What Does Mark 14:71 Mean in the King James?
But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.
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
Fear can turn a denial of knowing into a performance that tries to make the distance binding.
THE MEANING
Under pressure, the speaker denies knowing the man, then reinforces the denial with a curse and an oath. The words try to make the separation sound absolute. The verse shows fear recruiting speech to protect the self, even when the claim cannot make the truth disappear.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that stronger words can erase what is true. The oath makes the denial louder, not truer.
THE ROOT
ἀναθεματίζειν
anathematizein
GROWS FROM
ἀνάθεμα
To set something apart or dedicate it; the word family also carries the sense of placing something under a ban.
The Greek word for “curse” belongs to a family that joins dedication with banishment. Here, the denial is intensified by language that tries to put a hard boundary between the speaker and the man he disowns.
ALSO GROWS
anathema: A thing dedicated or placed under a ban; later, a curse.
ἀνάθεμα
This noun is the source of the verb in the verse, giving the curse the force of an invoked ban.
anatithēmi: To set forth, lay before, or dedicate.
ἀνατίθημι
This related verb preserves the sense of setting something apart, which helps illuminate how dedication language can develop into ban-language.
οἶδα
oida
GROWS FROM
ϝειδ-
To see or perceive, and from that, to know.
The word for “know” carries an old connection between knowing and seeing. The denial therefore has a perceptual edge: the speaker claims not to recognize the man, as well as refusing association with him.
ALSO GROWS
eidon: I saw; a form in the Greek see-word family.
εἶδον
It keeps sight and knowing close within the same word family.
eidos: Form or visible appearance.
εἶδος
What is seen and what is known share this root family, adding a shade of recognition to the denial.
THE PATTERN
Fear of people can narrow self-protection into denial and evasion.
And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.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.THE THREAD
But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.Mark’s “swear” comes from ὀμνύω (omnyō, to swear an oath), the same Greek verb used in James. James places plain yes and no beside oath-taking, making Peter’s added oath visible as an attempt to give his denial extra force.
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