What Does John 2:24 Mean in the King James?
But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,
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 “commit” Jesus refuses is the same trust that means placing himself in human hands.
THE MEANING
Jesus knows what is in people, and that knowledge does not become indiscriminate self-surrender. The verse holds closeness and discernment together: knowing people does not require handing yourself over to them.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that a warm welcome or enthusiastic response obligates you to entrust yourself to everyone who offers it.
THE ROOT
ἐπίστευεν
epísteuen
GROWS FROM
πιστ-
pist-
Trust, reliance; being persuaded or entrusting oneself.
“commit” in this verse is epísteuen. The Greek verb belongs to the same word family used for believing and trust, but here its object is Jesus himself: he does not place himself in their hands. English can make “believe” sound like an opinion; this wording reveals trust as a personal entrusting.
ALSO GROWS
pisteuō: Trust, believe, entrust
πιστεύω
The same verb family shows how belief can mean placing oneself in another’s care.
pistis: Trust, reliance
πίστις
This noun names the trust that the verb expresses as an act.
pistos: Firm, steady, trustworthy
πιστός
The family links entrusting oneself with the quality of being reliable.
γινώσκω
ginōskō
GROWS FROM
γνω-
gnō-
To know, recognize, perceive.
“knew” in this verse is ginōskō. The verb presents Jesus’ knowing as perception of people themselves, not simply information supplied by others. The next verse repeats this word family and says he knows what is within a person, revealing the depth behind his refusal to entrust himself.
ALSO GROWS
ginōskō: Know, perceive
γινώσκω
This is the verb used for Jesus’ knowledge of people in the verse.
gnōsis: Knowledge, knowing
γνῶσις
The related noun shows the same knowing family in a different form.
epiginōskō: Recognize, know fully
ἐπιγινώσκω
This related verb sharpens the sense of perceiving or recognizing someone.
THE PATTERN
What people display or say does not exhaust what can be known about the human interior.
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.THE THREAD
And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.The Greek repeats the same knowing word family: Jesus “knew” people, and the next verse names what he knows, what is within a person. That inward perception opens the reason he does not entrust himself to them.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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