Paul’s Apologetics (1)

that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:10-11 NASB

Know – Greek is a technical language. Where Hebrew might use a single word as an umbrella for many different (but related) meanings, Greek has the tendency to delineate each of those meanings with a separate word. So Hebrew has one umbrella term for knowing (yāda̱) where Greek has a litany of words for each of the subtle differences concerning knowledge. Why is this important? Because Paul’s choice of the specific Greek word in this verse helps us correct a problem in translation. What’s the problem? Well, in this case, English acts more like Hebrew than Greek. The English term “know” can have a lot of different meanings and unless we know (ha!) what those differences are, we will tend to read the text as we wish rather than as the author intended.

The TDNT points out this issue:

The ordinary use [of ginṓskō] is for intelligent comprehension (“to perceive,” “to understand,” “to know”), at first with a stress on the act. As distinct from aisthánesthai, ginṓskō emphasizes understanding rather than sensory perception, and as distinct from dokeín it is a perception of things as they are, not an opinion about them. Related to epistḗmē, gnōsis needs an objective genitive and suggests the act of knowing rather than knowledge as such. This act embraces every organ and mode of knowledge, e.g., by seeing, hearing, investigation, or experience, and of people as well as things. Supremely, however, knowledge implies verification by the eye; hence the dominant concept is that of knowledge by objective observation^[1]

When you read this verse, what do you think Paul means by using the verb ginṓskō? If you didn’t know that ginṓskō was about sensory perception, you might think that Paul is writing about our inner spiritual feelings. You might think that Paul’s apologetic is based on the movement of the Spirit in his soul. But this isn’t want Paul means. In this verse, he is not interested in how we feel. He is focused on what can be supported by external observation, by evidence open to the public. We might think that this means Paul could have written a book like Evidence That Demands a Verdict. But Paul works in a rabbinic world, not a 20^th century scientific world. Paul’s apologetics are not based on forensic arguments. They are based on the Torah. Paul’s view of external, observable reality is all about the connection between the Torah and the Messiah. This rabbinic background shapes the use of the Greek ginṓskō.

For the rabbis knowledge is knowledge of the law, and while the term may denote a thinking, gifted, or learned person, the law and tradition are the basis and theme of instruction. Obedience is regulative in this regard,^[2]

Thanks to Luther, today we read this verse as if Paul is endorsing some psychological spiritual state. But he wouldn’t think like that. For Paul, the evidence of Yeshua as the Messiah comes from the Tanakh. If it can’t be found there, then it isn’t really important. This is why virtually all of Paul’s arguments in his letters rely on citations from the Tanakh. That is public evidence!

If you want to know the Messiah as Paul knows the Messiah, you will have to begin in Genesis, not John. How you feel about that doesn’t matter. So get to work.

Topical Index: know, yāda̱, ginṓskō, apologetics, Philippians 3:10-11

^[1] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 119). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.

^[2] Ibid., p. 120.