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Luke 21:16

in Luke 21

You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But ye shall be delivered up even by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

KJV

And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

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This verse in Luke 21

Commentary

15 notes on this verse

A commentator

Tertullian

Against Marcion Book IV · Written before 220.

Now, what plea is wiser and more irresistible than the simple and open" confession made in a martyr's cause, who "prevails with God"-which is what "Israel" means? Now, one cannot wonder that He forbade "premeditation," who actually Himself received from the Father the ability of uttering words in season: "The Lord hath given to me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season (to him that is weary); " except that Marcion introduces to us a Christ who is not subject to the Father.

This site's exposition

betrayed even by parents

on Luke 21:16-19

Jesus warns that some of them will be put to death, a cost the church paid from Stephen on. Verse 19 names what is kept: By your patient endurance you will gain your souls.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers3 voices

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 397.

proposed

There are also other wars which the Christian wages, the struggles of different lusts, and the conflicts of the will; and domestic foes are far more dangerous than foreign.

A commentator

Cyril of Alexandria

COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 139 · Written before 444.

proposed

Jesus gives them clear and evident signs of the time when the consummation of the world draws near. He says that there will be wars, turmoil, famines and epidemics everywhere. There will be terrors from heaven and great signs. As another Evangelist says, "All the stars shall fall, and the heaven be rolled up like a scroll, and its powers will be shaken."In the middle of this, the Savior places what refers to the capture of Jerusalem. He mixes the accounts together in both parts of the narrative. Before all these things, he says, "They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and to prisons and bringing you before kings and rulers for my name's sake. This will be a witness to you." Before the times of consummation, the land of the Jews was taken captive, and the Roman armies overran it. They burned the temple, overthrew their national government, and stopped the means for legal worship. They no longer had sacrifices, now that the temple was destroyed. The country of the Jews together with Jerusalem itself was totally laid waste. Before these things happened, they persecuted the blessed disciples. They imprisoned them and had a part in unendurable trials. They brought the disciples before judges and sent them to kings. Paul was sent to Rome to Caesar.… Christ promises, however, that he will deliver them certainly and completely. He says that a hair of your head will not perish.

A commentator

Gregory of Nyssa

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 395.

proposed

But let us consider the state of things at that time. While all men were suspected, kinsfolk were divided against one another, each differing from the other in religion; the gentile son stood up the betrayer of his believing parents, and of his believing son the unbelieving father became the determined accuser; no age was spared in the persecution of the faith; women were unprotected even by the natural weakness of their sex.

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 35 · Written before 604.

proposed

It follows: "But you will be betrayed by parents and brothers, and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death." Evils inflicted by strangers cause lesser pain. But those torments rage more fiercely within us which we suffer from those in whose minds we had confidence, because along with bodily harm, the evils of lost love torment us. Hence it is that the Lord says through the Psalmist concerning Judas His betrayer: "Indeed if my enemy had cursed me, I would have borne it; and if he who hated me had spoken great things against me, I would certainly have hidden myself from him. But you, a man of one mind with me, my guide and my acquaintance, who took sweet food together with me, we walked in the house of God with agreement." And again: "The man of my peace in whom I trusted, and who ate my bread, has greatly plotted treachery against me." As if He says in plain words about His betrayer: I bore his transgression all the more gravely because I perceived it from one who seemed to be mine. All the elect, therefore, because they are members of the supreme Head, also follow their Head in sufferings, so that they feel those very people as adversaries in their death from whose life they had confidence, and their reward of labor increases all the more as the gain of their virtue profits from another's loss of love.

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 604.

proposed

(Hom. 35. in Evang.) We are the more galled by the persecutions we suffer from those of whose dispositions we made sure, because together with the bodily pain, we are tormented by the bitter pangs of lost affection.
8 more voices on this verse

The Medieval Church4 voices

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Luke · Written before 1107.

proposed

Having said this and diminished their fear of being unlearned, the Lord brings up yet another circumstance, both necessary and capable of shaking their souls, namely: that they will be betrayed by friends and relatives. He foretells this circumstance so that, should it happen suddenly, …

A commentator

Bede

On the Gospel of Luke · Written before 735.

proposed

But you will be betrayed by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by everyone because of my name. Lesser pain is caused by evils inflicted by strangers; indeed, the torments …

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 1107.

proposed

Having in what has gone before dispelled the fear of inexperience, He goes on to warn them of another very certain event, which might agitate their minds, lest falling suddenly upon them, it should dismay them; for it follows, And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

A commentator

Bonaventure

Commentary on Luke, Chapter 21 · Written in the 13th century.

proposed

But you will be handed over by parents, etc. After he described the public persecution of the perfect, here he describes the private persecution; concerning which three things are introduced, namely domestic conflict, heavenly protection, and internal armor. First, therefore, regarding the domestic struggle, he …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren,.... See Gill on Mat 10:21. and kinsfolks, and friends. The Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions add, "your", to each of these relations, as your parents, &c. and some of you shall they cause to be put to death; as Stephen was stoned to death, and James, the brother of John, Herod killed with the sword, Act 7:58 and indeed all of them were put to death, except John, before the destruction of Jerusalem.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Nay." [5.] "You shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. " This is worse than death itself, and was fulfilled when the apostles were not only appointed to death, but made a spectacle to the world, and counted as the filth of the world, and the offscouring of all things, which every body loathes, 1 Cor. iv.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

These words no doubt received a partial fulfillment in the days when Jerusalem was captured by the Romans, and the Jews were led into captivity. It was a season of unparalleled desolation to Judea, and the countries round about Judea. The last days of the Jewish dispensation, were wound up by a struggle which for bloodshed, misery, and tribulation, has never been equaled since the world began. But the words before us have yet to receive a more complete accomplishment. They describe the time which shall immediately precede the second coming of Jesus Christ.
These words no doubt received a partial fulfillment in the days when Jerusalem was captured by the Romans, and the Jews were led into captivity. It was a season of unparalleled desolation to Judea, and the countries round about Judea. The last days of the Jewish dispensation, were wound up by a struggle which for bloodshed, misery, and tribulation, has never been equaled since the world began. But the words before us have yet to receive a more complete accomplishment. They describe the time which shall immediately precede the second coming of Jesus Christ. The "time of the end" shall be a time of war, and not of universal peace. The Christian dispensation shall pass away like the Jewish one — amid wars, tumults, and desolation, amid a general crash of empires and kingdoms, such as the eyes of man have never yet seen. A thorough understanding of these things is of great importance to our souls. Nothing is so calculated to chill the heart and dampen the faith of a Christian — as indulgence in unscriptural expectations . Let us dismiss from our minds the vain idea that nations will ever give up wars entirely, before Jesus Christ comes again. So long as the devil is the prince of this world, and the hearts of the many are unconverted — so long there must be strife and fighting. There will be no universal peace before the second coming of the Prince of peace. Then, and then only, "They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4.) Let us cease to expect that missionaries and ministers will ever convert the world, and teach all mankind to love one another. They will do nothing of the kind! They were never intended to do it.

The words behind it

15 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

16 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Matthew 10:35For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.14 worksMatthew 24:10At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another,8 worksLuke 12:53They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”6 worksMicah 7:6For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the members of his own household.6 worksRevelation 6:9And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld.4 worksMark 13:12Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.3 works
The other 10 cross-references, with their words ▾
Jeremiah 9:4“Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander.3 worksMatthew 10:21Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.3 worksMicah 7:5–6Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.3 worksActs 7:59While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”2 worksRevelation 2:13I know where you live, where the throne of Satan sits. Yet you have held fast to My name and have not denied your faith in Me, even in the day when My faithful witness Antipas was killed among you, where Satan dwells.2 worksActs 12:2He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.2 worksJeremiah 12:6Even your brothers—your own father’s household—even they have betrayed you; even they have cried aloud against you. Do not trust them, though they speak well of you.2 worksRevelation 12:11They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.2 worksRomans 1:30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents.2 worksActs 26:10–11And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With authority from the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were condemned to death, I cast my vote against them.1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Matthew 10:21

    Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 24:10

      At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another,

      Reached by 3 separate paths from here.

    • Micah 7:5–6

      Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Luke 21:16–17

      You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death.

    • Mark 13:12–13

      Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.

  • Through

    Revelation 6:9

    And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld.

    it leads to

    • Revelation 20:4

      Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for…

    • John 16:2

      They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.

    • Revelation 1:9

      I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus.

  • Through

    Luke 12:53

    They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

    it leads to

    • Micah 7:6

      For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the members of his own household.

Where this verse is studied

About Luke

The Return of the Prodigal Son, Rembrandt, about 1668. Public domain.
The Return of the Prodigal Son, Rembrandt, about 1668. Public domain.
Luke: the study guide →Read Luke 21 →
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede, On the Gospel of Luke; Bonaventure, Commentary on Luke, Chapter 21; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 139; Gregory of Nyssa, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 35; Gregory the Dialogist, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Tertullian, Against Marcion Book IV; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Luke and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.

Read on in Luke 21 →