What Does Mark 14:68 Mean?
But he denied it, saying, I do not know, and I do not grasp what you are saying. And he went out into the forecourt, and the rooster crowed.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.THE KEY
He denies knowledge as though recognition itself can be shut off, while the rooster makes the scene answer him.
THE MEANING
When recognition feels dangerous, the mouth can disown both knowing and understanding. The attempt to step away does not erase the scene: the rooster’s cry sounds within it, making denial unable to seal reality.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The false belief is that refusing to recognize a bond can make it unreal; the rooster sounds within the very scene the denial tries to leave.
THE ROOT
οἶδα
oida
GROWS FROM
ἰδ-/ϝιδ- (*weid-)
See, perceive; οἶδα carries the sense of having seen into knowing.
“know” in this verse is oida. Οἶδα is the perfect form of εἴδω, “to see,” so knowing retains a trace of perception or recognition. The second verb, ἐπίσταμαι (epistamai, “understand”), extends the denial from recognition to comprehension.
ALSO GROWS
eídō: See, perceive
εἴδω
This source verb reveals the seeing held inside οἶδα, “know.”
eîdos: Visible form, appearance
εἶδος
This related word names what can be seen, echoing the recognition that the speaker disavows.
THE PATTERN
Fear can drive speech and movement into concealment, while what is perceived still presses toward acknowledgment.
And he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I trembled, because I was bare; and I hid myself.For we cannot keep from speaking what we have perceived and heard.THE THREAD
He answered, Whether he misses the mark or not, I do not know. One thing I know, that I was blind, and now I see.This answer repeats Mark’s Greek knowing word, οἶδα (oida, “know”): it begins “I know not” and turns to “one thing I know.” Here uncertainty does not erase perception; what the speaker cannot settle, his sight makes clear.
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