γινώσκω (Ginosko) and John 17:3

1. to arrive at a knowledge of someone or something, know, know about, make acquaintance of something

2. to acquire information through some means, learn (of), ascertain, find out

3. to grasp the significance or meaning of something understand, comprehend

something

4. to have come to the knowledge of, have come to know, know

Given the above definitions, how can anyone claim that John 17:3 is a 'mistranslation' in the New World Translation?

Based on the limited Greek that I know and that I've studied, I would suggest a translation along the lines of:

"Now this is eternal life that they learn of you the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."

I would chose "learn" for several reasons. (1) Because it accurately reflects the notion of 'acquiring something', namely, knowledge and/or understanding. (2) When you "learn" something it demonstrates that you've "grasped the significance" of that particular something. (3) The lexical meaning of Ginosko clearly involves more than just a relationship with God and Jesus and hence "know" in this passage doesn't do Ginosko justice. "Know" in other passages may be suffice, but I don't believe that is the case in this text. (4) In modern day 2010, I believe "learn" does encompass the first century usage of Ginosko. Because of these and more reasons I would support a translation of "learn" in John 17:3.

Taken from the most authoritative Lexicon of the Greek New Testament- A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000