Understand (4920) (suniemi from sun/syn = with + hiemi = send) (Click study of related noun sunesis) literally means to send together or bring together. The idea is to put together "pieces of the puzzle" (so to speak) and to exhibit quick comprehension. Suniemi is describes the ability to understand concepts and see relationships between them. Suniemi means to put together, grasp or exhibit quick comprehension. Suniemi is the manifestation of the ability to understand concepts and see relationships between them and thus describes the exercise of the faculty of comprehension, intelligence, acuteness, shrewdness. The noun sunesis was originally used by Homer in the Odyssey to describe the running together or a flowing together of two rivers. The present imperative indicates this is a command to make this our continual practice to put grasp or comprehend the will of God. BDAG says that suniemi means to... to have an intelligent grasp of something that challenges one’s thinking or practice There are 26 uses of suniemi in the NT - Mt 13:13, 14, 15, 19, 23, 51; 15:10; 16:12; 17:13; Mark 4:12; 6:52; 7:14; 8:17, 21; Lk. 2:50; 8:10; 18:34; 24:45; Acts 7:25; 28:26, 27; Ro 3:11; 15:21; 2Co 10:12; Ep 5:17. The NAS95 translates suniemi as - gained...insight(1), understand(17), understanding(1), understands(2), understood(5). Matthew 13:13 "Therefore (term of conclusion) I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 "In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, 'YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; 15 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.' Matthew 13:19 "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. Matthew 13:23 "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." Matthew 13:51 "Have you understood all these things?" They said to Him, "Yes." Matthew 15:10 After (time phrase) Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, "Hear and understand. Comment: Clearly just hearing the Word does not equate with understanding the Word of God. Natural understanding is unable to comprehend supernatural truth. So how can we understand the Word of Truth and Life? Only one way - God mush open our "minds to understand the Scriptures." (Lk 24:45). After Jesus ascended to be seated at the right hand of the throne of Majesty, He ask the Father for the Spirit, Whom He sent to indwell everyone thereafter who would believe in Him. Now it is the Spirit of Truth Who leads us into all the Truth. How silly to go to the supernatural Word without a supernatural Teacher to open our minds to understand. Without being legalistic, let me suggest that we never open the Book until we have first pause to pray and ask God to open our heart to understand! If we have unconfessed sin, that is the first order of business (cp Ps 66:18-note, Pr 28:13-note, etc). We can be confident "that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. (1Jn 5:14-15) Matthew 16:12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew 17:13 Then (When? When Jesus answered them. See context Mt 17:10-12) the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist. Mark 4:12 so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN." Mark 6:52 (Context = Mk 6:47-51). for (term of explanation - pause and ponder - What is this passage explaining? See context) they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened (calloused, dull, lacking power of understanding). Mark 7:14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, "Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: (aorist imperative = calls for immediate attention!) Mark 8:17 And Jesus, aware of this (What? See Context = Mk 8:16), said to them, "Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? Mark 8:21 And (In light of Mk 8:18-20) He was saying to them, "Do you not yet understand?" Luke 2:50 But (term of contrast) they did not understand the statement (What statement? Lk 2:49) which He had made to them. Luke 8:10 And He said, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND. Comment: See explanation on Mt 15:10 above. Luke 18:34 But (term of contrast) the disciples understood none of these things (What? What is Luke contrasting? See Context = Lk 18:31-33), and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said. Comment: "Hidden" is the verb krupto (literally to prevent something from being seen, figuratively to prevent it from being known and understood), from which we get our English "cryptic" and in the perfect tense speaks of a lasting condition. Obviously the day did come when He opened their minds to understand the meaning of these things for they form the foundation of the Gospel that the disciples proclaimed and for which they were willing to die (and apparently all died a martyr's death except John who was exiled to Patmos.) Luke 24:45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, Comment: The specific texts are not mentioned. Generally when the NT uses the word Scriptures (graphe), it refers to the Old Testament. Acts 7:25 "And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. Acts 28:26 saying, 'GO TO THIS PEOPLE AND SAY, "YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; 27 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES; OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM."' Romans 3:11-note THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; Comment: This is the sad state of every natural, unregenerate, lost man still in Adam when it comes to the supernatural Word of Truth (cp 1Cor 2:14, 12-16). One must be transferred from the kingdom of darkness (especially spiritual darkness; cp Jesus' call on the life of Saul = Acts 26:16, 17, 18) and to the Kingdom of God's beloved Son, from in Adam to in Christ (Col 1:12-14-note, 1Cor 15:22). Romans 15:21-note but (term of contrast - Ro 15:20) as it is written, "THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND." 2 Corinthians 10:12 For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. Ephesians 5:17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Suniemi - 103x in non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX) - 35.35-Exod.36.1" class="scriptRef">Ex 35:35; 36:1; 9" class="scriptRef">21.29" class="scriptRef">29" class="scriptRef">29.9" class="scriptRef">Deut. 29:9; 32:7, 29; 8.8" class="scriptRef">8" class="scriptRef">Joshua 1:7, 8; 1Sa 2:10; 15" class="scriptRef">18:14, 15; 12.19" class="scriptRef">2Sa 12:19; 1Ki 2:3; 3:9; 2Ki 18:7; 25.7" class="scriptRef">1Chr 25:7; 20.17" class="scriptRef">17" class="scriptRef">2Chr 20:17; 26:5; 30:22; 34:12; Ezra 8:15, 16; Neh. 8:2, 3, 8, 12; 10:28; 13.7" class="scriptRef">13:7; Job 15:9; 20:2; 31:1; 32:12; 36:4, 29; 38:31; Ps 2:10; 5:1; 14:2; 19:12; 28:5; 33.15" class="scriptRef">33:15; 36:3; 41:1; 49:12, 20; 50:22; 53:2; 58:9; 64:9; 73:17; 82:5; 92:6; 94:7, 8; 101:1; 106:7; 107:43; 119:95, 99, 100, 104; 139:2; Pr. 2:5, 9; 8:9; 21:11, 12, 29; 28:5; 29:7; Is 1:3; 6:9, 10; 7:9; 43:10; 52:13, 15; 59:15; Jer. 9:12, 24; 20:12; 23" class="scriptRef">23" class="scriptRef">23.5" class="scriptRef">23:5; Da 1:4, 17; 8:5, 17, 23, 27; 9:2, 13, 23, 25; 10:11, 12; 11:30, 33, 35, 37; 12:3, 8, 10; Ho 4:14; 14:9; Amos 5:13; Micah 4:12; Mt 13:13, 14, 15, 19, 23, 51; 15:10; 16:12; 17:13; Mark 4:12; 6:52; 7:14; 8:17, 21; Lk 2:50; 8:10; 18:34; 24:45; Acts 7:25; 28:26, 27; Ro 3:11; 15:21; 2 Co. 10:12; Ep 5:17. In summary, suniemi describes the comprehending activity of the mind and entails the assembling of individual facts into an organized whole, as when one collects the pieces of a puzzle and puts them together to see the "big picture!" The mind that understands (suniemi) grasps concepts and sees their proper interrelationships. In the Bible this understanding speaks of the spiritual awareness of a man’s heart, an awareness that can only be obtained by dependence on the Spirit of Truth Who alone can "decrypt" God's Word and guide us into all the Truth (John 16:13, 14:26). MacDonald sums up this section - So we should not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. This is crucial. Because of the abounding evil and the shortness of the time, we might be tempted to spend our days in frantic and feverish activity of our own choosing. But this would amount to nothing but wasted energy. The important thing is to find out God’s will for us each day and do it. This is the only way to be efficient and effective. It is all too possible to carry on Christian work according to our own ideas and in our own strength, and be completely out of the will of the Lord. The path of wisdom is to discern God’s will for our individual lives, then to obey it to the hilt. "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/ephesians_517-18.htm#u