What Does John 18:25 Mean in the King James?

And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not.

John 18:25 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

Peter’s “I am not” is a spoken disowning from inside the very scene that asks him to name where he belongs.

THE MEANING

The verse holds nearness and refusal together: Peter remains at the fire, yet answers the question of belonging with “I am not.” That same fracture is present whenever a bond is named and the self disavows it aloud.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that denial requires escape: Peter speaks the refusal while still standing in the scene where his connection is recognized.

THE ROOT

ἠρνήσατο

ērnēsato

GROWS FROM

ἀρνέομαι

arneomai

To deny, disown, or refuse to acknowledge.

The verb ⁨ἠρνήσατο⁩ means “he denied,” and its word family includes both denial and a denier. Peter is asked whether he belongs to the disciples, then refuses that relation in speech while remaining in the scene.

ALSO GROWS

arnēsis: Denial or disavowal.

ἄρνησις

This noun makes visible the refusal contained in Peter’s answer: “I am not.”

arnētēs: A denier; one who disowns or refuses to acknowledge.

ἀρνητής

The related word names a person by the same act Peter performs in this moment.

THE PATTERN

Denial turns a question of belonging into a spoken refusal, and Scripture traces that refusal across human and divine relationships.

This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.

Job 31:28 · KJVJob names denying God as a rupture of allegiance with moral weight.

Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

John 13:38 · KJVPeter’s belonging is pressed into a direct question, and denial is named as a repeated refusal.

But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.

Luke 12:9 · KJVThe same Greek word family connects public denial with the relationship being disavowed.

THE THREAD

If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

2 Timothy 2:12 · KJV

The same Greek verb, ⁨ἀρνέομαι⁩ (arneomai), appears here and in Peter’s denial. Its repetition gives Peter’s “I am not” a wider reach: the verse names denial as a refusal within a relationship, not merely a phrase spoken at a fire.

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