The Meaning of Luke 13:29 Explained

Luke 13:29

KJV: And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.

YLT: and they shall come from east and west, and from north and south, and shall recline in the reign of God,

Darby: And they shall come from east and west, and from north and south, and shall lie down at table in the kingdom of God.

ASV: And they shall come from the east and west, and from the north and south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  they shall come  from  the east,  and  [from] the west,  and  from  the north,  and  [from] the south,  and  shall sit down  in  the kingdom  of God. 

What does Luke 13:29 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 13:18-30 - The Penalty Of Neglected Opportunity
Notice here the inward movement and the outward effect of the gospel whether in the heart or in the world of men. The garden and the kitchen, the lives of men and women, respectively yield the same lesson. Though the seed of the divine nature is sown in secret, it cannot remain secret, but works its way into manifestation. Man's method is from without inward; God's, from within outward. You cannot estimate the results when a little child receives the incorruptible seed, 1 Peter 1:23.
But the entrance into the full power and blessedness of Christ is by a narrow way. The strait gate is open to all, but it means that we have to deny and leave behind all that is carnal, whether good or bad in the estimate of men, so that the divine life may have the entire field. Merely to eat and drink in Christ's presence betrays a self-indulgence which is foreign to His Spirit. You may sit at the Lord's table and yet be a worker of iniquity! We may be first in privilege, but last in grace. Luke 13:29-30 remind us of Acts 10:34-35 and Romans 2:13. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 13

1  Jesus preaches repentance upon the punishment of the Galilaeans and others
6  The fruitless fig tree may not stand
10  He heals the crooked woman;
18  shows the powerful working of the word, by the parable of the grain of mustard seed,
20  and of leaven;
22  exhorts to enter in at the strait gate;
31  and reproves Herod and Jerusalem

Greek Commentary for Luke 13:29

Shall sit down [ανακλιτησονται]
Future passive indicative third plural. Recline, of course, is the figure of this heavenly banquet. Jesus does not mean that these will be saved in different ways, but only that many will come from all the four quarters of the earth. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 13:29

2 Timothy 4:18 Heavenly kingdom [τὴν βασιλείαν τὴν ἐπουράνιον]
The phrase N.T.o Ἑπουράνιος heavenlyonly here in Pastorals. Mostly in Paul and Hebrews. Heavenly kingdom, here the future, glorified life, as 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Corinthians 6:10; 1 Corinthians 15:50; Luke 13:29. In the same sense, kingdom of Christ and of God, Ephesians 5:5; kingdom of their Father, Matthew 13:43; my Father's kingdom, Matthew 26:29; kingdom prepared for you, Matthew 25:34; eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 2 Peter 1:11. [source]
Revelation 21:13 Three gates [πυλωνες τρεις]
(πυλωνες τρεις — pulōnes treis) on each of the four sides as in Ezekiel 42:16.; “on the east” (απο ανατολης — apo anatolēs as in Revelation 16:12, starting from the east), “on the north” (απο βορρα — apo borrā from the north, as in Luke 13:29), “on the south” (απο νοτου — apo notou from the south, as in Luke 13:29), “on the west” (απο δυσμων — apo dusmōn from the west, as in Matthew 8:11). [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 13:29 mean?

And they will come from east west north south will recline in the kingdom - of God
καὶ ἥξουσιν ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν δυσμῶν βορρᾶ νότου ἀνακλιθήσονται ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ

ἥξουσιν  they  will  come 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἥκω  
Sense: to have come, have arrived, be present.
ἀνατολῶν  east 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Plural
Root: ἀνατολή  
Sense: a rising (of the sun and stars).
δυσμῶν  west 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Plural
Root: δυσμή  
Sense: the setting of the sun.
βορρᾶ  north 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: βορρᾶς  
Sense: Boreas, the north-north-east wind.
νότου  south 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: νότος  
Sense: the south wind.
ἀνακλιθήσονται  will  recline 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἀνακλίνω  
Sense: to lean against, lean upon.
βασιλείᾳ  kingdom 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: βασιλεία  
Sense: royal power, kingship, dominion, rule.
τοῦ  - 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Θεοῦ  of  God 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.