we start looking at the words, I want to spend a couple of minutes talking about a dangerous view that I've heard some people express.
1. That view is this: if a different word is used, a different meaning must be intended.
2. People who hold this view, would, for example, claim that heart can't mean something like mind or soul, because the Scripture says 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' (Mat 22:37 and other places). Because all three words are used, they must have different meanings.
3. People with such a view have developed very ingenious theories to distinguish between God's perfect will, and His good will, and His acceptable will, because Romans 12:2 says 'And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.'
4. Besides taking examples from common usage to show that this theory -- this notion that different words necessarily have different meanings -- is false, we can also find suitable refutation in the text of Scripture itself.
5. Revelation 22:13 is a good example. Jesus says: 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.' To the best of my knowledge, no one has asserted that there is an intended difference in meaning between 'the Alpha and the Omega', 'the first and the last', and 'the beginning and the end.' In this passage, everyone recognizes that the use of different words does not necessarily imply different meanings. It is simply a literary device used for what?
6. It is used for emphasis.
7. Different words may have different meanings, or they may not. You have to use the same clues you normally use to determine meaning: context, common usage, and knowledge of the speaker. You can't rely on some blanket rule, because such a rule is, to slightly mis-quote Winston Churchill's comment about another frequently misused blanket rule, 'the sort of nonsense up with which we should not put.'
8. So what does this little diversion mean for the subject at hand? It simply means that just because the words knowledge, understanding, and wisdom are used together in some passages, doesn't mean that we can necessarily conclude that they have different meanings.
5. As I did with the word heart last week, let me give you a few basic facts about our words this week.
1. The word knowledge occurs 156 times in 153 verses in the NASB. About two-thirds of those occurrences are in the Old Testament.
1. The most common Hebrew word translated as knowledge is daat [dah-aht] (1847), from the root yada [yah-da] (3045), which means to know.
2. The most common Greek word is gnwsis [gnos-tis] (1108), from the root ginwskw (1097) [ginos-ko], which is from a primitive root gn, meaning to know, recognize, perceive.
2. Understanding occurs 135 times in 133 verses, with nearly 90% of the occurrences in the Old Testament.
1. The most common Hebrew word is tebunah [t'boon-ah] (8394), and closely related variants, which come from bina [bee-nah] (995), which is a primitive root meaning to discern.
2. For the New Testament, the word only occurs 16 times, and it is used as a translation of 8 different Greek words, with basic meanings ranging from the mind, to knowledge, to a running or setting together.
3. The word wisdom occurs 216 times in 203 verses. Three-quarters of the occurrences are in the Old Testament.
1. The most common Hebrew word (143 of the 164 occurrences) is hokma [hauk-mah] (2451), from hakam [hah-kahm] (2449), a primitive root meaning to be wise.
2. The most common Greek word is sophia (4678), from sophos (4680), a primitive word meaning skilled or wise.
4. In almost 20% of the verses in which one of the words occurs, at least one of the other words also occurs. All 3 occur in the same verse 9 times, 8 times in the Old Testament, and once in the New Testament.
5. In book of Proverbs, knowledge occurs 40 times, understanding 47 times, and wisdom 48 times; all three occur together 3 times; two of the three occur together 32 times.
6. For simplicity, and because we can safely do so without losing much generality, We're going to concentrate on the use of our three words in Proverbs alone.
1. Let's begin by looking at five passages from the early chapters in Proverbs. I've asked some folks to read for us. As I call the passage, I'd like for the person who has it to read it.
1. Proverbs 1:1-7. The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: {2} To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding, {3} To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice and equity; {4} To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion, {5} A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, {6} To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles. {7} The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
2. Proverbs 1:20-29.Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square; {21} At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city, she utters her sayings: {22} "How long, O naive ones, will you love simplicity? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing, And fools hate knowledge? {23} Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. {24} Because I called, and you refused; I stretched out my hand, and no one paid attention; {25} And you neglected all my counsel, And did not want my reproof; {26} I will even laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, {27} When your dread comes like a storm, And your calamity comes on like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come on you. {28} Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me, {29} Because they hated knowledge, And did not choose the fear of the LORD.
3. Proverbs 2:1-11.My son, if you will receive my sayings, And treasure my commandments within you, {2} Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; {3} For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; {4} If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; {5} Then you will discern the fear of the LORD, And discover the knowledge of God. {6} For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. {7} He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, {8} Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones. {9} Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity and every good course. {10} For wisdom will enter your heart, And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; {11} Discretion will guard you, Understanding will watch over you.
4. Proverbs 3:19-26. The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens. {20} By His knowledge the deeps were broken up, And the skies drip with dew. {21} My son, let them not depart from your sight; Keep sound wisdom and discretion, {22} So they will be life to your soul, And adornment to your neck. {23} Then you will walk in your way securely, And your foot will not stumble. {24} When you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. {25} Do not be afraid of sudden fear, Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes; {26} For the LORD will be your confidence, And will keep your foot from being caught.
5. Proverbs 4:1-7. Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father, And give attention that you may gain understanding, {2} For I give you sound teaching; Do not abandon my instruction. {3} When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother, {4} Then he taught me and said to me, "Let your heart hold fast my words; Keep my commandments and live; {5} Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. {6} Do not forsake her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you. {7} The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, get understanding.
2. What can we observe based on these passages about the meanings of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, and about the relationship between them?
1. The three words are intimately related.
2. Although the words are intimately related, they do not appear to be exactly synonymous.
3. Since the words are not quite synonymous, what are the differences between them? These passages alone are probably not enough to be able to figure this out, but those who did the homework probably were able to figure it out.
1. Knowledge generally refers to basic information or facts.
1. This corresponds well to what is called grammar in the trivium model of education.
2. The process of gaining knowledge involves the acquisition of true propositions, things such as:
1. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
2. It does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.
3. Believers are commanded to witness to the lost.
2. Understanding generally refers to assembling this information into its proper relationships.
1. This corresponds well to what is called logic in the trivium.
2. Knowledge is a prerequisite for understanding; in order to assemble information into proper relationships, one must have information available.
3. Understanding is what enables a person to combine the facts I just mentioned (God loves the world, salvation depends on God alone, believers are to witness) into a coherent, non-contradictory theology.
3. Finally, wisdom generally refers to the ability to arrange, articulate, and apply knowledge and understanding to the circumstances that arise in one's life.
1. This corresponds to the rhetoric stage of the trivium.
2. Knowledge and understanding are prerequisites for wisdom. Unless a person knows the facts, and how those facts relate to one another, he cannot know what to do in specific circumstances.
3. Continuing with our example, someone who has knowledge and understanding of the doctrine of predestination, but who lacks wisdom might begin a conversation with an unbeliever by saying something like, 'I don't know whether God has ordained that you will go to heaven or hell, but just in case He has chosen you for heaven, let me tell you about Jesus.'
4. What we've just done constitutes knowledge and some understanding about knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. That is, we've determined the basic facts, and talked some about the relationships between those facts. Let's now develop our understanding a bit more.
1. We already said earlier that there is an intimate relationship between the three.
1. It is possible to have knowledge without also having understanding or wisdom. Young children are a good example of this. They may be full of facts, but few have understanding, and nearly none have wisdom.
2. It is not possible to have understanding without having knowledge, but it is possible to have understanding without also having wisdom. Historically, many reformed people have tended to exhibit this. Theological error prevails today partly, perhaps largely, as a result of the lack of wisdom in people who possessed a proper understanding of theology. The theology was right, but the application of that theology was flawed, leading to what has been called dead orthodoxy.
3. Wisdom is not possible without both understanding and knowledge.
4. Finally, the wise man is able to acquire even more knowledge and understanding, thus becoming wiser still.
2. If we had time to study more of the passages in Proverbs, and in other parts of Scripture, we'd see that the characteristics that distinguish a person with knowledge, understanding, and wisdom (or, as I like to refer to it, KUW) include such things as these:
1. Humility: 11:2. When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom.
2. Restrained speech: 17:27. He who restrains his words has knowledge, And he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
3. Slowness to anger: 14:29. He who is slow to anger has great understanding, But he who is quick-tempered exalts folly.
4. Love of discipline: 12:1. Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof is stupid.
5. Fervent desire to grow in knowledge, understanding, and wisdom: 10:23. Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool; And so is wisdom to a man of understanding. 16:16. How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.
7. Let's now seek to develop some wisdom about KUW. I'll help to guide you toward this by suggesting the following five applications:
1. First, from Proverbs 21:30, remember that There is no wisdom and no understanding And no counsel against the LORD. Those who refuse to acknowledge God, may have high IQ's, but their KUW-Q's are quite low.
2. Second, from Proverbs 23:23, Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get wisdom and instruction and understanding. Take advantage of every opportunity that God gives you to increase your knowledge, understanding, and wisdom about His word and His world.
3. Third, remember that God has not chosen to give everyone the same abilities, nor has He chosen to give everyone the same opportunities. You are charged only with making good use of your abilities and opportunities. Do not be discouraged because others know more than you, understand more than you, or are wiser than you.
4. Fourth, remember that no matter how much KUW God, by His grace, may enable you to obtain, you are woefully ignorant compared to God. You have no cause to boast.
5. Finally, rather than concentrating on the differences between knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, concentrate on the intimate relationship between them. The differences can be useful for teaching purposes, as the success of the trivium model of education attests, but always remember that the goal is attaining KUW (that is, all 3).
8. That's all for today. My plan for next week is for us to combine what we've learned this week and last to answer one of the questions that I asked in the bulletin announcement for this course, namely, Does the Bible speak of a difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge? Your homework for the week is to consider this question. Lest someone be tempted to say 'no' simply because the Bible never uses either phrases head knowledge or heart knowledge, let me remind you that the Bible never uses the phrase the Trinity either. Let me remind you, also, that just because someone gives a fallacious argument doesn't mean that his conclusion is wrong. Thanks for your attention and participation. You're dismissed.