What Does John 18:29 Mean?
So Pilate went out to them and said, What charge do you carry against this man?
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man?THE KEY
An accusation is a spoken claim someone must bring into the open before it can become a judgment.
THE MEANING
An accusation is something brought against a person; it is not itself a verdict. The question asks for the charge to be named before the person is judged. When a claim is made about you, the claim and the person remain distinct.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being accused does not, by itself, mean you are guilty; the charge must be stated before it can be judged.
THE ROOT
κατηγορία
katēgoria
GROWS FROM
ἀγορεύω (agoreuō), in κατηγορέω (katēgoreō)
To speak publicly; with κατά (kata), to speak against someone.
“charge” in this verse is katēgoria. The Greek word joins speaking against someone with speech before an assembly: an accusation is a claim put into public words. Here the question asks the accusers to bring that claim forward; the word itself does not make it a verdict.
ALSO GROWS
katēgoreō: Accuse; bring a charge.
κατηγορέω
It names the act of speaking a charge against someone.
katēgoros: Accuser.
κατήγορος
It names the person who brings the charge into the open.
agora: Public gathering or marketplace.
ἀγορά
It shares the word-family behind speaking publicly, carrying the accusation into the public hearing.
THE PATTERN
A charge must be stated and established before it can stand as judgment.
One witness shall not rise up against a man for any crookedness, or for any falling short, in it he misses the mark; upon the mouth of two witnesses, or upon the mouth of three witnesses, the word shall stand.Nor can they set before you the things of which they now accuse me.Do not take up an accusation against an elder, unless it rests upon two or three witnesses.THE THREAD
Do not take up an accusation against an elder, unless it rests upon two or three witnesses.The word translated “accusation” is the same Greek noun in both verses. Here the charge is asked for; in 1 Timothy, witnesses mark what is required for that charge to be received.
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