New International Version
Luke 4:25
25I 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.
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;
- 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;
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land.
Context of Luke 4:25
23Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’ ” 24“Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 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. 26Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
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 that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
- Isaiah 55:8“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
- Matthew 20:15Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
- Mark 7:26The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
- Romans 9:15For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom 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, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”
- 1 Kings 18:1After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.”
- James 5:17Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
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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