καρδιογνώστης

From the study of Acts 1:24

Range of meaning

'Knower of hearts': one who knows the inner person. In biblical thought the 'heart' (kardia, translating Hebrew lev/levav) is the centre of thinking, intention, will, loyalty and moral character, not mainly of feeling. So a 'heart-knower' sees what a person really is and intends, beneath appearance and reputation.

Against the English

KJV, WEB, ESV and NASB keep it as a description ('who know the hearts of all'). BSB, NIV and NLT turn it into a statement ('You know everyone's heart'). Both are accurate in content. None can show that the Greek is a single coined title, close to a divine name: 'Heart-Knower.'

How it drifted

The title itself has not drifted, but English 'heart' has. Modern readers hear emotions or sincerity. The first hearers heard the whole inner person: mind, purposes and fitness for a task.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is not found in any surviving Greek before the New Testament. Its only NT uses are here and Acts 15:8, where Peter calls God 'the heart-knowing God'. Later Christian writers took it up (e.g. Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 4.3.4). The idea behind it is thoroughly Old Testament: 'the LORD looks on the heart' (1 Sam 16:7); 'you alone know the hearts of all the children of men' (1 Kgs 8:39, Septuagint: 'you alone know the heart of all'); 'the LORD searches all hearts' (1 Chr 28:9); 'I the LORD search the heart' (Jer 17:10). Luke also has Jesus say, 'God knows your hearts' (Luke 16:15).

From the study of Acts 15:8

Range of meaning

"Knower of hearts", one who knows a person's inner life completely. In biblical idiom the "heart" (kardia, Hebrew lēb) is mainly the seat of thinking, intention, will, loyalty and moral choice. It is not mainly the seat of emotion. To know the heart is to know who someone really is and what they really intend.

Against the English

BSB, ESV, NIV and WEB say "who knows the heart" and KJV says "which knoweth the hearts". These are accurate but turn a compact title into a clause. YLT's "the heart-knowing God" keeps the title-like feel. Modern readers may hear "heart" as feelings and miss that God is assessing these people's real allegiance and intention.

How it drifted

The word itself has not drifted. The English "heart" has: since the Romantic period it has leaned toward emotion, while the biblical heart is the inner person as a whole, with the mind and will at the centre.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word does not appear in the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) or in surviving earlier Greek, and in the New Testament it occurs only twice, both in Acts. In Acts 1:24 the apostles pray, "Lord, heart-knower of all, show which one you have chosen" to replace Judas. Later Christian writers use it, e.g. Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 4.3.4 ("the Lord, being a heart-knower"). The idea is thoroughly biblical: 1 Samuel 16:7 ("the LORD looks on the heart"), 1 Kings 8:39 ("you alone know the hearts of all"), Jeremiah 17:10 ("I the LORD search the heart"), Psalm 7:9. It may have been coined in early Jewish-Christian prayer language.