This list contains every New Testament occurrence of the Greek verb προγινώσκω (proginōskō), “to know beforehand,” in canonical order.

Word study

Lemma

προγινώσκω (proginōskō), Strong’s G4267, from πρό (“before”) and γινώσκω (“to know”)

Occurrences

5 in the New Testament

Occurrences

1. Acts 26:5 (ESV: “have known for a long time”). Who knows: the Jews who knew Paul. What is known: Paul's former life as a Pharisee.
2. Romans 8:29 (ESV: “those whom he foreknew”). Who knows: God. What is known: people ("those"), whom he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.
3. Romans 11:2 (ESV: “his people whom he foreknew”). Who knows: God. What is known: Israel as his people.
4. 1 Peter 1:20 (ESV: “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world”). Who knows: God. What is known: Christ.
5. 2 Peter 3:17 (ESV: “knowing this beforehand”). Who knows: the readers. What is known: the warning about lawless people and false teaching.

Observations

• In two of the five occurrences (Acts 26:5; 2 Peter 3:17), people are the ones who know beforehand, and the word means knowing something in advance.
• In the other three, God is the one who knows. What he knows is people (Romans 8:29), Israel as his people (Romans 11:2), and Christ (1 Peter 1:20).
• Whether Romans 8:29 means prior knowledge, a prior relationship, or “formerly known” is the interpretive question. See Divine Foreknowledge and the related collections.