What Does Acts 26:26 Mean in the King James?
For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.
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
The speaker’s freedom rests on the claim’s visibility: none of it has escaped the king’s notice, and the event is not hidden away.
THE MEANING
The king knows these things, and the speaker addresses him freely because he is persuaded that none have escaped the king’s notice. The event is not tucked away in a corner; it stands in the open where it can be examined.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This verse undoes the assumption that the account depends on private knowledge unavailable to the king: he knows these things.
THE ROOT
λανθάνειν
lanthanein
GROWS FROM
λανθ-
lanth-
To escape notice; to be unseen or unnoticed.
“hidden” in this verse is lanthanein. The Greek casts hiddenness as escaping notice: the question is whether these things have slipped past the king’s awareness. The related λήθη (lēthē), meaning forgetfulness or oblivion, shows how what escapes notice can fade from knowing.
ALSO GROWS
lathra: Secretly, by stealth.
λάθρᾳ
This branch makes the contrast with the verse’s open testimony concrete: what happens λάθρᾳ takes place out of view.
lēthē: Forgetfulness, oblivion.
λήθη
It connects being unnoticed with being forgotten, sharpening the speaker’s claim that none of these things have slipped from the king’s awareness.
γωνίᾳ
gōnia
GROWS FROM
γων-
gōn-
An angle or corner, where lines meet.
The Greek word for “corner” also appears in the compound for “chief corner stone.” The same word family can name a place associated with concealment and a defining point in a structure.
ALSO GROWS
akrogōniaios: Chief corner stone.
ἀκρογωνιαῖος
This compound appears in the connected verse, where the corner becomes a structural point of alignment.
tetragōnos: Four-cornered; square.
τετράγωνος
This branch keeps the concrete geometry of γωνία visible beneath the English word “corner.”
THE PATTERN
What is hidden or kept secret can be brought into the open and made known.
He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.THE THREAD
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;The Greek phrase “in a corner” uses γωνία (gōnia), and “chief corner stone” is built from the same word. The shared root lets the corner shift from a place out of sight to a defining point in a structure.
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