After Jesus reads at the meeting house in Nazareth and people are surprised at his words.
Luke 4:24 Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
Luke 4:24 Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.
Honestly, I tell you all that not a single luminary is understood in that fatherland of his.
Jesus didn't expect his mission to be understood by those who knew him as a child.
The "verily/truly" catchphrase is used by Jesus to signal a light-hearted take on a matter. Here, Jesus is clearly disparaging himself. Its vocabulary and meaning are discussed in detail in this article.
It is interesting how different this verse is that the verse that appears in Matthew (Matthew 13:57) and Mark (Mark 6:4). The earliest verses use an uncommon Greek word, "without honor" but it is changed to "accepted" here, to describe a prophet. The "acceptable" adjective is only used by Jesus twice, here and in Luke 4:19, just a few verses ago in the same dialogue. In the earlier verse, it described a year of understanding the Divine. Here it describes people understanding Jesus's mission.
The Greek word translated as "no" means "no one", "nothing", and other negatives nouns. It is not normally used as a negative with a noun. Its use has the sense of "not a single prophet."
The word translated as "accepted" is the same word translated as "acceptable" in Luke 4:19. It means "to be received", "to be acceptable", "to be grasped", and "to be understood." This is an uncommon word for Jesus to use. It is probably best translated as "understood" in both of these verses. The word was taken from the quote of the Septuagint so its use in this section makes sense.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "that" is not shown in the English translation.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "no" does not capture the word's specific meaning in this situation.
- UW --Untranslated Word -- The word "prophets" means "luminaries." It is an untranslated Greek word adopted into English.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "own country" is not shown in the English translation.
- CW --Confusing Word -- This is the same Greek word translated simply as "country" in the previous verse.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "that" is not shown in the English translation.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "no" does not capture the word's specific meaning in this situation.
- UW --Untranslated Word -- The word "prophets" means "luminaries." It is an untranslated Greek word adopted into English.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "own country" is not shown in the English translation.
Verily, -- The word translated as "verily" is from the Hebrew word that means "truly" or "certainly," but it sounds like the Greek word with the same meaning. In Greek, the word also means "to reap." See this article discussing this "amen phrase."
I -- This is from the first-person, singular form of the following verb.
say -- The word translated as "say" is the most common word that means "to say," and "to speak," but it also means "to teach," which seems to be the way Christ uses it more frequently. It also has many ancillary meanings such as "to count" ("to number" or like we might say, "to recount" a story) or "to choose for yourself." Christ usually uses this word to refer to his own speaking or teaching. The form of the verb could also be a possible action, "might say" or "should say."
unto -- This word "unto" comes from the dative case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English, but the translator must decide which preposition to use: a "to" as an indirect object.
you, -- The Greek pronoun "you" here is plural and in the form of an indirect object, "to you," "for you," etc.
missing "that" -- (MW) The untranslated word "that" introduces a statement of fact or cause, "for what," "because," "since," and "wherefore." Jesus usually uses this word to mean "because."
No -- (CW) The Greek adjective translated as "no man" also means "no one," "nothing," and other negative pronouns. It is used by Jesus more like a negative pronoun than an adjective. However, to avoid the English double-negative, we translate it as its opposite "anyone" when used with another Greek negative.
prophet -- (UW) The Greek word translated as "prophets" means "one who speaks for God," "interpreter" and was the highest level of priesthood in Egypt, but its root words mean "shine light before" and so "luminaties," "shining lights" or "enlightened" seems to capture the idea better. Jesus uses it to refer not only to divine spokespeople but their books in the OT. It is an untranslated Greek word adopted into English. Read this article for more information.
is -- The verb "is" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics. The word also means "to exist" and where it doesn't connect to characteristics or conditions.
accepted -- "Accepted" is from an adjective that means "to be received", "to be acceptable", "to be grasped", and "to be understood." Its form modifies "year", but it appears as the end of the verse. This is an uncommon word for Christ to use.
in -- The word translated as "in" means "in," "within," "with" (an instrument), "by" (near), "by" (means of), "during" (time), or "among" with a dative object as the one here.
his -- The word translated as "his/him" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English. The word appears after the noun so the sense is "of his."
missing "the/this" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article," the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," and "those"). See this article for more.
own country. -- (CW) The Greek word translated as "own country" is a noun that means "of your fathers" so "fatherland." This is the same Greek word translated as "country" in the previous verse.
Truly -- The word translated as "truly " is from the Hebrew word that means "truly" or "certainly," but it sounds like the Greek word with the same meaning. In Greek, the word also means "to reap." See this article discussing this "amen phrase."
I -- This is from the first-person, singular form of the following verb.
tell -- The word translated as "say" is the most common word that means "to say," and "to speak," but it also means "to teach," which seems to be the way Christ uses it more frequently. It also has many ancillary meanings such as "to count" ("to number" or like we might say, "to recount" a story) or "to choose for yourself." Christ usually uses this word to refer to his own speaking or teaching. The form of the verb could also be a possible action, "might tell" or "should tell."
you, -- The Greek pronoun "you" here is plural and in the form of an indirect object, "to you," "for you," etc.
no -- (CW) The Greek adjective translated as "no man" also means "no one," "nothing," and other negative pronouns. It is used by Jesus more like a negative pronoun than an adjective. However, to avoid the English double-negative, we translate it as its opposite "anyone" when used with another Greek negative.
prophet -- (UW) The Greek word translated as "prophets" means "one who speaks for God," "interpreter" and was the highest level of priesthood in Egypt, but its root words mean "shine light before" and so "luminaties," "shining lights" or "enlightened" seems to capture the idea better. Jesus uses it to refer not only to divine spokespeople but their books in the OT. It is an untranslated Greek word adopted into English. Read this article for more information.
is -- The verb "is" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics. The word also means "to exist" and where it doesn't connect to characteristics or conditions.
accepted -- "Accepted" is from an adjective that means "to be received", "to be acceptable", "to be grasped", and "to be understood." Its form modifies "year", but it appears as the end of the verse. This is an uncommon word for Christ to use.
in -- The word translated as "in" means "in," "within," "with" (an instrument), "by" (near), "by" (means of), "during" (time), or "among" with a dative object as the one here.
his -- The word translated as "his/him" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English. The word appears after the noun so the sense is "of his."
missing "the/this" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article," the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," and "those"). See this article for more.
hometown. -- The Greek word translated as "hometown" is a noun that means "of your fathers" so "fatherland." This is the same Greek word translated as "country" in the previous verse.
Ἀμὴν [88 verses](exclaim) "Verily" is amen, which is the Hebrew, meaning "truly," "of a truth," and "so be it." It has no history in Greek of this meaning before the NT. However, this is also the infinitive form of the Greek verb amao, which means "to reap" or "to cut
λέγω [264 verses](1st sg pres ind act/subj) "I say" is lego, which means "to recount," "to tell over," "to say," "to speak," "to teach," "to mean," "boast of," "tell of," "recite," nominate," and "command." It has a secondary meaning "pick out," "choose for oneself," "pick up," "gather," "count," and "recount." A less common word that is spelled the same means "to lay," "to lay asleep" and "to lull asleep."
ὑμῖν, [289 verses](pron 2nd pl dat) "To you" is humin the plural form of su the pronoun of the second person, "you."
ὅτι [332 verses]( (adv/conj) Untranslated is hoti, which introduces a statement of fact "with regard to the fact that", "seeing that," and acts as a causal adverb meaning "for what", "because", "since," and "wherefore."
οὐδεὶς [69 verses](adj sg masc nom) "No " is oudeis which means "no one", "not one", "nothing", "naught", "good for naught," and "no matter."
προφήτης [37 verses](noun sg masc nom ) "Prophet" is prophetes, which means "one who speaks for a god and interprets his will", "interpreter", "keepers of the oracle", "the highest level of priesthood in Egypt", "interpreter," and "herald." It is a verb that means "to shine forth" It is a form of the verb, prophao. which means "to shine forth," or "to shine before."
δεκτός [2 verses](adj sg masc acc) "The acceptable" is from dektos, which means "to be received", "to be acceptable", "to be grasped", and "to be understood."
ἐστιν .[614 verses] (verb 3rd sg pres ind act) "Is" is eimi, which means "to be," "to exist," "to be the case," of circumstance and events "to happen," and "is possible." With the genitive object, the sense is "belongs to." With the dative object, the object acts like a possessive and "it is to him" becomes "it is his." With the preposition, εἰς, the sense is "consist of."
ἐν [413 verses](prep) "In" is en, which means, with a usual indirect (dative) object, "in," "on," "at," "by," "among," "within," "surrounded by," "in one's hands," "in one's power," "during," and "with." With a direct (accusative) object, it means "into," "on," and "for." Referring to time, it means. "in the course of" or "during."
τῇ [821 verses](article sg fem dat) Untranslated is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"). -
πατρίδι [3 verses](noun sg fem dat) "Country" is from patris, which means "of one's father's" and "ones fatherland," and "country." -- The Greek word translated as "country" is a noun that means "of your fathers" so "fatherland."