What Does Luke 10:25 Mean?
And look, a man of instruction stood up and tested him, saying, Teacher, what must I do to receive my portion of the life of the ages?
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?THE KEY
The question names the life of the ages as an inheritance, a share received, even as it asks what to do.
THE MEANING
The question reaches you in the tension between doing and receiving: what action belongs to a life that comes as an inheritance? This is the life of the ages, a share held within the ages rather than merely an idea of endless duration. The question also functions as a test, so its surface request and its purpose are not the same.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that a question framed as spiritual inquiry must be neutral: this one is explicitly asked as a test.
THE ROOT
κληρονομῆσαι
klēronomēsai
GROWS FROM
κληρονόμ- (klēronom-), from κλῆρος (klēros, allotted share) and νέμω (nemō, apportion)
To receive an allotted share as an heir.
“receive my portion” in this verse is klēronomēsai. English “inherit” can sound like simply possessing something, but this Greek word belongs to a family centered on heirship and an allotted share. The question places life among the ages in the language of reception, even as it asks for an action.
ALSO GROWS
klēronomos: heir
κληρονόμος
The heir is the one who receives the share named in the question.
klēronomia: inheritance
κληρονομία
This noun names the inheritance itself and belongs to the same word family as “inherit.”
αἰώνιον
aiōnion
GROWS FROM
αἰών
aiōn
An age, era, or span of time; the adjective describes what belongs to or pertains to an age.
The phrase names “the life of the ages,” giving life a place within the language of ages rather than leaving “eternal” as an abstract measure of duration. Beside inheritance, the phrase presents that life as a share belonging to the ages.
ALSO GROWS
aiōn: age
αἰών
This is the noun at the center of the word family; it grounds the phrase in the language of an age.
aiōnes: ages
αἰῶνες
The plural form keeps the phrase connected to ages, which is the root sense behind “eternal.”
ἐκπειράζων
ekpeirazōn
GROWS FROM
πειρ- (peir-), from πεῖρα (peira)
An attempt, test, or trial; the verb form can mean to put someone to a test or tempt.
“tested” in this verse is ekpeirazōn. The verse itself places the question in a testing frame: what sounds like a request for an answer also puts Jesus to proof. The word carries the sense of testing as well as tempting, so the testing does not depend on an enticement to wrongdoing.
ALSO GROWS
peirazō: test, put to trial, tempt
πειράζω
This is the base verb behind the form translated “tempted.”
peirasmos: test, trial, temptation
πειρασμός
The related noun names the test or trial that the verb can impose.
THE PATTERN
What is ultimate is pictured as a share received and inherited, with life itself placed in that inheritance language.
The LORD is the portion of my share and of my cup; you hold fast my lot.And everyone who has let go of houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields, for the sake of my nature, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit the life of the ages.That, aligned by his favor, we would become heirs according to the hope of the life of the ages.THE THREAD
For if the inheritance comes out of instruction, it is no longer out of promise, but God has given it to Abraham by favor, through promise.The word translated “inheritance” here is κληρονομία (klēronomia, inheritance), from the same word family as “inherit” in Luke 10:25. Galatians sharpens the image: the inheritance is given by promise, placing the question’s “what shall I do?” beside the language of receiving.
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