What Does John 6:64 Mean?
But there are some of you who do not lean your weight on me. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they are, those who do not lean their weight on him, and who would hand him over.
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
But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.THE KEY
The verse distinguishes not trusting Jesus from handing him over, while showing that both are already known to him.
THE MEANING
Right now, the verse names distrust and betrayal as things Jesus sees clearly, even before they unfold. A person’s lack of trust does not make that person unknown to him.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being known by Jesus is not proof that a person trusts him; he knows those who do not trust him too.
THE ROOT
πιστεύω
pisteuō
GROWS FROM
πιστ-
pist-
Trust or rely on; the word family carries the sense of leaning one’s weight on someone.
“do not lean your weight on me” in this verse is pisteuō. The word family presents believing as reliance, not merely agreement with an idea. Here, “believe not” names the absence of that reliance on Jesus.
ALSO GROWS
pistis: Trust or reliance that leans its weight on someone.
πίστις
This noun makes clear that the verse concerns a posture of reliance, not just whether someone accepts a claim.
pistos: Firm or steady; also trustworthy.
πιστός
The family’s sense of steadiness helps show the kind of reliance that is absent where the verse says “believe not.”
γινώσκω
ginōskō
GROWS FROM
γινωσκ-
ginōsk-
To know, recognize, or perceive.
“knew” in this verse is ginōskō. The verse says Jesus knows who does not trust and who will hand him over; neither is hidden from him. “From the beginning” places that knowing before the betrayal unfolds.
ALSO GROWS
gnōsis: Knowledge or knowing.
γνῶσις
This related noun shows the same knowing family beneath English words that can sound like information alone.
epiginōskō: To recognize or perceive.
ἐπιγινώσκω
This related verb reinforces the sense of seeing or recognizing a person, not merely knowing a fact about them.
παραδίδωμι
paradidōmi
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι (didōmi), with παρά (para-)
To give over or hand over; δίδωμι means “give,” and the compound carries the sense of handing over.
“hand him over” in this verse is paradidōmi. English “betray” foregrounds treachery, while the Greek verb names the act as handing Jesus over. The same verb can appear elsewhere as “deliver up,” so the sentence supplies the motive and meaning of the act.
ALSO GROWS
didōmi: To give or place.
δίδωμι
The compound retains the concrete action of giving, now directed toward handing someone over.
paradosis: A handing over or transmission; in some contexts, a tradition.
παράδοσις
This related form keeps the transfer sense visible beneath English words that may emphasize betrayal or custom.
THE PATTERN
What is hidden in a person is fully visible to God.
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, you probe me, and you perceive me.But the LORD said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have pushed him away. The LORD does not see as the human sees. The human sees what is outside, but the LORD sees the heart.And no creation is hidden before him, but all things are naked and bared at the throat to the eyes of him to whom our account belongs.THE THREAD
He who did not spare his own Son, but handed him over for us all, how will he not also favor us with all things along with him?The same Greek verb underlies “betray” in John and “delivered him up” in Romans; in both places it names a handing over. The shared word reveals the act beneath John’s English phrasing, while each sentence gives that act a different agent and purpose.
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