Know thyself

Know Thyself

"Know thyself" (Greek: Γνῶθι σαυτόν, gnōthi sauton)[a] is a philosophical maxim. It was inscribed in stone upon the Temple of Apollo in the Greek precinct of Delphi. The other two inscriptions are "nothing too much" and "give a pledge and trouble is at hand"

Anyone studying sociology or even the psychology that drives society needs to know thyself to establish a frame of reference from which all things are observed. If you can be tossed to and fro with every whim of doctrine your observations will not be reliable.

"Know thyself" has been attributed to the Seven Sages of Greece, or to the god Apollo himself.

Clement of Alexandria says in his Stromata that the Greeks derived this wisdom from the Hebrew scriptures, and in this connection cites numerous Bible passages to prove his point.

Ponting to the phrase "take heed to thyself", which is found in Exodus 10:28, Exodus 10:34:12; Deuteronomy 4:9.

Origen also claims that the Song of Songs, which contains the line: "If you do not know yourself, O fair one among women" (Songs 1:8, LXX).

The entire Bible is written to give men insight into the nature of man and his relationship with other men, women, their institutions and of course God himself.

Ecclesiastes 7:22 For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.

Sun Tzu said Know the enemy and know yourself in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.

Nothing too much

"Nothing too much" has been hotly debated at different times. It seems to be a call for humility, avoiding vices like gluttony, lust, and vanity or pride That puts self above others. It may be a call for conservatism.

"Give a pledge and trouble is at hand" has also been debated as to its meaning by Diodorus, Plutarch, and Diogenes and many others.

Diogenes interprets the third maxim to mean: "Trouble attends him who affirms anything in strong terms and confidently".

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More verses

Many verse in scripture are said to echo the call to know thyself.

Some verses seem to include both the first and second maxims of the Greeks. Since all Christians knew and the Jews should have known not to swear nor give a pledge and the idea of virtue, charity and loving thy neighbor as our self seems to include all such maxims.

Romans 12:3 "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: 5 So we, [being] many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, [let us prophesy] according to the proportion of faith; 7 Or ministry, [let us wait] on [our] ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; 8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, [let him do it] with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness."

Proverbs 4:23 ESV Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

1 Peter 2:1-25 ESV So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ...

Haggai 1:5 ESV Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.

Psalm 139:23 ESV Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!

Proverbs 26:12 ESV Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 ESV Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?

1 Peter 5:8 ESV Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Romans 12:3-8 ESV For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; ...

Luke 6:42 ESV s How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

Romans 8:29 ESV For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Psalm 4:4 ESV Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah

Jeremiah 17:10 ESV “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Colossians 3:10 ESV And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Proverbs 22:29 ESV Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

1 Corinthians 11:28 ESV Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

Proverbs 28:11 ESV A rich man is wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has understanding will find him out.

Ezekiel 44:28 ESV “This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.

1 Peter 3:1-22 ESV Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, ...

Daniel 4:1-37 ESV King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you! It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation. I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace. I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me. ...

James 1:2 ESV Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Matthew 22:39 ESV And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Matthew 5:28 ESV But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Ecclesiastes 1:12-14 ESV I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

Proverbs 28:1-28 ESV The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, but with a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue. A poor man who oppresses the poor is a beating rain that leaves no food. Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law strive against them. Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it completely. ...

2 Peter 1:1-21 ESV Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ...

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Proverbs 28:15-16 ESV Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people. A ruler who lacks understanding is a cruel oppressor, but he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.

Genesis 4:14 ESV Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

Daniel 2:24-3:30 Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.” Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: ...

Jeremiah 4:5 ESV Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, “Blow the trumpet through the land; cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble, and let us go into the fortified cities!’

Proverbs 28:21 ESV To show partiality is not good, but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong.

Proverbs 23:7 ESV For he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

John 3:16 ESV “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Ezekiel 45:13-46:24 ESV “This is the offering that you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, and as the fixed portion of oil, measured in baths, one tenth of a bath from each cor (the cor, like the homer, contains ten baths). And one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them, declares the Lord God. All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel. It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel. ...

Ezekiel 42:1-43:27 ESV

Then he led me out into the outer court, toward the north, and he brought me to the chambers that were opposite the separate yard and opposite the building on the north. The length of the building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty cubits. Facing the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner court, and facing the pavement that belonged to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in three stories. And before the chambers was a passage inward, ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits long, and their doors were on the north. Now the upper chambers were narrower, for the galleries took more away from them than from the lower and middle chambers of the building. ...

Proverbs 28:17 ESV If one is burdened with the blood of another, he will be a fugitive until death; let no one help him.

Job 21:18 ESV That they are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away?

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Matthew 22:[29] Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

Know Thyself (John 6:22-71)

The first principle for saying, “No” to people-pleasing is to know human nature. The second principle is to know your own identity. Jesus refused to be made an earthly king because he knew who he was (John 6:15).

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