All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

MATTHEW 11:27KJV
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Matthew 11:27 (KJV)

What does Matthew 11:27 mean?

Matthew 11:27 says that Jesus has received everything from God the Father, and that only the Father truly knows the Son, just as only the Son truly knows the Father. No one else can know the Father unless the Son chooses to reveal Him. This verse highlights the unique and close relationship between Jesus and God, and the idea that truly knowing God depends on Jesus making Him known.

In this verse, Jesus is speaking to a crowd, including His disciples, after addressing the cities that did not respond to His message. Jesus is explaining that understanding who God really is cannot be achieved by human effort or wisdom alone. Instead, it is something that comes through Jesus Himself, who has a special connection with the Father and the authority to reveal God to others.

The Greek behind Matthew 11:27

  • "delivered" (παραδίδωμι, paradidōmi): This word means to hand over or entrust. Here, it shows that everything Jesus has comes directly from the Father, emphasizing trust and authority.
  • "knoweth" (ἐπιγινώσκω, epiginōskō): This verb means to know fully or recognize completely. The verse uses it to stress the deep, exclusive knowledge between the Father and the Son, not just casual familiarity.
  • "reveal" (ἀποκαλύπτω, apokalyptō): This word means to uncover or make known. It highlights that knowing God is not automatic or earned; it happens only when Jesus chooses to make God known to someone.

Why Matthew 11:27 matters

  • Matthew 11:27 clears up the idea that people can know God on their own; it stresses that true understanding of God comes only through Jesus.
  • The verse emphasizes the unique relationship between Jesus and the Father, showing that Jesus is not just a messenger but has a special, shared knowledge and authority.
  • This statement connects to the wider passage, where Jesus invites people to come to Him for rest, showing that access to God and spiritual rest is found in relationship with Jesus.

Where else these words appear

“reveal” Greek G601 · used in 26 verses

  • Matthew 10:26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
  • John 12:38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
  • Galatians 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

“will” Greek G1014 · used in 34 verses

  • Matthew 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
  • Acts 22:30 On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.
  • 1 Timothy 6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

“knoweth” Greek G1921 · used in 38 verses

  • Matthew 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
  • Luke 23:7 And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time.
  • Acts 27:39 And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship.

“but” Greek G1508 · used in 87 verses

  • Matthew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
  • Luke 4:26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
  • Romans 14:14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.