Bible Strands
Luke 9:62
Then Jesus declared, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses a prospective follower who has just requested permission to return home and bid farewell to his family.
The words — ἐπιβαλὼν (epibalōn) means “having laid” and οὐδεὶς (oudeis) means “no one,” forming an absolute grammatical condition for discipleship.
The thread — The theme of forward commitment runs in Philippians 3:13, which commands forgetting what is behind, and Hebrews 10:38, which warns that God takes no pleasure in those who shrink back.
Why it lands — The text demands immediate, undivided commitment to following Jesus, rejecting hesitation or divided loyalty as disqualifying for the kingdom.
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 Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
Cross-references
- Philippians 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
- Hebrews 10:38 But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.”
- 2 Peter 2:20 If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first.
- Luke 17:31 On that day, let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve his possessions. Likewise, let no one in the field return for anything he has left behind.
- James 1:6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
- Psalms 78:8 Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
- Acts 15:37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark.
- 2 Timothy 4:10 because Demas, in his love of this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.