What Does Luke 16:15 Mean?
And he said to them, You are the ones who align yourselves before the faces of people, but God knows your hearts, for what is lifted up among people is a stench before the face of God.
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 he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.THE KEY
What people raise up as admirable may be exactly what God finds detestable.
THE MEANING
You can establish yourself as right in the eyes of other people, but God knows what is within your heart. Human admiration does not determine what is right before God. What people hold high can still be detestable in God’s sight.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being admired by others proves that you are right before God.
THE ROOT
ὑψηλόν
hypsēlon
GROWS FROM
ὑψ-
hyps-
High, raised, elevated.
“lifted up” in this verse is hypsēlon. The Greek literally describes what is “high” among people: human esteem raises it up. The verse places that elevation beside God’s opposite judgment, showing that being held high does not establish a thing’s worth.
ALSO GROWS
hypsoō: Lift up, exalt.
ὑψόω
This verb makes the shared image explicit: what people esteem is something they raise up.
hypsistos: Highest, Most High.
ὕψιστος
The same height-word family can name the highest; here the thing people call high is seen from God’s perspective.
δικαιοῦντες ἑαυτούς
dikaiountes heautous
GROWS FROM
δικαι-
dikai-
Rightness; the Greek family of declaring or treating someone as right.
“align yourselves” in this verse is dikaiountes heautous. The wording depicts people making themselves right before an audience. That claim is set against God’s knowing of the heart, where public approval cannot settle what is true within.
ALSO GROWS
dikaios: Just, right.
δίκαιος
This names the rightness the self-justifiers present themselves as having.
dikaiosynē: Righteousness, alignment.
δικαιοσύνη
The same word family points to rightness or alignment beneath the public claim.
THE PATTERN
Human appearance and approval cannot certify what is true within; God sees the heart.
But the LORD said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have pushed him away. The LORD does not see as the human sees. The human sees what is outside, but the LORD sees the heart.All the ways of a person are clean in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the breaths.Therefore, judge nothing before its season, until the Lord comes, who will light up the hidden things of darkness, and will make visible the plans of the hearts. And then the praise will come to each one from God.THE THREAD
Therefore by the works of the instruction no flesh will be aligned before his face, for through the instruction comes the full knowing of falling short.“Justified” carries the same Greek δικαι- word family as “justify” in Luke. Luke places self-justification before people beside God’s knowledge of the heart; Romans makes the contrast explicit in the phrase “in his sight.”
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