What Does Luke 6:25 Mean in the King James?
Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Today’s fullness and laughter do not guarantee tomorrow’s satisfaction or joy.
THE MEANING
Your present fullness does not guarantee that hunger stays away, and laughter in this moment does not make grief impossible. Satisfaction can give way to need, and laughter to mourning and tears.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that current abundance makes you invulnerable, or that laughter proves sorrow cannot reach you.
THE ROOT
ἐμπεπλησμένοι
empeplēsmenoi
GROWS FROM
πλη-
plē-
to fill or bring to fullness
“full” in this verse is empeplēsmenoi. The Greek form describes people standing in a state of having been filled. The next words expose the limit of that state: fullness now can give way to hunger.
ALSO GROWS
pimplēmi: to fill or make full
πίμπλημι
This verb family gives “full” its sense of a condition reached by being filled.
plērēs: full, complete
πλήρης
This related fullness word echoes the sense of completion that the verse shows can be temporary.
πεινάσετε
peinasete
GROWS FROM
πειν-
pein-
hunger or lack of food
The verb for future hunger shares its root with the present hunger in Luke 6:21. The same word holds both sides of the reversal: hunger now, or hunger ahead.
ALSO GROWS
peinaō: to hunger
πεινάω
This is the verb behind the verse’s promise that those who are full now will hunger.
peina: hunger, famine
πείνα
The related noun makes hunger visible as a condition of lack, not merely a passing appetite.
THE PATTERN
A present condition does not settle the future: the full can hunger, while the hungry can be filled.
The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.THE THREAD
Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.The same Greek hunger verb appears in “hunger now” and “ye shall hunger” in Luke 6:25. Together, the verses turn on when fullness and hunger meet a person.
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