A primary verb used in two tenses with distinct meanings: the aorist eidon means 'I saw' (physical or visionary sight), and the perfect oida means 'I know' (knowledge gained through observation). This dual meaning reveals the Greek connection between seeing and knowing — what you have seen, you know. Distinguished from ginōskō (G1097, experiential knowing), oida implies settled, complete knowledge.
The seeing-knowing connection pervades NT theology. 'No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son… has made Him known' (John 1:18) — Christ makes the invisible God visible and therefore knowable. Thomas declares after seeing the risen Christ, 'My Lord and my God!' — but Jesus responds, 'Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed' (John 20:29), elevating faith above sight. Paul's 'we know (oidamen) that all things work together for good' (Rom 8:28) expresses settled confidence, not speculation. John's first epistle repeatedly uses oida for the certainties of faith: 'We know that we have passed from death to life' (1 John 3:14). Biblical knowing is not abstract — it begins in encounter and matures into conviction.