What Does Luke 22:64 Mean in the King James?
And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?
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 cover his sight, then make the ability to see the test.
THE MEANING
The verse shows a taunt built from contradiction: his eyes are covered, his face is struck, and then he is asked to name the striker. The question becomes part of the violence, turning his loss of sight into a staged test.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that a demand to prove what you know is fair: the demand itself can be cruel when someone has first hidden the evidence.
THE ROOT
περικαλύψαντες
perikalypsantes
GROWS FROM
καλύπτω
kalyptō
Cover, conceal.
“blindfolded” in this verse is perikalypsantes. Luke’s word means they cover him around; the covering is an action that closes off perception. The same root appears in words for a veil and for uncovering, placing concealment and revelation on opposite branches of one seed.
ALSO GROWS
kalymma: Covering, veil.
κάλυμμα
The face is literally covered, so the scene’s barrier to perception is not hidden in the wording.
apokalyptō: Uncover, reveal.
ἀποκαλύπτω
The word for revealing shares the covering root: what is revealed is what had been covered.
Προφήτευσον
prophēteuson
GROWS FROM
φημί
phēmi
Say, speak.
“Prophesy” in this verse is prophēteuson. The mockers demand that he speak forth the striker’s identity while they have blocked his sight. They turn prophetic speech into a taunt, demanding knowledge while denying ordinary perception.
ALSO GROWS
prophētēs: Prophet, one who speaks forth.
προφήτης
The title names the speaker whose capacity they are mocking.
phēmē: Report, saying.
φήμη
This related word for a saying or report keeps the root’s focus on spoken expression, the very capacity they turn into a test.
THE PATTERN
Mockery compounds a blow by demanding knowledge from the person whose perception has been obstructed.
But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee?And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.THE THREAD
And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.Mark uses the same Greek covering verb, περικαλύπτω (perikalyptō), for covering his face. The shared root makes clear that concealment is part of the taunt: they cover his sight and then demand that he identify the striker.
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