Hebrew Think
“Likewise, you husbands, dwelling together with your wives according to knowledge,” 1 Peter 3:7
According To Knowledge – “Likewise” establishes the purpose. “Dwelling together” establishes the goal. The verb “dwelling together” is sunoikein. The LXX translates the Hebrew yada with this verb in reference to sexual intercourse within marriage. This is a fully-intimate marriage relationship. In this context, certain requirements are placed on the husband. Notice that there is no mention of the wife being a believer. Where the previous discussion targets wives of unbelieving husbands, this verse does not discriminate. A Christian husband is to act this way regardless of his wife’s spiritual condition.
But Peter adds something of incredible value to this exhortation to husbands. He says “according to knowledge”. There are several words for knowledge in Greek. Understanding the differences between them is critical. One is ginosko. It is a word that means knowledge that comes from experience. This is knowledge that we gather from living, observing and testing. This knowledge comes through the process of education. By contrast, the Greek word oida has a different implication about knowing. This is knowledge that comes intuitively. It is not pieced together slowly by gathering information. It comes complete. It is a fully formed insight, a personal revelation.
Here Peter uses a form of ginosko. This word means, “present but fragmentary knowledge gathered from experience” in contrast with “clear and exact knowledge”. Peter connects the idea of “dwelling together” and “knowledge” with the Greek word kata. This word tells us that there is a relationship between the two thoughts. Our dwelling together must be regulated by a certain kind of knowledge. So, the sense of this phrase is “living together in marital harmony according to the best understanding you have at the present”. Notice that it is the obligation of the husband to be as informed as possible – to have as much of this kind of knowledge as he can about things that matter in marital co-habitation. And Peter has hidden some treasure here.
Peter is a Hebrew writing in Greek. In order to understand his thoughts, we need to look at the Hebrew culture, not the Greek culture. It is clear that this letter was written to Jews who believed Yeshua to be the Messiah. So, they were also thinking in Hebrew thought forms. When Peter tells the husbands reading his letter that they must “dwell” (Hebrew: yada), every Jewish man knew exactly what he was saying. This is about contentment and peace in the marriage bed. Now Peter says, “kata gnosin”. The same root word that would have been translated with the Hebrew yada is present here. Peter is literally saying “yada according to yada”.
How would a Hebrew husband hear this phrase? The key is in the multifaceted word yada.
Yada is used 944 times in the Old Testament. It is used for God’s knowledge of Man, for Man’s knowledge of animals, for distinguishing good and evil, for knowing a person either as an acquaintance or with deep intimacy, for sexual intercourse, for personal relationship with the divine and for prophetic understanding of God’s character. The critical context in Peter’s reference is knowledge of God’s intentions and purpose.
Yada places Peter’s exhortation within the context of the Hebrew understanding of marriage. That context is permeated with the symbols of the covenant relationship. If yada drives us back to the first couple, it also drives us back to the first marriage. The essence of that marriage is found in Genesis 2:24. Marriage is a two-fold movement – away from parents and toward the beloved. Notice the curiosity of this announcement of the relational movement in marriage. The Hebrew culture was patriarchal in every way. With few and notable exceptions, its history is the history of males. But here the verse instituting marriage clearly defines the movement of a man leaving his parents and joining a woman. We would have expected just the opposite. In fact, the history of Israel and the customs of the dowry and bride selection all show the opposite movement. Nevertheless, God describes the relational transformation as the movement of the male.
Peter may be making use of this interesting unexpected curiosity. Peter’s concern in this verse is with the husband. No Hebrew husband could have missed this allusion. The use of “dwelling with” in Greek employs a sexual connotation that could only be expressed in the Hebrew thought yada. And yada would immediately remind the listener of the first sexual encounter (“and Adam knew Eve his wife”) and the context of that encounter. It would drive the husband deep into his own heritage and the knowledge he had of the original marriage referenced in Genesis 2:24. Once again we are talking about glue (do you remember davaq?). And just like Genesis 2:24, it is the husband’s obligation to apply the glue.
So, where are we, men? Where’s the glue gun? Where’s the submission? And where’s the living together according to everything we are able to learn about our wives?
Topical Index: yada, glue, submission, knowledge, marriage, ginosko, 1 Peter 3:7
