Luke 3:14

Luke 3:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.
• New International Version (NIV)Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages."
• New King James Version (NKJV)Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”

Context of Luke 3:14

12In the crowd, there were men who took taxes from people. These men also wanted John to baptize them. They asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ 13John told them, ‘You must take the right amount of money from people. You must not take more money than the rules say you should take.’ Then some soldiers asked John, ‘What about us? What should we do?’ John replied, ‘Do not rob people of their money. Do not say that a person is guilty if he has not done anything wrong. You must not take money for yourself in that way. You should be happy with the money that you receive for your work.’ 15At this time people were thinking, ‘Is John the Messiah that God has promised?’ They were all hoping that he might be. 16John knew what they were thinking. He said to them, ‘I baptize you with water. But someone else is coming soon. He is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to undo his shoes for him. This other person will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Luke 3:14 word by word

ἐπηρώτων δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ στρατευόμενοι λέγοντες· τί ποιήσωμεν καὶ ἡμεῖς; καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· μηδένα διασείσητε μηδὲ συκοφαντήσητε καὶ ἀρκεῖσθε τοῖς ὀψωνίοις ὑμῶν.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Andδέde · thenG1161
• the soldiersστρατεύωstrateuomai · to battleG4754
• likewiseκαίkai · andG2532
• demandedἐπερωτάωeperōtaō · to questionG1905
• of himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• sayingλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• whatτίςtis · which?G5101
• shallποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• weἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• he saidλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• untoπρόςpros · to/withG4314
• Do violence toδιασείωdiaseiō · to extortG1286
• no manμηδείςmēdeis mēdemia mēden · nothingG3367
• neitherμηδέmēde · norG3366
• accuseσυκοφαντέωsukophanteō · to extortG4811
• be contentἀρκέωarkeō · be sufficientG714
• withὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• withὀψώνιονopsōnion · compensationG3800
• yourσύsu · youG4771

Cross-references for Luke 3:14

• Matthew 8:5Jesus went into Capernaum. An officer in the Roman army came to meet him. He asked Jesus to help him.
• Acts 10:7Then the angel who spoke to Cornelius went away. Cornelius told two of his servants and a soldier of his group to come to him. The soldier was one of those who served Cornelius. He was a good man who obeyed God.
• Romans 13:9The rules in God's Law say this: ‘Do not have sex with anyone who is not your own wife or your own husband. Do not kill anyone. Do not rob anyone. Do not want things that belong to other people.’ All these rules, and all the other rules in God's Law, are all included in one rule. That one rule is: ‘Love other people as much as you love yourself.’
• Philippians 2:15Then you will not be guilty of anything that is wrong. You will be clean inside yourselves. You will be living in a completely good way, as God's children should. In this world, you are living among bad people who have turned away from what is good. But you must bring light into this dark place, like stars that shine in the night.
• Luke 19:8Later, Zacchaeus stood up in front of everyone. He said to the Lord Jesus, ‘Listen, Master! I will give half of all the things that I have to poor people. I may have taken too much money from some people. I will give back to them four times as much as I took from them wrongly.’
• Exodus 20:16You must not say false things against your neighbour.
• Exodus 23:1Do not make false reports. Do not tell lies in court to help wicked people.
• Leviticus 19:11You must not take something that belongs to another person. You must not say something that is not true. You must obey my rules.
• Revelation 12:10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven that said: ‘Now God has saved his people from Satan's power! God has shown his great power as King. His Messiah has authority to rule. Satan said bad things against our people. He never stopped telling our God that our brothers and sisters are guilty. But now God has thrown him out of heaven.
• Philippians 4:11When I say that, it is not because I need anything. I have learned to be happy, whatever things may happen to me.
• 1 Timothy 6:8So, if we have enough food and clothes, we should be happy with that.
• Hebrews 13:5In the way that you live, do not want lots of money. Be happy with the things that you have. Be happy, because God has said this: ‘I will never leave you; I will always be there with you.’

Commentaries on Luke 3:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14The soldiers likewise demanded of him - He, thirdly, instructs those among the military. They were either Roman soldiers, or the soldiers of Herod or Philip. Use no violence to any, , do not extort money or goods by force or violence from any. This is the import of the words neminein concutite, used here by the Vulgate, and points out a crime of which the Roman soldiers were notoriously guilty, their own writers being witnesses. Concussio has the above…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14The soldiers likewise - It seems that “they,” also came to his baptism. Whether these were Jews or Romans cannot be ascertained. It is not improbable that, as Judea was a Roman province, they were Jews or Jewish proselytes in the service of Herod Antipas or Philip, and so were really in the Roman service. Do violence … - Do not take the property of any by unlawful force, or do not use unjust force against the person or property of any individual. it is…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14These soldiers were probably not Roman, but local Jewish troops under the authority of Herod Antipas. They might have been assigned to protect the tax collectors. John does not condemn either tax collectors or soldiers but calls them to honesty and integrity.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 10-1410-14. What shall we do then?--to show the sincerity of our repentance. (Also see on Mt 3:10.)Read the comment

Topics related to Luke 3:14

• Accusation, False
• Contentment
• False Teachers
• Injustice
• Integrity
• Righteousness
• Soldiers
• Wages

In the dictionaries

• Demand
• Mary
• Reprove
• Unquenchable
• Violence
• Wages
• Antediluvian Patriarchs
• Army
• Jesus Christ
• John the Baptist

Commentaries on Luke 3

• 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