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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadInternational Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Ignorance
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ig´nō̇-rans (ש××’×’×”, sheghaÌ„ghaÌ„h; ἂγνοια, aÌgnoia): “Ignorance†is the translation of sheghaÌ„ghaÌ„h, “wandering,†“going astray†(, etc., “if a soul sin through ignorance,†the Revised Version (British and American) “unwittingly,†margin “through errorâ€; ; ; compare ; ; ; , “an errorâ€). In the Law sheghaÌ„ghaÌ„h means “innocent error,†such as had to be taken with consideration in judgment (see passages referred to). “Ignorance†is also expressed by the negative loÌ„' with yaÌ„dha‛, “to know†(; ; ); also by bi-bhelı̄ da‛ath, literally, “in want of knowledge†(; compare ; , translated “unawares,†“unwittinglyâ€).
In the New Testament the words are agnoia, “absence of knowledge†(; ; ; ); agnoÌeÌ„ma, “error†(, the Revised Version margin “Greek: ignorancesâ€); agnoÌ„sıÌa, “ignorance†(), “no knowledge†( the Revised Version (British and American)); agnoeÌoÌ„, “to be without knowledge,†“ignorant†(; ; , etc.), “not knowing†(, etc.), “understood not†(, etc.), “ignorantly†(, the Revised Version (British and American) “in ignoranceâ€; ); idiō̇teÌ„s, translated “ignorant†(), “unlearned†(, the Revised Version margin “him that is without gifts,†and so in , ), “rude†(); agraÌmmatos, once only in connection with idioÌ„teÌ„s (, “unlearned and ignorant menâ€); agrammatos corresponds to modern “illiterate†(compare ; ); idioÌ„teÌ„s originally denoted “the private man†as distinguished from those with a knowledge of affairs, and took on the idea of contempt and scorn. In Philo it denoted the whole congregation of Israel as distinguished from the priests (De Vita Mosis, III 29). With Paul (, , ) it seems to denote “plain believers as distinguished from those with special spiritual gifts.†In it may refer to the want of Jewish learning; certainly it does not mean ignorant in the modern sense.
Paul in , attributes the pre-Christian ignorance of God to “the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness†(but the margin has, with the King James Version, “hold the truth, compare , Grâ€); many, however (Alford, De Wette, Meyer and others), translation “hold back the truth.†A willful ignorance is also referred to in f; . But there is also a less blameworthy ignorance. Paul at Athens spoke of “times of ignorance†which God had “overlooked†(); Paul says of himself that he “obtained mercy, because (he) did it (against Christ) ignorantly in unbelief†(); Peter said to the Jews () that they and their rulers rejected Christ “in ignorance†(compare ); and Jesus Himself prayed for those who crucified Him: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they doâ€; (); in the necessary qualification of a high priest is that he “can bear gently with the ignorant and erring†- those who sin in ignorance or go astray (compare , “blood, which he offereth for himself, and for the errors of the people,†margin “(Greek: ignorancesâ€). Growing light, however, brings with it increasing responsibility, and the “ignorance†that may be “overlooked†at one stage of the history of men and nations may be blameworthy and even criminal at another.