What Does Luke 22:34 Mean in the King James?
And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.
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
Knowing Jesus does not guarantee that you will claim to know him when the moment comes.
THE MEANING
The warning reaches the reader in the gap between inward recognition and public acknowledgment: a person can know Jesus and still disown that relationship. The three denials make the rupture repeat across the same day, rather than remain a single slip. The verse names this fracture before it happens, holding knowing and disowning together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that knowing someone guarantees you will publicly stand by them gives way here: the relationship can be real while the public claim collapses.
THE ROOT
ἀπαρνήσῃ
aparnēsē
GROWS FROM
ἀρνέομαι
arneomai
To deny, disown, or repudiate.
“deny” in this verse is aparnēsē. The Greek verb carries the sense of disowning, and the clause names what Peter disowns: that he knows Jesus. The rupture is relational, not merely a dispute over information.
ALSO GROWS
arnēsomai: I will deny or disown
ἀρνήσομαι
Matthew 10:33 uses this form in a warning about denying Jesus before others, showing the verb’s public and relational force.
arnoumenoi: denying or disowning
ἀρνούμενοι
In 2 Peter 2:1 this form describes people denying their Master, extending the same verb from a spoken refusal to an ongoing stance.
THE PATTERN
Knowing and publicly acknowledging a relationship are distinct acts that can come apart under pressure.
Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.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.If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:THE THREAD
But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.Matthew uses the same Greek verb family for denial, tying Peter’s predicted refusal to a public disowning of Jesus. Luke names the denied claim, “that thou knowest me”, while Matthew makes the relational stakes explicit.
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