What Does Luke 6:26 Mean in the King James?
Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.
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
Universal praise does not certify truth; this verse places it in the same inherited pattern that welcomed false prophets.
THE MEANING
When everyone approves of you, this verse makes the praise a warning: it can echo the welcome given to false prophets. It places that approval inside an inherited pattern, not above scrutiny.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being praised by everyone does not prove your words are true; popularity can gather around a false voice.
THE ROOT
ψευδοπροφήτης
pseudoprophētēs
GROWS FROM
ψευδ-
pseud-
Lie, falsehood, or falsely representing something.
“false prophets” in this verse is pseudoprophētēs. The word joins falsehood to the role of a prophet: the danger is a voice that carries the appearance of truth while misrepresenting it. The verse makes that false voice’s welcome part of the warning: broad approval can coexist with falsity.
ALSO GROWS
pseudos: Lie, falsehood
ψεῦδος
It shows the false prophet’s defining feature is bound to falsehood itself, not simply to being unpopular or mistaken.
pseudomai: To lie, speak falsely
ψεύδομαι
This verb brings the root into speech: the falsehood is carried through what is said and how the voice represents its message.
πατέρες
pateres
GROWS FROM
πατρ-
patr-
Father; the Greek stem behind words for family lineage and native belonging.
“Their fathers” places the welcome of false prophets within an inherited pattern. Approval can be handed down as readily as a family name.
ALSO GROWS
patria: Family, lineage
πατριά
The shared stem makes the verse’s reference to the fathers resonate with a pattern passed through a line.
patris: Homeland, native land
πατρίς
The same stem can name where someone belongs, echoing how a community’s inherited loyalties shape which voices it welcomes.
THE PATTERN
Crowd approval can gather around voices that tell people what they already want to hear, so popularity alone cannot certify truth.
And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;THE THREAD
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.The Greek term ψευδοπροφήτης (pseudoprophētēs, false prophet) appears in both verses. Luke names the welcome false prophets receive; Matthew exposes the hidden mismatch between their appearance and what they are inwardly.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us