What Does Luke 20:7 Mean in the King James?

And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was.

Luke 20:7 · 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.

THE KEY

When naming a source would force a costly position, claimed ignorance can become a shield.

THE MEANING

You can leave a source unnamed when naming it would commit you to a position. The verse shows how “I do not know” can be either an honest limit or a shield against the consequences of knowing.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The verse undoes the belief that claiming ignorance is always a neutral absence of knowledge.

THE ROOT

οἶδα

oida

GROWS FROM

εἴδω

eídō

To see; from seeing, to know or perceive.

“tell / know” in this verse is oida. Under “tell” is ⁨οἶδα⁩ (oida), a verb of knowing related to ⁨εἴδω⁩ (eídō), “to see”; Greek holds knowing and seeing close. The answer touches whether the source can be perceived and named, not merely whether it can be put into words.

ALSO GROWS

eîdon: I saw; a form of the verb meaning to see.

εἶδον

It makes visible the link between perception and the knowledge at issue in this answer.

eîdos: Form, appearance.

εἶδος

It carries the same seeing-root into what can be perceived or recognized.

THE PATTERN

Pressure can turn recognition into silence or reshape an account so its source stays obscured.

And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

Exodus 32:24 · KJVAaron’s account makes the calf seem to emerge from the fire, obscuring the human action behind it.

The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

Proverbs 29:25 · KJVFear of other people becomes a snare that can constrain what a person is willing to say.

Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:

John 12:42 · KJVRecognition remains unspoken when public acknowledgment carries a social cost.

THE THREAD

Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.

John 8:14 · KJV

Both passages pair ⁨οἶδα⁩ (oida, “know”) with ⁨πόθεν⁩ (pothen, “from where”). Here the source is left unnamed; in John, Jesus says, “I know whence I came,” making awareness of one’s source the point of contrast.

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