Be ignorant
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G50 names ignorance, lack of recognition, or failure to understand. In its New Testament settings, the word is used with the range and pressure described by its local passages rather than by a bare gloss alone.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀγνοέω (G50) · Open the biblical lexicon
G50 names ignorance, lack of recognition, or failure to understand. In its New Testament settings, the word is used with the range and pressure described by its local passages rather than by a bare gloss alone.
The BSB source-word alignment has 22 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include to be unaware (3), they did not understand (2), to be uninformed (2), unknown (2), are ignorant (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Mark 9:32. Its strongest book concentrations include Romans (6), 1 Corinthians (4), 2 Corinthians (3), Acts (2).
G50 names ignorance, lack of recognition, or failure to understand. In its New Testament settings, the word is used with the range and pressure described by its local passages rather than by a bare gloss alone. Sometimes the ignorance is culpable because revelation has been resisted. Sometimes it describes limitation, weakness, or the need for instruction. The word asks what was known, what should have been known, and what God has now made clear.
This companion therefore treats the word as a Scripture-governed guide, not as a shortcut around exegesis. It helps teachers address ignorance with truth, patience, warning, or mercy according to the passage. It should help readers ask better questions of the passage: who is speaking or acting, what covenant or gospel reality is in view, and how the surrounding context limits or strengthens the claim.
It should not be used to excuse all sin or condemn every learner.
G50 ranges from ordinary lack of knowledge to serious spiritual failure. It appears in proclamation, correction, comfort, and testimony.
For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN God. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you.
Paul proclaims the God whom Athens worshiped as unknown, turning ignorance into an occasion for witness.
Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
Israel is ignorant of God\'s righteousness and seeks to establish its own, making the ignorance morally serious.
Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.
Paul corrects ignorance about those who sleep so grief can be shaped by resurrection hope.
I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man; yet because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, I was shown mercy.
Paul acted in ignorance and unbelief and was shown mercy, magnifying grace without excusing the sin.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Ignorance through lack of knowledge or understanding; distinct from willful rejection or refusal to know.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 22 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I do not know, am ignorant of
Read verseI do not know, am ignorant of
Read verseI do not know, am ignorant of
Read verseI do not know, am ignorant of
Read verseI do not know, am ignorant of
Read verseI do not know, am ignorant of
Read verseI do not know, am ignorant of
Read verseI do not know, am ignorant of
Read verseI do not know, am ignorant of
Read verseI do not know, am ignorant of
Read verseI do not know, am ignorant of
Read verseI do not know, am ignorant of
Read verseI do not know, am ignorant of
Read verseI do not know, am ignorant of
Read verseI do not know, am ignorant of
Read verseI do not know, am ignorant of
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 20 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 22 lexical occurrence verses.
ἀγνοέω is built from these roots:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Teach G50 with moral and shepherding precision. A faithful teacher should begin with the nearest passage, observe who acts, what is being named, what problem or promise is in view, and what response the text calls for, then move carefully to related passages. It is useful for helping hearers distinguish teachable limitation from resistant refusal and for showing how revealed truth calls for response.
The entry should help readers read Scripture more carefully, not replace the work of tracing the sentence, paragraph, book, and covenant setting. This keeps the word useful for shepherds, teachers, leaders, groups, families, and disciples without letting the word carry claims that belong to the whole passage or canon.
Acts.17.23
The verb can describe not knowing, being unaware, failing to recognize, or ignoring.
Old Testament categories of unintentional sin, prophetic rebuke, and revealed knowledge of God inform the New Testament range.
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain