Were holden that they should not know him (ekratounto tou mē epignōnai auton). Imperfect passive of krateō, continued being held, with the ablative case of the articular infinitive, “from recognizing him,” from knowing him fully (epi-gnōnai, ingressive aorist of epiginōsko). The mē is a redundant negative after the negative idea in ekratounto.