Bible Strands
Luke 16:16
The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the gospel of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to Pharisees who justify themselves before men while God examines their hearts. He delivers this declaration during a teaching on wealth and righteousness, immediately before affirming the Law's permanence.
The words — ὁ νόμος (ho nomos) literally means "the law" and προφῆται (prophētai) means "prophets." These terms anchor the verse's claim that the written Torah and prophetic witness functioned as a unified proclamation until John.
The thread — The transition from prophetic witness to Jesus' ministry appears in Matthew 11:9, where John is identified as more than a prophet. Acts 3:24 similarly notes that all prophets from Samuel onward proclaimed the days of the Messiah.
Why it lands — The text states that the old covenant witness concluded with John and the kingdom message now demands urgent entry. It requires a reader to abandon self-justification and actively pursue the kingdom rather than treat it as a passive inheritance.
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
The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.
Cross-references
- Matthew 11:9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
- Matthew 21:32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
- Acts 3:24 Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have proclaimed these days.
- Matthew 3:2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
- John 1:45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the One the prophets foretold—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
- Luke 7:26 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
- Luke 16:31 Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
- Acts 3:18 But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer.
- Matthew 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
- Luke 10:9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’