TR: yada → ginōskō (Knowing)¶
The Chain¶
Hebrew OT LXX (Greek OT) Greek NT
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יָדַע (yada) → γινώσκω (ginōskō) → γινώσκω (ginōskō)
H3045, 873 verses LXX co-occ: 478x 208 verses in NT
"know" PMI score: 27.95 "know"
(primary bridge)
OT Usage (Hebrew)¶
| Strong's | Word | Verses | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| H3045 | יָדַע (yada) | 873 | know (cognitively, relationally, experientially, sexually) |
| H3046 | יְדַע (yedaʻ) | ~47 | Aramaic cognate (Daniel, Ezra) |
| H1847 | דַּעַת (daʻath) | ~90 | knowledge (noun from root) |
Semantic breadth (H3045): factual knowledge, relational recognition, covenant election ("I have known thee"), sexual union ("Adam knew Eve"), skill/expertise ("cunning hunter"), divine self-disclosure ("I will make myself known"), and the prophetic recognition formula ("they shall know that I am the LORD").
Key OT passages: - Gen 4:1 — "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived" (sexual) - Jer 1:5 — "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee" (election) - Eze 6:7 — "and ye shall know that I am the LORD" (recognition formula, ~65x in Ezekiel) - Hos 6:6 — "I desired mercy… and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings"
See: H3045-yada.md
LXX Bridge¶
H3045 yada → Greek (LXX renderings, ranked by co-occurrence/PMI score):
| Hebrew | Greek Translation | Co-occ | Score | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yada (H3045) | γινώσκω (G1097) | 478 | 27.95 | Primary bridge |
| yada (H3045) | [unindexed] | 159 | 22.43 | secondary |
| yada (H3045) | ἐπιγινώσκω (G1921) | 52 | 15.60 | "recognize, fully know" |
| yada (H3045) | ἐπίσταμαι (G1987) | 45 | 14.06 | "be expert in" |
| yada (H3045) | γνωρίζω (G1107) | 34 | 13.87 | causative — "make known" (Hiphil-match) |
| yada (H3045) | εἴδω (G1492) | 9 | 10.87 | "know by sight" |
| yada (H3045) | γνωστός (G1110) | 12 | 10.61 | adjective — "known" |
Reverse check — G1097 ginōskō ← Hebrew source words in LXX:
| Hebrew | Word | Co-occ | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| H3045 | yada | 478 | 27.95 |
| H3046 | yedaʻ (Aramaic) | 14 | 10.27 |
| H7990 | shalliyt | 5 | 7.84 |
| others (minor) |
Observation: The yada ↔ ginōskō pairing is one of the strongest single-word LXX bridges in the Hebrew Bible. Greek translators almost always reached for ginōskō or its compound epiginōskō when yada appeared.
Semantic shift: Greek ginōskō, in classical usage, leaned more toward perceptual/inferential knowing, while Hebrew yada was broader and more relational. LXX translators kept ginōskō but stretched it — their adoption of ginōskō for sexual-euphemism yada (Gen 4:1 etc.) carried this Hebraic breadth directly into Koine Greek, and into the NT.
NT Usage (Greek)¶
| Strong's | Word | Verses | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| G1097 | γινώσκω (ginōskō) | 208 | know (cognitively, relationally, experientially, sexually) |
| G1921 | ἐπιγινώσκω (epiginōskō) | ~44 | fully know, recognize |
| G1108 | γνῶσις (gnōsis) | ~29 | knowledge (noun) |
| G1107 | γνωρίζω (gnōrizō) | ~25 | make known (causative) |
Key NT passages: - Mat 1:25 — "and [Joseph] knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son" (sexual sense — directly echoes yada idiom of Gen 4:1) - Jhn 10:14 — "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine" (relational/covenantal — mirrors "I have known thee") - Jhn 17:3 — "this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God" (relational knowledge as covenant life) - Rom 1:21 — "when they knew God, they glorified him not as God" (cognitive recognition with moral accountability) - Gal 4:9 — "now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God" (election-sense, paralleling Amos 3:2) - 1Co 8:3 — "if any man love God, the same is known of him" (covenant-election sense)
See: TODO(need G1097 study)
Direct OT→NT Bridges (Thematic)¶
| NT Verse | OT Background | Shared Idiom | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mat 1:25 | Gen 4:1 | yada/ginōskō as sexual euphemism | Hebraic idiom preserved verbatim through LXX into Greek NT |
| Jhn 10:14 | Isa 43:1; Jer 1:5 | mutual knowing = covenant relationship | Shepherd-knows-sheep mirrors God-knows-his-own |
| Rom 11:2 | Amos 3:2; Jer 1:5 | "God foreknew" | Election sense of yada preserved in proginōskō/ginōskō |
| Gal 4:9 | Amos 3:2 | "known of God" | Electing-knowledge flipped from divine subject to believer |
| 2Ti 2:19 | Nah 1:7 | "the Lord knoweth them that are his" | Direct LXX citation chain |
Continuity and Shifts¶
What stays the same across testaments: - Breadth of meaning. Both yada and ginōskō cover cognitive, relational, experiential, and sexual knowing. Greek in general did not do this; biblical Greek does because it inherits yada. - Sexual euphemism. Mat 1:25 and Luk 1:34 use ginōskō for sexual knowing — an un-Greek idiom taken directly from Hebrew via LXX. - Covenantal/elective knowing. "I have known thee" (Amos 3:2, Jer 1:5) → "known of God" (Gal 4:9, 1Co 8:3). - Divine recognition formula. "They shall know that I am the LORD" (Ezekiel) → "that the world may know" (Jhn 17:23). - Hiphil causative → gnōrizō. "Make known" parallels between Psa 103:7 / Pro 1:23 and Rom 16:26, Eph 1:9.
What shifts: - Christological focalization. NT knowing often has Christ as its object (Jhn 17:3, Phi 3:10), where OT yada is focused on YHWH. - "Knowledge" as a contested term. NT engages with Greek philosophical/proto-Gnostic gnōsis (1Co 8:1; 1Ti 6:20) in ways the OT does not. - Mutual knowing intensified. NT emphasizes reciprocity ("I know mine own and am known of mine," Jhn 10:14; "then shall I know even as also I am known," 1Co 13:12) more explicitly than OT. - Eschatological shift. OT "they shall know" is largely vindicative (Ezekiel's nations-will-know); NT "they shall know" is largely missional/relational (Jhn 13:35; 17:23).
Generated from: gather_trace_data.py (search_strongs.py --lxx-map, --hebrew-source, --lookup, --lexicon) Last updated: 2026-04-16