Luke 14:26

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jesus turns to address the large crowds traveling with him (v. 25), issuing a direct challenge before they commit to following.

The words — μισεῖ (misei), "he hates," from μισέω, a strong verb denoting active aversion and rejection, not mere indifference.

The thread — The same supersession logic appears in Matthew 10:37 (loving family more than Jesus), John 12:25 (hating one's life in this world), and Philippians 3:8 (counting all things as loss for Christ).

Why it lands — It demands that no human bond, including self-preservation, outranks allegiance to Christ; the cost of discipleship is stated without softening.

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

If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

Cross-references

Matthew 10:37 Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;
John 12:25 Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Philippians 3:8 More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
Acts 20:24 But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
Psalms 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You.
Revelation 12:11 They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.
Deuteronomy 13:6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known,
Deuteronomy 33:9 He said of his father and mother, ‘I do not consider them.’ He disregarded his brothers and did not know his own sons, for he kept Your word and maintained Your covenant.
Ecclesiastes 2:17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
Job 7:15 so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body.