What Does Matthew 27:12 Mean in the King James?
And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.
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 charge is spoken in full, yet it cannot force Jesus to answer on its terms.
THE MEANING
When accusation presses you to defend yourself, this verse places a living image beside that pressure: Jesus remains present, and no answer comes. The charge stays audible, but it does not become his voice or define his response.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that silence automatically proves guilt or that every accusation deserves an immediate defense.
THE ROOT
κατηγορεῖσθαι
katēgoreisthai
GROWS FROM
κατηγορέω (katēgoreō), from κατά (kata) + ἀγορεύω (agoreuō)
ἀγορεύω (agoreuō) means to speak publicly, from ἀγορά (agora), a public assembly; κατά (kata) gives the compound the sense of speaking against.
“accused” in this verse is katēgoreisthai. The accusation is voiced publicly against Jesus; it is more than a private thought. The Greek word makes the contrast visible: the charge is spoken aloud, but it does not pull a counterclaim from him.
ALSO GROWS
katēgoros: Accuser; one who brings a charge.
κατήγορος
The same word family names the speaker who makes accusation a public act.
katēgoria: Accusation, charge.
κατηγορία
This branch names the charge itself, the speech that remains unanswered here.
οὐδὲν ἀπεκρίνατο
ouden apekrinato
GROWS FROM
κρίνω
krinō
To separate, distinguish, decide, or judge.
“answered nothing” in this verse is ouden apekrinato. The Greek verb for answering, ἀποκρίνομαι (apokrinomai), is built around κρίνω (krinō), whose family carries the sense of deciding and judging. Here, οὐδέν (ouden, nothing) makes the absence precise: no reply is returned.
ALSO GROWS
krisis: Judgment, decision.
κρίσις
The branch shows the language of judgment present beneath the ordinary English word for an answer.
apokrisis: Answer, response.
ἀπόκρισις
This related noun makes clear that the line names a response that does not arrive.
THE PATTERN
Accusation can be fully spoken without compelling the accused to answer in its terms.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:THE THREAD
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.Matthew’s verb for accusing Jesus shares its root with Revelation’s “accuser” and “accused.” The shared word family links this charge to a recurring voice in scripture, while Matthew shows that the one under accusation does not have to answer in that voice’s terms.
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