Knowledge vs. Understanding

What if you truly knew the difference between knowledge and understanding? Would you still struggle—even when you know exactly what to do?

What if I told you that understanding this difference could completely change the way you study the Bible—and even transform your entire life?

What if I told you that the real reason many people struggle in life, even when they know what to do, is because they’ve confused knowledge with understanding?

Let’s break this down.

Knowledge is the awareness of facts or information acquired through reading, listening to audio, or watching a video designed to impart information. When knowledge is the goal, the writer or teacher often assumes that the reader already has a foundational understanding—particularly of grammar, which helps convey meaning through words.

But this assumption isn’t always true. Many people gather knowledge without truly grasping the meanings the writer or speaker intends to communicate.

A well-crafted piece of information that imparts complete knowledge attempts to cover several layers—surface, deep, contextual, procedural, and comprehensive knowledge. However, to benefit from all these levels, it takes a mind that understands—a mind that can identify the sentences that express each of these aspects

| Knowledge equips the brain..

Understanding, on the other hand, is the bridge between what’s stored in the brain and what can be applied in the physical world. According to Daniel 2:21, understanding is a gift from God. It’s the reader’s ability to look at a word and comprehend its grammatical properties—such as its part of speech and its function in a sentence.

Understanding operates through the same layers as knowledge: surface, deep, contextual, procedural, and comprehensive understanding. This overlap is one reason why people often confuse knowledge with understanding—but the difference is clear and essential.

This platform will show you the kind of study that builds true understanding—but before we get into that, let’s ask:

When you read or learn, the knowledge you gain is stored in your brain. But your heart is what often decides the meaning of the words you read—drawing conclusions based on your emotions or assumptions about what the words mean.

Often, the meanings your heart chooses are not based on reasoned thinking but on emotional impressions or past experiences. When you act on those meanings without first engaging the reasoning of the mind—which comes from true understanding—you may end up regretting your actions or decisions.

In fact, scientists say that the average human brain retains newly learned knowledge for just two weeks. This is why we often forget what we “know” right when we need to apply it in real life.

The first step toward lasting understanding is to engage the mind—not just the emotions—by developing the grammatical foundation of understanding. This means studying deeply and jotting things down layer by layer.

Decisions made from a mind that understands will not only meet your immediate needs, but also allow you to apply knowledge wisely in real life.

Understanding involves recognizing the grammatical principles behind every word you read—especially their part of speech and function in a sentence.

Here are some foundational principles:

• If a word is a noun, it should identify a person, place, or thing.
• If it’s an adjective, it should describe a noun.
• If it’s a verb, it should indicate an action or state of being performed by the noun.
• If it’s an adverb, it should describe how, when, where, or why the action was done.
• If it’s a preposition, it should show the relationship between two nouns in the sentence.

Your effort to understand which principle each word operates on—and what function it performs in the sentence—is how you train your mind to build understanding that sticks.

That’s why this channel is here: to help you build a true, lasting understanding of Scripture—starting with grammar and building from there.

Let’s take an example from the Bible:

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” — Genesis 1:1

Now, let’s break it down grammatically and identify the function of each word in that sentence.

This is the foundation of true understanding—and this is where we begin.

In

In is a preposition. A preposition is a connector that shows the relationship between a noun (or pronoun) and another noun in a sentence, usually indicating time, place, or direction. This relationship can be between the Subject and the Object of the preposition. Example: He is in the house. or between the object of the verb and the object of the preposition. Example: Put the key in the bag.

Here, “IN” functions as an adverbial phrase of time because it acts as the headword of the prepositional phrase (in the beginning), showing us the time before God’s creation started.
An adverbial phrase of time is a phrase that tells when something happens. It usually answers questions like: When? Example: He arrived in the morning. When placed at the back, it simply describes when the action in the sentence was performed.

But when placed at the front of a sentence, it shows that you want to emphasize the moment in time before the subject’s action in the sentence was performed. Because Genesis 1:1 emphasized the time, verse 2 then explained the state of the earth before creation. Verse 2: And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

THE

“The” is a Definite Article. An article is a type of determiner that is used before a noun to show whether the noun is specific or general. There are two types of articles: Definite article: “The” (used for specific things), Indefinite articles: “A” and “An” (used for general things) Use “the” when the speaker and listener know what is being discussed. Use “a” or “an” when mentioning something for the first time or when it’s not specific.

“An” is used before words that start with a vowel sound, such as A, E, I, O, U,

“A” is used before words that start with a consonant sound. consonants are the rest of the Alphabet

BEGINNING

“Beginning” is a noun. And not a gerund (verb acting as a noun)

The article “the” before it in that adverbial phrase of time makes Beginning a noun, referencing one specific beginning—the absolute first moment of creation. A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.

Examples:
Person: God, Moses, teacher, friend
Place: heaven, church, Nigeria, school
Thing: Bible, table, water, phone
Idea: love, faith, wisdom, joy

Function: As the Object of the preposition (in the beginning), it provides the context of time, answering the Specific moment before God began the creation of heaven and earth.

GOD

God is a Proper noun. A proper noun is a type of noun that identifies a person, place, or thing by a specific name.

Function: The sentence’s subject shows the one who created Heaven and Earth.

The name identifies the creator of the universe, the Giver of life, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and my Father.

CREATED

Created is a verb. A verb is a word that expresses an action, a state of being in a sentence. Example: He is in the car (State) She is running (Action)

Function: The main action of the sentence: It shows what God did.

THE is a Definite Article. An article is a type of determiner that is used before a noun to show whether the noun is specific or general.

Function: It specifies a particular “heaven.”

HEAVEN is a noun. A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.

Function: The first Object of creation (direct Object of the verb created).

AND

And is a Conjunction. A conjunction is a word that connects words, phrases, or clauses together in a sentence. Conjunctions are classified into three main types: coordinating Common examples include “and”, “but”, “or”, “so”, “for”, “nor”, and “yet”, correlative: Examples include “either/or,” “neither/nor,” and “both/and”, and subordinating: Examples include “because”, “although”, “if”, “when”, “since”, “while”, and “where”..

Function: Connects “heaven” and “earth” as two created things.

THE is Definite Article. An article is a type of determiner that is used before a noun to show whether the noun is specific or general.

Function: It specifies a particular “earth.”

EARTH is a noun. A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.

Function:  The second Object of creation (direct Object of “created”).

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