Luke 17:6

And the Lord answered, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jesus answers the apostles’ request in Luke 17:5 to increase their faith, positioned between their petition and His immediate illustration about a field servant in Luke 17:7.

The words — The Greek ἔχετε πίστιν (echete pistin) translates literally to “you have faith,” while ὡς (hōs) means “like,” establishing the mustard seed as a comparative measure rather than a quantitative requirement.

The thread — This specific mustard seed analogy appears in Matthew 17:20, while the parallel discussions on faith in Matthew 21:21 and Mark 9:23 address removing obstacles and the scope of belief without repeating the seed imagery.

Why it lands — The text states that faith, regardless of apparent size, commands obedience from creation, requiring the reader to rely on God’s authority rather than the magnitude of their own belief.

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

And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

Cross-references

Matthew 17:20 “Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 21:21 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.
Mark 9:23 “If You can?” echoed Jesus. “All things are possible to him who believes!”
Matthew 13:31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in his field.
Mark 11:22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus said to them.
Luke 13:19 It is like a mustard seed that a man tossed into his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”
1 Corinthians 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
Luke 19:4 So he ran on ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Him, since Jesus was about to pass that way.