EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Luke 4:25
25What I tell you is true. There were many widows in the country of Israel when Elijah was alive. At that time, it did not rain for three and a half years. So people were very hungry in all the country.
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
23Jesus then said to them, ‘Now you will tell me the proverb, “Doctor, make yourself well!” You will also say, “We have heard that you did many surprising things in Capernaum. This is your home town, so do the same things here!” 24I tell you this: People do not accept a prophet of God who comes from their own town. What I tell you is true. There were many widows in the country of Israel when Elijah was alive. At that time, it did not rain for three and a half years. So people were very hungry in all the country. 26But God did not send Elijah to help a widow in Israel. Instead, God sent Elijah to the country called Sidon. There he helped a widow in a place called Zarephath. 27Here is another example: When God's prophet Elisha was alive, there were many people in Israel with a bad disease of the skin. But God did not make any of them well. Instead, he made a man well who was from the country called Syria. That man was called Naaman.’
Read all of Luke 4Luke 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 10:21At this moment, the Holy Spirit made Jesus very happy. He said, ‘Father, you rule over everything in heaven and on the earth! People that do not know many things now can understand your message. I thank you for this. But you have hidden these things from other people. Those people think that they understand everything. They think that they are wise. Yes, Father, this is how you wanted it to happen.’
- Isaiah 55:8The Lord says, ‘Remember! My thoughts are not the same as your thoughts. The way that you do things is not the same as the way that I do things.
- Matthew 20:15It is my money. I can choose what to do with it. I want to be kind to people and give them more than we agreed. Does that make you upset?” ’
- Mark 7:26She was not a Jew. Her family was from Phoenicia in the country of Syria. She asked Jesus to make the bad spirit go out of her daughter.
- Romans 9:15Think about this. God said to Moses, ‘I will be kind to whoever I choose to be kind to. I will feel sorry for whoever I choose to feel sorry for.’
- Ephesians 1:9He has let us know his great purpose, which had been a secret before. That plan would make him very happy. It would be possible because of Christ.
- 1 Kings 17:1There was a prophet called Elijah who came from Tishbe in Gilead. He said to King Ahab, ‘I am a servant of the Lord, Israel's God. As surely as God lives, there will be no rain or dew for the next few years. Nothing will make the ground wet until I command it to happen.’
- 1 Kings 18:1When there had been no rain for three years, the Lord told Elijah, ‘Go and meet King Ahab. After that, I will send rain to make the ground wet again.’
- James 5:17For example, God's prophet Elijah was an ordinary person, as we are. He prayed to God that it would not rain. He continued to pray and it did not rain on the land 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
In the dictionaries
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
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