This week, I was listening to a Q&A session with a variety of highly respected and well-seasoned ministers. One of them mentioned that he’s never heard a good explanation of the difference between a word of knowledge and a word of wisdom. He also said he didn’t have an explanation, either. So here’s my go at it, for better or for worse. For background, both wisdom and knowledge are mentioned as gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:8. They are very similar, but I believe they have differences, especially in application.

Knowledge vs. Wisdom

Most of us know that there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is understanding of a fact or situation. Wisdom is knowing what to do about the situation – it’s the action, the verb, the how to the why, or the ability to put knowledge together into something useful. You can know a truck is stuck in the mud, but it takes wisdom to figure out how to get the truck out of the mud. Or in the oft-repeated joke, “Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting a tomato in a fruit salad.”

Word of Knowledge

A word of knowledge is based on something that is already known by the listener but Divinely communicated to another person. Maybe it’s something that has happened in the listener’s life, a current event in the listener’s life, something they are struggling with (mental, emotional, physical), or similar. The communicator couples the knowledge revealed by God with other things that God says to bring perspective or to help the listener see the thing the way God sees it or sees them in a situation. Occasionally, a word of knowledge will be about an event or thing that the listener does not know about, specifically, but they are aware of the situation and the events surrounding the situation. For example, I knew a family who was struggling with evil; the oldest son began to tell his dad what God had revealed to him about the situation – the dad was able to confirm what his son was saying, even though the son Divinely knew more than the dad about the specifics of some of what was happening.

Two examples in the Bible of a word of knowledge:

1. Jesus told the Samaritan woman that she had five husbands (John 4:17-18)

2. Samuel told Saul that the donkeys he was looking for had been found (1 Samuel 9:15-20)

Word of Wisdom

A word of wisdom is simply the right words at the right time. It is not based on knowledge revealed by God, though it can speak to situations the listener already knows about. If you’ve ever been in a conversation with someone, and they say something that completely changes your perspective, gives you the wisdom you need in a situation, or otherwise is revelatory or exceedingly helpful, you’ve probably experienced a word of wisdom.

Two examples in the Bible of people with the gift of words of wisdom:

1. Ahithophel – “Now the advice of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if one had inquired at the oracle of God.” (2 Samuel 17:23)

2. Paul – I don’t have a specific instance (no chapter and verse here), but Paul often had the right words at the right time, especially when preaching the gospel. For example, Sergius Paulus (he Roman proconsul of Cyprus) (Acts 24:24-25) and before the Areopagus in Athens (Acts 17:16-34).

Word of Knowledge vs. Word of Wisdom

A word of knowledge is something the listener already knows. You don’t tell them anything new, though it may come with power to allow them to connect dots between incidents or to see the incident or thing with a different perspective. Meanwhile, a word of wisdom also can bring perspective, but it does so through divine wisdom (usually a “how to” or revelation of a truth) instead of through Divine revelation of things the listener already knows.

It’s not uncommon for a word of knowledge to be coupled with a word of wisdom – God reveals something about a person’s past, then the communicator uses the gift of words of wisdom to bring wisdom to the situation. But it doesn’t always happen that way. For example, I know people who use the gift of words of knowledge to help people process pain – they ask God what He is highlighting in the listener’s life, then when He reveals something via word of knowledge, they will move forward with prayer and heart-healing tools to help the individual not only process but also heal from what happened to them.

Application of Word of Knowledge vs. Word of Wisdom

If you want a word of knowledge, ask God for a one about someone’s life or a specific part of their life – but always ask in love (very, very important!). If God tells you something, ask Him what you should do with it – should you tell the person, pray into it (at which point, ask God how to pray), or does He want to go further to give you a prophecy or word of wisdom on this topic? (Be very careful with word of knowledge. Simply getting one is not reason alone to spread it beyond your own mind. Ask God what to do with it, and how He wants to use it to encourage the listener, not just tell them about themselves. For example, I recently heard a true story about a man who told a listener a very accurate word of knowledge. And that was it. She was not helped, encouraged, or anything else positive. Word of knowledge is a tool into something deeper than just the knowledge, itself.)

If you want a word of wisdom, ask God, “who gives [wisdom] generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5). In my experience of words of wisdom, those who give them typically aren’t trying to be super-duper wise – they’re simply going through life, and God speaks wisdom through them to people who need it. It’s a word fitly spoken (Proverbs 25:11), the words that carry power to reveal exactly what you need to see when you need to see it.