What Does Matthew 25:12 Mean in the King James?
But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you 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
The Greek verb translated “know” belongs to the family of seeing, making this a refusal of recognition, not a gap in information.
THE MEANING
The sentence meets you as an absolute boundary: the speaker’s answer is not uncertainty but “I know you not.” The verb carries the shade of perceiving or recognizing someone. The title “Lord” on the lips does not override the answer.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that saying the right title guarantees recognition.
THE ROOT
οἶδα
oida
GROWS FROM
εἴδω
eidō
To see or perceive; οἶδα is its perfect form, used with the present sense “know.”
“know” in this verse is oida. οἶδα (oida) grows from εἴδω (eidō), “to see,” so knowing carries the shade of having perceived or recognized. Its relatives εἶδος (eidos), “form or appearance,” and ἰδέα (idea), “form or aspect,” keep seeing joined to what is seen: the refusal sounds like a refusal to recognize a person, not simply a lack of information.
ALSO GROWS
eidos: Form, appearance
εἶδος
A recognized member of the εἰδ- seeing family; it names what is seen, linking perception with recognition.
idea: Form, aspect
ἰδέα
Related through the ἰδ-/εἰδ- family of seeing; it keeps the sense of perceiving a form or appearance.
אָמֵן
amen
GROWS FROM
אמן
ʾ-m-n
To be firm, reliable, or established.
“Verily” in this verse is amen. The Greek ἀμήν (amēn), “truly,” carries the Hebrew אָמֵן (amen) into the opening of the sentence. This root also gives the language of trust and steadiness, so the solemn certainty intensifies the refusal that follows.
ALSO GROWS
emunah: Trust, steadiness
אֱמוּנָה
It shares the אמן consonants and carries firmness into the sense of trust.
ne'eman: Firm, reliable
נֶאֱמָן
It belongs to the same אמן family, describing what is dependable or established.
THE PATTERN
Being known in scripture marks recognized belonging; a title spoken at the door cannot by itself create that recognition.
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.THE THREAD
Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.John 8:55 uses the same Greek verb, οἶδα (oida), for “I know him” and “I know him not.” The shared root makes recognition the hinge: the same word can affirm knowing or state its refusal.
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