Bible Strands
Luke 14:30
saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses a crowd of disciples while teaching on the cost of following Him, using a builder’s failed project as a concrete illustration. The statement occurs mid-parable as the imagined conclusion of the builder’s unfinished work.
The words — The Greek phrase ἤρξατο οἰκοδομεῖν (ērxato oikodomein) literally means "began to build." It marks the exact point where the construction activity stops, leaving the foundation exposed.
The thread — The necessity of finishing what one starts runs through Hebrews 6:11, which commands diligence to the end to secure hope, and 2 John 1:8, which warns against forfeiting completed work. These passages echo the text’s explicit focus on completion rather than initiation.
Why it lands — The verse requires a practical inventory of resources before undertaking a demanding commitment. It forces the reader to acknowledge that an abandoned start yields only reproach, not spiritual progress.
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
Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
Cross-references
- Hebrews 6:11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.
- 2 John 1:8 Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded.
- Hebrews 6:4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
- 2 Peter 2:19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
- Acts 1:18 (Now with the reward for his wickedness Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong and burst open in the middle, and all his intestines spilled out.
- 1 Corinthians 3:11 For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
- Hebrews 10:38 But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.”
- Matthew 7:27 The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!”
- Matthew 27:3 When Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was filled with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.