The Meaning of Luke 6:22 Explained

Luke 6:22

KJV: Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.

YLT: Happy are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach, and shall cast forth your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake --

Darby: Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from them, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as wicked, for the Son of man's sake:

ASV: Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company , and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Blessed  are ye,  when  men  shall hate  you,  and  when  they shall separate  you  [from their company], and  shall reproach  [you], and  cast out  your  name  as  evil,  for the Son  of man's  sake. 

What does Luke 6:22 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 6:12-26 - New Leaders And New Principles
There are three circles here: First, Christ and His Apostles-the men who were to be sent into all the world to preach the gospel and to lay the foundations of the Church. How little did these single men imagine that one day their names would become inscribed on the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem!
The next circle is that of the disciples, Luke 6:17. You must be a disciple before you can be an apostle. You must learn, if you are to teach. You must sit at the feet of Jesus, till some day He calls you out from the class and commissions you to the world. The sheep becomes a shepherd.
The third great outer rim is the poor, needy world. What a gathering of sick folk! But if only people knew the distempers of their soul-life they would gather with equal eagerness to Jesus. How wonderful that secret touch! Luke 6:19. But many still touch Him in the press! [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 6

1  Jesus reproves the Pharisees;
12  chooses apostles;
17  heals the diseased;
20  preaches to his disciples before the people: the beattitudes;
27  Love your Enemy
37  Do not Judge
43  A Tree and Its Fruit
46  The House on the Rock

Greek Commentary for Luke 6:22

When they shall separate you [οταν απορισωσιν υμας]
First aorist active subjunctive, from αποριζω — aphorizō common verb for marking off a boundary. So either in good sense or bad sense as here. The reference is to excommunication from the congregation as well as from social intercourse. [source]
Cast out your name as evil [εχβαλωσιν το ονομα υμων ως πονηρον]
Second aorist active subjunctive of εκβαλλω — ekballō common verb. The verb is used in Aristophanes, Sophocles, and Plato of hissing an actor off the stage. The name of Christian or disciple or Nazarene came to be a byword of contempt as shown in the Acts. It was even unlawful in the Neronian persecution when Christianity was not a religio licita.For the Son of man‘s sake (ενεκα του υιου του αντρωπου — heneka tou huiou tou anthrōpou). Jesus foretold what will befall those who are loyal to him. The Acts of the Apostles is a commentary on this prophecy. This is Christ‘s common designation of himself, never of others save by Stephen (Acts 7:56) and in the Apocalypse (Revelation 1:13; Revelation 14:14). But both Son of God and Son of man apply to him (John 1:50, 52; Matthew 26:63.). Christ was a real man though the Son of God. He is also the representative man and has authority over all men. [source]
For the Son of man‘s sake [ενεκα του υιου του αντρωπου]
Jesus foretold what will befall those who are loyal to him. The Acts of the Apostles is a commentary on this prophecy. This is Christ‘s common designation of himself, never of others save by Stephen (Acts 7:56) and in the Apocalypse (Revelation 1:13; Revelation 14:14). But both Son of God and Son of man apply to him (John 1:50, 52; Matthew 26:63.). Christ was a real man though the Son of God. He is also the representative man and has authority over all men. [source]
Son of Man []
The phrase is employed in the Old Testament as a circumlocution for man, with special reference to his frailty as contrasted with God (Numbers 23:19; Psalm 8:4; Job 25:6; Job 35:8; and eighty-nine times in Ezekiel). It had also a Messianic meaning (Daniel 7:13 sq.), to which our Lord referred in Matthew 24:30; Matthew 26:64. It was the title which Christ most frequently applied to himself; and there are but two instances in which it is applied to him by another, viz., by Stephen (Acts 7:56) and by John (Revelation 1:13; Revelation 14:14:); and when acquiescing in the title “Son of God,” addressed to himself, he sometimes immediately after substitutes “Son of Man” (John 1:50, John 1:51; Matthew 26:63, Matthew 26:64). The title asserts Christ's humanity - his absolute identification with our race: “his-DIVIDER-
having a genuine humanity which could deem nothing human strange, and could be touched with a feeling of the infirmities of the race which he was to judge” (Liddon, “Our Lord's Divinity”). It also exalts him as the representative ideal man. “All-DIVIDER-
human history tends to him and radiates from him; he is the point in which humanity finds its unity; as St. Irenaeus says, ' He recapitulates it.' He closes the earlier history of our race; he inaugurates its future. Nothing local, transient, individualizing, national, sectarian dwarfs the proportions of his world-embracing character. He rises above the parentage, the blood, the narrow horizon which bounded, as it seemed, his human life. He is the archetypal man, in whose presence distinction of race, intervals of ages, types of civilization, degrees of mental culture are as nothing” (Liddon). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
But the title means more. As Son of Man he asserts the authority of judgment over all flesh. By virtue of what he is as Son of Man, he must be more. “The absolute relation to the world which he attributes to himself demands an absolute relation to God … .He is the Son of Man, the Lord of the world, the Judge, only because he is the Son of God” (Luthardt). Christ's humanity can be explained only by his divinity. A humanity so unique demands a solution. Divested of all that is popularly called miraculous, viewed simply as a man, under the historical conditions of his life, he is a greater miracle than all his miracles combined. The solution is expressed in Hebrews 1:1-14. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
[source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 6:22

John 5:27 The Son of man []
Better, a son of man. The article is wanting. The authority is assigned to Him as being very man. John uses the article everywhere with this phrase, except here and Revelation 1:13; Revelation 14:14. See on Luke 6:22. [source]
John 1:51 Son of man []
See on Ezekiel 2:1-394. Notice the titles successively applied to our Lord in this chapter: the greater Successor of the Baptist, the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the Messiah, the King of Israel. These were all given by others. The title Son of man He applies to Himself. In John's Gospel, as in the Synoptists, this phrase is used only by Christ in speaking of Himself; and elsewhere only in Acts 7:56, where the name is applied to Him by Stephen. It occurs less frequently in John than in the Synoptists, being found in Matthew thirty times, in Mark thirteen, and in John twelve. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Jesus' use of the term here is explained in two ways. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
I. That He borrows the title from the Old Testament to designate Himself either: (a ) as a prophet, as in 1713541176_5; Ezekiel 3:1, etc.; or (b ) as the Messiah, as prefigured in Daniel 7:13. This prophecy of Daniel had obtained such wide currency that the Messiah was called Anani, or the man of the clouds. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
(a.) This is untenable, because in Ezekiel, as everywhere in the Old Testament, the phrase Son of man, or Sons of men, is used to describe man under his human limitations, as weak, fallible, and incompetent by himself to be a divine agent. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
(b.) The allusion to Daniel's prophecy is admitted; but Jesus does not mean to say, “I am the Messiah who is prefigured by Daniel.” A political meaning attached in popular conception to the term Messiah; and it is noticeable throughout John's Gospel that Jesus carefully avoids using that term before the people, but expresses the thing itself by circumlocution, in order to avoid the complication which the popular understanding would have introduced into his work. See John 8:24, John 8:25; John 10:24, John 10:25. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Moreover, the phrase Son of man was not generally applied to the Messiah. On the contrary, John 5:27and John 12:34show that it was set off against that term. Compare Matthew 16:13, Matthew 16:15. Son of God is the Messianic title, which, with one exception, appears in confessions (John 1:34, John 1:49; John 11:27; John 20:31). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
In Daniel the reference is exclusively to the final stage of human affairs. The point is the final establishment of the divine kingdom. Moreover, Daniel does not say “the Son of man,” but “one like a Son of man.” Compare Revelation 1:13; Revelation 14:14, where also the article is omitted. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
II. The second, and correct explanation is that the phrase Son of man is the expression of Christ's self-consciousness as being related to humanity as a whole: denoting His real participation in human nature, and designating Himself as the representative man. It thus corresponds with the passage in Daniel, where the earthly kingdoms are represented by beasts, but the divine kingdom by a Son of man. Hence, too, the word ἄνθρωπος is purposely used (see on a man, John 1:30, and compare John 8:40). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
While the human element was thus emphasized in the phrase, the consciousness of Jesus, as thus expressed, did not exclude His divine nature and claims, but rather regarded these through the medium of His humanity. He showed Himself divine in being thus profoundly human. Hence two aspects of the phrase appear in John, as in the Synoptists. The one regards His earthly life and work, and involves His being despised; His accommodation to the conditions of human life; the partial veiling of His divine nature; the loving character of His mission; His liability to misinterpretation; and His outlook upon a consummation of agony. On the other hand, He is possessed of supreme authority; He is about His Father's work; He reveals glimpses of His divine nature through His humanity; His presence and mission entail serious responsibility upon those to whom He appeals; and He foresees a consummation of glory no less than of agony. See Matthew 8:20; Matthew 11:19; Matthew 12:8, Matthew 12:32; Matthew 13:37; Matthew 16:13; Matthew 20:18; Matthew 26:64; Mark 8:31, Mark 8:38; Mark 14:21; Luke 9:26, Luke 9:58; Luke 12:8; Luke 17:22; Luke 19:10; Luke 22:69. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
The other aspect is related to the future. He has visions of another life of glory and dominion; though present in the flesh, His coming is still future, and will be followed by a judgment which is committed to Him, and by the final glory of His redeemed in His heavenly kingdom. See Matthew 10:23; Matthew 13:40sqq.; Matthew 16:27sqq.; Matthew 19:28; Matthew 24:27, Matthew 24:37, Matthew 24:44; Matthew 25:31sqq.; Mark 13:26; Luke 6:22; Luke 17:24, Luke 17:30; Luke 18:8; Luke 21:27. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
[source]

Acts 7:56 The Son of man []
A title never applied to Christ by any of the apostles or evangelists, except here by Stephen. See on Luke 6:22. [source]
Romans 1:1 Separated unto the gospel of God [ἀφωρισμένος εἰς εὐαγγέλιον Θεοῦ]
Characterizing the preceding phrase more precisely: definitely separated from the rest of mankind. Compare Galatians 1:15, and “chosen vessel,” Acts 9:15. The verb means “to mark off ( ἀπό ) from others by a boundary ( ὅρος ).” It is used of the final separation of the righteous from the wicked (Matthew 13:49; Matthew 25:32); of the separation of the disciples from the world (Luke 6:22); and of the setting apart of apostles to special functions (Acts 13:2). Gospel is an exception to the almost invariable usage, in being without the article (compare Revelation 14:6); since Paul considers the Gospel rather as to its quality - good news from God - than as the definite proclamation of Jesus Christ as a Savior. The defining elements are added subsequently in Romans 1:3, Romans 1:4. Not the preaching of the Gospel, but; the message itself is meant. For Gospel, see on superscription of Matthew. [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 6:22 mean?

Blessed are you when shall hate you - men and they shall exclude shall insult [you] shall cast out the name of you as evil on account of the Son - of Man
Μακάριοί ἐστε ὅταν μισήσωσιν ὑμᾶς οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ ἀφορίσωσιν ὀνειδίσωσιν ἐκβάλωσιν τὸ ὄνομα ὑμῶν ὡς πονηρὸν ἕνεκα τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου

Μακάριοί  Blessed 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: μακάριος  
Sense: blessed, happy.
ἐστε  are  you 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
μισήσωσιν  shall  hate 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: μισέω  
Sense: to hate, pursue with hatred, detest.
οἱ  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἄνθρωποι  men 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἄνθρωπος  
Sense: a human being, whether male or female.
ἀφορίσωσιν  they  shall  exclude 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἀφορίζω  
Sense: to mark off from others by boundaries, to limit, to separate.
ὀνειδίσωσιν  shall  insult  [you] 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ὀνειδίζω  
Sense: to reproach, upbraid, revile.
ἐκβάλωσιν  shall  cast  out 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἐκβάλλω  
Sense: to cast out, drive out, to send out.
ὄνομα  name 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: ὄνομα  
Sense: name: univ.
ὑμῶν  of  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
πονηρὸν  evil 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: πονηρός  
Sense: full of labours, annoyances, hardships.
ἕνεκα  on  account  of 
Parse: Preposition
Root: εἵνεκεν 
Sense: on account of, for the sake of, for.
Υἱοῦ  Son 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: υἱός  
Sense: a son.
τοῦ  - 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἀνθρώπου  of  Man 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: ἄνθρωπος  
Sense: a human being, whether male or female.