Luke 3:9

Luke 3:9 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
• New International Version (NIV)The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
• New King James Version (NKJV)And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Context of Luke 3:9

7Crowds of people were going out into the wilderness. They wanted John to baptize them. He told them, ‘You are like dangerous snakes! God is angry. You are trying to run away from him. But he will soon punish people like you. 8You have to show that you are sorry. Change how you live. Stop doing things that God does not like. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We are in the family of Abraham. God will surely not punish us.” Listen! God can take these stones and make children for Abraham out of them! You are like trees that have bad fruit. God has an axe ready to use. He will cut down every tree that does not make good fruit. He will throw those trees into the fire.’ 10‘So what should we do?’ the crowd asked. 11John answered, ‘If you have two shirts, give one away. Give it to someone who does not have even one shirt. If you have some food, give some of it away. Give some to someone who has no food.’

Luke 3:9 word by word

ἤδη δὲ καὶ ἡ ἀξίνη πρὸς τὴν ῥίζαν τῶν δένδρων κεῖται· πᾶν οὖν δένδρον μὴ ποιοῦν καρπὸν καλὸν ἐκκόπτεται καὶ εἰς πῦρ βάλλεται.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Andδέde · thenG1161
• nowἤδηēdē · alreadyG2235
• alsoκαίkai · andG2532
• the axeὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the axeἀξίνηaxinē · axeG513
• is laidκεῖμαιkeimai · to lay/be appointedG2749
• untoπρόςpros · to/withG4314
• the rootῥίζαrhiza · rootG4491
• of the treesδένδρονdendron · treeG1186
• everyπᾶςpas · allG3956
• thereforeοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
• which bringethποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• notμήmē · notG3361
• goodκαλόςkalos · goodG2570
• fruitκαρπόςkarpos · fruitG2590
• is hewn downἐκκόπτωekkoptō · to preventG1581
• castβάλλωballō · to throw: throwG906
• intoεἰςeis · towardG1519
• the fireπῦρpur · fireG4442

Cross-references for Luke 3:9

• Luke 13:7So he said to his gardener, “Look, for three years, I have come to look for fruit on this tree. But I have never found any. So cut the tree down! I do not think that it should be here. It is wasting the ground.”
• Luke 23:29Listen! Days will come when people will say, “It is better for those women that could not have babies. Those women that never had babies to feed are the happy ones!”
• Isaiah 10:33But look! The Lord Almighty is ready to use his great power to destroy Assyria's strong army. He will cut it down, like a tall tree. He will cut off all the branches and knock all the trees down to the ground.
• Ezekiel 15:2‘Son of man, the wood of a vine is no better than the wood of any other tree that grows in the forest.
• Ezekiel 31:18Yes, Egypt is very strong, like the great trees of Eden. You are as great and powerful as any nation. But you will fall to the ground and go into your grave. It happened to Assyria and the other nations, and it will happen to you. You will lie under the ground among people who do not belong to me and who have died in war. This is a picture of what will happen to Pharaoh and all his people. That is what the Almighty Lord says.” ’
• Daniel 4:14The angel shouted aloud, “Cut down the tree. Cut off its branches. Tear off its leaves. Let its fruits go away to other places. The animals that are under the tree must run away. The birds that are in its branches must fly away.
• Matthew 3:10You are like trees that have bad fruit. God has an axe ready to use. He will cut down every tree that does not make good fruit. He will throw those trees into the fire.
• Matthew 7:19A farmer will cut down any tree that does not make good fruit. He will burn it on a fire.
• John 15:6If anyone does not remain in me, that person is like a dead branch. The gardener will throw that branch away and it will die. People throw all those dead branches into the fire so that they burn.
• Hebrews 10:28In the old agreement, anyone who refused to obey Moses' rules had to die. If two or three people said that he had done a bad thing, that person had to die. They would not forgive him.
• Hebrews 12:29Remember that our God is like a fire. He destroys everything that is not good.

Commentaries on Luke 3:9

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3-9Verses 3-9 On the baptism of John - see the notes at Matthew 3.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9every tree that does not produce good fruit: If Israel did not repent and produce good works, God would judge them to be as worthless as a vineyard without grapes (see Isaiah 5:1–7; compare Luke 13:7–9; 20:9–19).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-20(See on Mt 3:1-12; Mr 6:17, &c.). 1-2. Here the curtain of the New Testament is, as it were, drawn up, and the greatest of all epochs of the Church commences. Even our Lord's own age (Lu 3:23) is determined by it [Bengel]. No such elaborate chronological precision is to be found elsewhere in the New Testament, and it comes fitly from him who claims it as the peculiar recommendation of his Gospel, that he had "accurately traced down all things from the…Read the comment

Topics related to Luke 3:9

• Minister, Christian
• Reproof
• Sadducees
• Unfruitfulness
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Axe
• Demand
• Mary
• Reprove
• Unquenchable
• Violence
• Wages
• Antediluvian Patriarchs
• Ax (axe); Ax-Head
• Jesus Christ

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