What Does John 7:28 Mean in the King James?
Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.
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
They can know Jesus and trace where he appears to come from while remaining strangers to the sender who is his true source.
THE MEANING
You can recognize the person before you and trace where he appears to come from, yet still not know the one who sends him. Jesus’ authority is not self-generated; it rests in the true sender. The verse sets familiarity with the messenger beside ignorance of his source.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Knowing facts about Jesus, even knowing where he comes from, does not by itself mean you know the one who sends him.
THE ROOT
πέμψας
pémpsas
GROWS FROM
πέμπω
pempō
To send or dispatch someone.
“sent” in this verse is pémpsas. The verse names Jesus through an act of sending: his source is the one who sends him, not himself. The contrast is between knowing the messenger’s apparent origin and knowing the sender.
ALSO GROWS
ekpempō: To send or dispatch outward.
ἐκπέμπω
The compound keeps the same sending root and makes the movement from a source outward explicit.
anapempō: To send back or refer onward.
ἀναπέμπω
This branch keeps the sender and the one sent in relation, helping the verse’s focus fall on who sends Jesus.
οἴδατε
oidate
GROWS FROM
οἶδα (oida), related to εἴδω (eídō)
To know; historically connected with seeing or perceiving.
The same verb for know appears in the claims about knowing Jesus and where he comes from, then again in the denial that they know his sender. Its history connects knowing with seeing, yet what is visible about the messenger does not reveal the source they do not know.
ALSO GROWS
eîdon: A form of the verb meaning to see.
εἶδον
It shows the old link between seeing and knowing that sits beneath οἶδα.
eîdos: The visible form or appearance of something.
εἶδος
It sharpens the distinction in the verse: recognizing what appears before you is not the same as knowing the sender.
THE PATTERN
A messenger’s visible presence does not establish that the source behind the message is known.
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.THE THREAD
And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.The same Greek verb πέμπω (pempō, to send) links the verses: Jesus is the one the Father sends. John 5:37 adds that the Father bears witness of him, putting the sender’s testimony beside the claim that the sender is not known.
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