The Meaning of Luke 6:47 Explained

Luke 6:47

KJV: Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:

YLT: Every one who is coming unto me, and is hearing my words, and is doing them, I will shew you to whom he is like;

Darby: Every one that comes to me, and hears my words and does them, I will shew you to whom he is like.

ASV: Every one that cometh unto me, and heareth my words, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Whosoever  cometh  to  me,  and  heareth  my  sayings,  and  doeth  them,  I will shew  you  to whom  he is  like: 

What does Luke 6:47 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 6:39-49 - The Test That Reveals Character
Yes, it is true! Some day we shall be perfected. The long discipline will be over, and we shall be able to close our lesson books and go home. We shall then be found to be like Christ, our Lord. The promise of Luke 6:40 is very beautiful, though it sometimes seems far away.
We need to look at home first, before we essay to judge or condemn others. It is blundering waste to deal with other people's eyes if you have a defect in yours. Colorblind men ought not to run trains. Speech betrayeth men; what they say, that they are. The man who is quickest to judge and discuss the faults of another does so because of his own experience of the same sin. How else could he know so much about it?
The rock is not the Church, nor doctrine, nor even the Bible, but Christ, Isaiah 28:16. [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 6:47

Hears and does [ακουων και ποιων]
Present active participles. So in Matthew 7:24. (Present indicative.) [source]
I will show you [υποδειχω υμιν]
Only in Luke, not Matthew. [source]
I will shew you to whom he is like []
Peculiar to Luke. See on Matthew 7:24. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 6:47

Luke 3:7 To be baptized of him [βαπτιστηναι υπ αυτου]
This is the purpose of their coming. Matthew 3:7 has simply “to his baptism.” John‘s metaphors are from the wilderness (vipers, fruits, axe, slave boy loosing sandals, fire, fan, thrashing-floor, garner, chaff, stones).Who warned you? (τις επεδειχεν υμιν — tis hepedeixen humiṉ). The verb is like our “suggest” by proof to eye, ear, or brain (Luke 6:47; Luke 12:5; Acts 9:16; Acts 20:35; Matthew 3:7). Nowhere else in the N.T. though common ancient word (υποδεικνυμι — hupodeiknumi show under, point out, give a tip or private hint). [source]
Luke 3:7 Who warned you? [τις επεδειχεν υμιν]
The verb is like our “suggest” by proof to eye, ear, or brain (Luke 6:47; Luke 12:5; Acts 9:16; Acts 20:35; Matthew 3:7). Nowhere else in the N.T. though common ancient word (υποδεικνυμι — hupodeiknumi show under, point out, give a tip or private hint). [source]
Luke 6:49 Like a man [ομοιος εστιν αντρωπωι]
Associative instrumental case after ομοιος — homoios as in Luke 6:47.Upon the earth (επι την γην — epi tēn gēn). Matthew 7:26 has “upon the sand” (επι την αμμον — epi tēn ammon), more precise and worse than mere earth. But not on the rock.Without a foundation The foundation on the rock after deep digging as in Luke 6:48.It fell in (συνεπεσεν — sunepesen). Second aorist active of συνπιπτω — sunpiptō to fall together, to collapse. An old verb from Homer on, but only here in the N.T.The ruin The crash like a giant oak in the forest resounded far and wide. An old word for a rent or fracture as in medicine for laceration of a wound. Only here in the N.T. [source]
Luke 8:21 These which hear the word of God and do it [οι τον λογον του τεου ακουοντες και ποιουντες]
The absence of the article with “mother” and “brothers” probably means, as Plummer argues, “Mother to me and brothers to me are those who &c.” No one is a child of God because of human parentage (John 1:13). “Family ties are at best temporal; spiritual ties are eternal” (Plummer). Note the use of “hear and do” together here as in Matthew 7:24; Luke 6:47 at the close of the Sermon on the Mount. The parable of the sower is almost like a footnote to that sermon. Later Jesus will make “doing” a test of friendship for him (John 15:14). [source]
Acts 20:35 I have shewed you all things [πάντα ὑπέδειξα ὑμῖν]
The verb means to shew by example. Thus, Luke 6:47, “I will shew you to whom he is like,” is followed by the illustration of the man who built upon the rock. So Acts 9:16. God will shew Paul by practical experience how great things he must suffer. The kindred noun ὑπόδειγμα is always rendered example or pattern. See John 13:15; James 5:10, etc.; and note on 2 Peter 2:6. Rev., correctly, In all things I gave you an example. [source]
Acts 20:35 I gave you an example [υπεδειχα]
First aorist active indicative of υποδεικνυμι — hupodeiknumi old verb to show under one‘s eyes, to give object lesson, by deed as well as by word (Luke 6:47). υποδειγμα — Hupodeigma means example (John 13:15; James 5:10). So Paul appeals to his example in 1 Corinthians 11:1; Philemon 3:17. Παντα — Panta is accusative plural of general reference (in all things). [source]
James 5:10 For an example [υποδειγμα]
Late word for the old παραδειγμα — paradeigma from υποδεικνυμι — hupodeiknumi to copy under, to teach (Luke 6:47), here for copy to be imitated as in John 13:15, as a warning (Hebrews 4:11). Here predicate accusative with τους προπητας — tous prophētas (the prophets) as the direct object of λαβετε — labete (second aorist active imperative of λαμβανω — lambanō). [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 6:47 mean?

Everyone who is coming to Me and hearing of Me the words doing them I will show you whom he is like
Πᾶς ἐρχόμενος πρός με καὶ ἀκούων μου τῶν λόγων ποιῶν αὐτούς ὑποδείξω ὑμῖν τίνι ἐστὶν ὅμοιος

Πᾶς  Everyone 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: πᾶς  
Sense: individually.
ἐρχόμενος  is  coming 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Middle or Passive, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἔρχομαι  
Sense: to come.
με  Me 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Accusative 1st Person Singular
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
ἀκούων  hearing 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἀκουστός 
Sense: to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf.
μου  of  Me 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 1st Person Singular
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
λόγων  words 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root: λόγος  
Sense: of speech.
ποιῶν  doing 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ποιέω  
Sense: to make.
ὑποδείξω  I  will  show 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular
Root: ὑποδείκνυμι 
Sense: to show by placing under (i.
τίνι  whom 
Parse: Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: τίς  
Sense: who, which, what.
ἐστὶν  he  is 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
ὅμοιος  like 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ὅμοιος  
Sense: like, similar, resembling.