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Greek

To come to know

ἐπιγινώσκωStrong’s G1921

epiginōskō

Appears in 40 verses of the New Testament

In short

Epiginōskō is the Greek word usually translated “having known”, “having recognized” and “know”. It appears in 40 verses of the New Testament.

“Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.”
1 Timothy 4:3 KJV
Meaning

Usually translated “having known”, “having recognized” and “know”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.

How it's translated
  • having known 6
  • having recognized 4
  • to know 4
  • they were recognizing 3
  • you will know 2
  • they knew 2
  • knows 1
  • does know 1

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most
  • Acts 13
  • Luke 7
  • Matthew 5
  • Mark 4
  • 2 Corinthians 4
  • 1 Corinthians 3

10 books in all.

Explore in Scripture
All 40 verses, by book
Romans 1
1:32
1 Corinthians 3
13:1214:3716:18
2 Corinthians 4
1:131:146:913:5
Colossians 1
1:6
1 Timothy 1
4:3
2 Peter 1
2:21
Greek dictionary

ἐπιγινώσκω epiginōskō · to come to know

ἐπι-γινώσκω [in LXX chiefly for נָכַר: hi., also for יָדַע, etc. ;] "directive" of γινώσκω (AR, Eph., 249), as in cl.; 1. to observe, perceive, discern, recognize; (a) absol.: Act.25:10, 1Co.13:12; before ὅτι, Luk.1:22; τ. πνεύματι, before ὅτι, Mrk.2:8; (b) with accusative of thing(s): Luk.1:4 5:22, Act.12:14 27:39, Rom.1:32, 2Co.1:13, Col.1:6, 1Ti.4:3; ἐν ἐαυτῷ, Mrk.5:30; before ὅτι, 1Co.14:37; …

From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “know” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

KNOW, verb transitive

no. preterit tense knew; participle passive known. [Latin nosco, cognosco, Gr. although much varied in orthography. Nosco makes novi, which, with g or c prefixed, gnovi or cnovi, would coincide with know knew. So Latin cresco, crevi, coincides with grow, grew. The radical sense of knowing is generally to take, receive, or hold.]

  1. To perceive with certainty; to understand clearly; to have a clear and certain perception of truth, fact, or any thing that actually exists.
  2. To be informed of; to be taught.
  3. To distinguish; as, to know one man from another.
  4. To recognize by recollection, remembrance, representation or description.
All definitions and other forms of “know”
  1. To be no stranger to; to be familiar.
  2. In scripture, to have sexual commerce with. Genesis 4:9
  3. To approve.“The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous” Psalms 1:6
  4. To learn. Proverbs 1:2
  5. To acknowledge with due respect. 1 Thessalonians 5:2
  6. To choose; to favor or take an interest in. Amos 3:10
  7. To commit; to have.
  8. To have full assurance of; to have satisfactory evidence of any thing, though short of certainty.

KNOW, verb intransitive

no.

  1. To have clear and certain perception; not to be doubtful; sometimes with of.“If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” John 7:17
  2. To be informed.
  3. To take cognizance of; to examine.

Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.

Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.