What is the meaning of foreknowledge?

While the προγινώσκω word group can be used in Scripture to mean simple knowledge in advance (Acts 26:5; 1 Pet 3:17), the term is used this way only with (1) human subjects and (2) impersonal objects (i.e., events).

It can be lexically established with certainty that when the verb takes a personal object, the “knowledge” in view never implies mere acquaintance or knowledge of facts about persons, but always implies selection for special favor (see, e.g., the use of γινώσκω in Matt 7:23; Gal 4:9; 2 Tim 2:19; etc.; also the OT usage in Hosea 13:5; Amos 3:2).

When the term appears with a divine subject and an impersonal object, the idea of advance knowledge may be in view. But it is an error to infer from this concession that God’s advance knowledge is discursive in nature. Acts 2:23, for instance, by pairing God’s πρόγνωσις with the much more explicit term προορίζω, clearly indicates that God’s advance knowledge is such because he planned it this way. Foreknowledge for God is always determinative, never discursive.