What Does Acts 23:28 Mean in the King James?
And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into their council:
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
A charge becomes examinable when its cause is brought before the assembly instead of being allowed to speak for itself.
THE MEANING
The accusation is still a question: its cause is not yet known. The accused is brought before the council, where the claim can be examined.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A charge proves itself simply by being spoken.
THE ROOT
ἐνεκάλουν
enekaloun
GROWS FROM
καλέω
kaleō
to call or summon
The Greek verb for “accused” is built on καλέω, “to call”: the accusation takes the shape of calling someone to account. The cause is still being sought, so the charge itself does not settle what is true.
ALSO GROWS
kaleō: to call or summon
καλέω
The accusation retains the shape of a call directed toward a person, rather than a verdict that settles the matter.
enklēma: charge or accusation
ἔγκλημα
This related noun names the charge as a claim that can be examined; it appears again in the next verse.
ἐπιγνῶναι
epignōnai
GROWS FROM
γινώσκω
ginōskō
to know, recognize, or perceive
“known” in this verse is epignōnai. The verb carries the sense of learning or recognizing the cause, aligning with knowing as perception rather than simply possessing a report. Understanding is still being sought; the accusation has not already supplied it.
ALSO GROWS
gnōsis: knowledge or understanding
γνῶσις
This noun shares the knowing-root and keeps the focus on what is understood, not merely what is alleged.
epignōsis: recognition or fuller knowledge
ἐπίγνωσις
The related form echoes the verse’s movement toward recognizing the cause behind the accusation.
THE PATTERN
A claim is brought into the open and heard before it is treated as settled.
He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.THE THREAD
Whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds.The word translated “accused” repeats the same Greek call-against root. The next verse brings the charge into clearer focus and distinguishes the existence of an accusation from what it can actually support.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us