Bible Strands
John 12:8
The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have Me.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses His disciples at the Bethany anointing, immediately after commanding them to leave Mary’s act of pouring costly perfume on Him for His burial.
The words — The Greek text highlights πτωχοὺς (ptōchous, “the poor”) and ἐμὲ (eme, “Me”), establishing a direct contrast between enduring earthly need and Jesus’ imminent physical absence.
The thread — This statement echoes Deuteronomy 15:11 regarding the persistent presence of the poor, and appears in parallel accounts in Matthew 26:11 and Mark 14:7, though each Gospel records slightly different wording around the same saying.
Why it lands — The text states that poverty will remain a permanent feature of human society, while Jesus’ physical presence with His followers is temporally limited, demanding urgent attention to His person and impending work.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 15:11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land.
- Mark 14:7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them whenever you want. But you will not always have Me.
- Matthew 26:11 The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have Me.
- John 12:35 Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
- John 13:33 Little children, I am with you only a little while longer. You will look for Me, and as I said to the Jews, so now I say to you: ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’
- John 8:21 Again He said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”
- John 16:5 Now, however, I am going to Him who sent Me; yet none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’
- Acts 1:9 After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.
- Song of Solomon 5:6 I opened for my beloved, but he had turned and gone. My heart sank at his departure. I sought him but did not find him. I called, but he did not answer.