Bible Strands
Luke 5:28
and Levi got up, left everything, and followed Him.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus commands Levi, a tax collector sitting at his booth, to follow Him. Levi rises and obeys immediately after the call.
The words — καταλιπὼν (katalipōn) means "having left," paired with πάντα (panta) for "all [things]." The aorist participle marks the abandonment as a completed action preceding the following.
The thread — This pattern of abandoning possessions to follow Jesus appears in Luke 5:11 and echoes Elijah’s call to Elisha in 1 Kings 19:19. Matthew 19:22 records a wealthy young man who refuses such a call.
Why it lands — The text demands a decisive break from former occupation and wealth. A reader must choose immediate obedience over retained security.
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 he left all, rose up, and followed him.
Cross-references
- Luke 5:11 And when they had brought their boats ashore, they left everything and followed Him.
- 1 Kings 19:19 So Elijah departed and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve teams of oxen, and he was with the twelfth team. Elijah passed by him and threw his cloak around him.
- Matthew 19:22 When the young man heard this, he went away in sorrow, because he had great wealth.
- Luke 9:59 Then He said to another man, “Follow Me.” The man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”