What Does Luke 14:11 Mean?
For everyone who lifts himself will be brought low; and the one who lowers himself will be lifted up.
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
For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.THE KEY
The verse’s reversal is built into its verbs: the self that reaches upward is brought down, and the self that goes low is lifted.
THE MEANING
When you raise yourself above others, you are brought low; when you make yourself low, you are lifted. Your standing is not finally secured by your own self-placement.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that you must raise yourself to secure a higher place; this verse says self-raised status is precisely what gets brought down.
THE ROOT
ὑψῶν
hypsōn
GROWS FROM
ὑψόω
hypsóō
to lift high, raise up
“lifts himself / lifted up” in this verse is hypsōn. The first movement is literally upward: a person lifts himself. But the verb’s passive counterpart says that same person is brought low, revealing that self-raised height does not hold.
ALSO GROWS
hypsos: height
ὕψος
The root’s concrete image is height, making the verse’s upward movement more than a claim to importance.
hypsēlos: high, lofty
ὑψηλός
This branch shows the same root describing a lofty position, the very height the self-exalting person tries to claim.
ταπεινῶν
tapeinōn
GROWS FROM
ταπεινόω
tapeinóō
to lower, bring low
“brought low / lowers himself” in this verse is tapeinōn. Humbling is a downward movement, not a claim of worthlessness. The verse pairs it with being lifted, so going low and being raised form one reversal of self-made status.
ALSO GROWS
tapeinós: lowly, humble
ταπεινός
This branch describes the low position the person takes rather than an inflated position claimed for themselves.
tapeínōsis: lowliness, low estate
ταπείνωσις
This branch names the condition of being low, echoing the position from which the verse says a person is raised.
THE PATTERN
Self-made elevation is brought low, while the lowly are lifted.
The LORD strips, and makes rich; he lays low, and lifts high.And whoever lifts themselves high will be brought low, and whoever makes themselves low will be lifted high.Be made low before the face of the LORD, and he will lift you up.THE THREAD
Be made low before the face of the LORD, and he will lift you up.James uses the same Greek roots found here: ταπεινόω (tapeinóō, lower) and ὑψόω (hypsóō, lift high). It makes explicit that the person who goes low is lifted by the Lord, rather than securing elevation through self-promotion.
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