Luke 4:25

Luke 4:25 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
• New International Version (NIV)I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land,
• New King James Version (NKJV)But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land;

Context of Luke 4:25

23So He said to them, “You will no doubt quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal Yourself! Whatever [miracles] that we heard were done [by You] in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown as well.’ ” 24Then He said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was closed up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; 26and yet Elijah was not sent [by the Lord] to a single one of them, but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and not one of them was cleansed [by being healed] except Naaman the Syrian.”

Luke 4:25 word by word

ἐπ᾽ ἀληθείας δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν· πολλαὶ χῆραι ἦσαν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ἠλίου ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ ὅτε ἐκλείσθη ὁ οὐρανὸς ἐπὶ ἔτη τρία καὶ μῆνας ἕξ, ὡς ἐγένετο λιμὸς μέγας ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Butδέde · thenG1161
• I tellλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• youσύsu · youG4771
• ofἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
• a truthἀλήθειαalētheia · truthG225
• manyπολύςpolus polos · muchG4183
• widowsχήραchēra · widowG5503
• wereεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• IsraelἸσραήλIsraēl · IsraelG2474
• the daysἡμέραhēmera · dayG2250
• of EliasἩλίαςHēlias · ElijahG2243
• whenὅτεhote ho te hē te tō te · whenG3753
• the heavenοὐρανόςouranos · heavenG3772
• was shut upκλείωkleiō · to shutG2808
• threeτρεῖςtreis tria · ThreeG5140
• yearsἔτοςetos · yearG2094
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• sixἕξhex · sixG1803
• monthsμήνmēn · monthG3376
• whenὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
• greatμέγαςmegas · greatG3173
• famineλιμόςlimos · hungerG3042
• wasγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• allπᾶςpas · allG3956
• the landγῆgē · earth: countryG1093

Cross-references for Luke 4:25

• Luke 10:21In that very hour He was overjoyed and rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and He said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things [relating to salvation] from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to infants [the childlike and untaught]. Yes, Father, for this way was [Your gracious will and choice, and was] well-pleasing in Your sight.
• Isaiah 55:8“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
• Matthew 20:15Am I not lawfully permitted to do what I choose with what is mine? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’
• Mark 7:26Now the woman was a Gentile (Greek), a Syrophoenician by nationality. And she kept pleading with Him to drive the demon out of her daughter.
• Romans 9:15For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion.”
• Ephesians 1:9He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ,
• 1 Kings 17:1Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
• 1 Kings 18:1Now it happened after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth.”
• James 5:17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours [with the same physical, mental, and spiritual limitations and shortcomings], and he prayed intensely for it not to rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

Commentaries on Luke 4:25

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 25In the days of Elias - See this history, 1 Kings 17:1-9, compared with 1 Kings 18:1-45. This was evidently a miraculous interference, as no rain fell for three years and six months, even in the rainy seasons. There were two of these in Judea, called the first and the latter rains; the first fell in October, the latter in April: the first prepared the ground for the seed, the latter ripened the harvest. As both these rains were withheld, consequently there…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 25Of a truth - Truly, and therefore worthy of your credit. He calls attention to two cases where “acknowledged” prophets had so little honor in their own nation that they bestowed their favors on foreigners. So, says he, such is the want of faith in my own country, that I shall work no miracles here, but shall give the evidence of my divine mission to others. In Israel - In the land of Israel, or Judea. It was therefore the more remarkable, since there were…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-30Verses 14-30 Christ taught in their synagogues, their places of public worship, where they met to read, expound, and apply the word, to pray and praise. All the gifts and graces of the Spirit were upon him and on him, without measure. By Christ, sinners may be loosed from the bonds of guilt, and by his Spirit and grace from the bondage of corruption. He came by the word of his gospel, to bring light to those that sat in the dark, and by the power of his…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 25-26widow of Zarephath: See 1 Kings 17–18.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 25-2725-27. But I tell you, &c.--falling back for support on the well-known examples of Elijah and Elisha (Eliseus), whose miraculous power, passing by those who were near, expended itself on those at a distance, yea on heathens, "the two great prophets who stand at the commencement of prophetic antiquity, and whose miracles strikingly prefigured those of our Lord. As He intended like them to feed the poor and cleanse the lepers, He points to these miracles of…Read the comment

Topics related to Luke 4:25

• Jesus, the Christ
• Nazareth
• Predestination
• Prophets
• Synagogue
• Word of God

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Capernaum
• Close
• Deliverance
• Elijah
• Gracious
• Isaiah, The Book of
• Keep

Commentaries on Luke 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings