Word Focused KJVIn the beginning was the Word

wist meaning in the KJV

Wist means knew; wist not means did not know.

Meaning in context

Wist is an older past-tense form of the verb represented by wot. It describes knowledge or a lack of knowledge at the time being discussed.

Exodus 16:15 says the children of Israel did not know what the manna was. Exodus 34:29 describes Moses not knowing that the skin of his face shone when he came down from the mount.

Luke 2:49 uses wist in a question about what was known. The grammar and the subject identify who knows or does not know; the word is not a name or a reference to wisdom as an abstract quality.

KJV examples

Exodus 16:15 KJV

And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.

Wist not describes not knowing what the manna was.

Exodus 34:29 KJV

And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.

Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone.

Luke 2:49 KJV

And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?

Wist concerns knowledge in the question being asked.

First exact-word occurrence

Exodus 16:15 KJV

And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.

This is the earliest occurrence of this exact English spelling in canonical KJV Bible order. A related word form, a subject, or a person may appear earlier.

Find every occurrence

The exact English word wist appears 13 times in 13 KJV verses. Counts ignore letter case and exclude other spellings and word forms.

Explore all wist occurrences in Word Study

For original-language details, select the word in the particular chapter. A word can represent different terms or constructions in different verses.

Related word studies

  • wot

    Wot means know in the KJV.

  • holpen

    Holpen is an older form meaning helped.

Study method

These explanations are separate study notes. Every Scripture quotation above is copied from the existing KJV chapter text. Read the whole chapter and compare the setting before applying a meaning to another occurrence.