Bible Strands
Luke 12:56
You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and sky. Why don’t you know how to interpret the present time?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses the crowds and his disciples between his observation of the south wind bringing heat and his command to judge for themselves what is right. He speaks to listeners who accurately read meteorological signs but fail to recognize the spiritual significance of his presence.
The words — ὑποκριταὶ (hupokritai) literally means "stage players" or "actors," and πρὸσωπον (prosōpon) means "face" or "appearance." The text uses these terms to contrast their proven skill in reading weather patterns with their failure to recognize the current moment.
The thread — This pattern of reading natural signs appears in Matthew 16:3, where Jesus rebukes similar accusations about interpreting red or overcast skies, and in Matthew 24:32, where tender fig branches signal summer. Both passages run parallel to Luke 12:56 by highlighting the disconnect between observable phenomena and their intended meaning.
Why it lands — The verse explicitly demands that readers apply their demonstrated ability to interpret physical signs to discern the spiritual reality of the present time. It requires immediate self-examination and recognition of God's actions rather than deferred understanding.
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
Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
Cross-references
- Matthew 16:3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but not the signs of the times.
- Matthew 24:32 Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near.
- Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
- 1 Chronicles 12:32 From Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do: 200 chiefs with all their kinsmen at their command.
- Luke 19:42 and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.
- Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
- Malachi 4:2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.
- Galatians 4:4 But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
- Haggai 2:7 I will shake all the nations, and they will come with all their treasures, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of Hosts.
- Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.