What Does Luke 3:11-13 Mean?
He answered and said to them, Whoever has two tunics, let him give a share to the one who has none; and whoever has food, let him do likewise. Then tax collectors came also to be immersed, and said to him, Teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them, Collect no more than what has been set for you.
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
He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you.THE KEY
The passage measures a changed life by two movements: what exceeds your need goes out, and what is due to you sets the limit on what you take.
THE MEANING
Here, change takes material shape now: clothing and food move toward the person who lacks, while what you collect stops at the amount set for you. Need is met through sharing, and power is bounded by what is due.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that having extra makes another person’s lack irrelevant, or that holding authority gives you the right to take beyond what is due.
THE ROOT
μεταδίδωμι
metadidōmi
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
didōmi
To give; with meta- here, to share or pass something on.
“give a share” in this verse is metadidōmi. The word for giving to the one who has nothing carries the sense of sharing what is in your hands. The passage presents provision as something that can move from abundance toward lack.
ALSO GROWS
didōmi: To give, grant, or provide.
δίδωμι
The core verb shows that sharing begins with giving what is already held.
dosis: A giving or gift.
δόσις
This branch names giving as an act, echoing the movement from what you have toward the person without.
διατεταγμένον
diatetagmenon
GROWS FROM
τάσσω
tassō
To arrange, set in order, or assign.
The amount appointed to the collectors is something already set in order. Their authority has a boundary: collecting more would exceed what has been assigned.
ALSO GROWS
taxis: Order or arrangement.
τάξις
It shows the idea of a set arrangement behind the appointed amount.
tagma: An ordered group or arrangement.
τάγμα
It carries the same root sense of things placed within an order, rather than left to someone’s unrestricted taking.
THE PATTERN
A community becomes whole when surplus is shared and taking stops at what is due.
But you shall open your hand wide to him, and you shall surely lend him enough for what he lacks.One scatters and yet increases, and another keeps back beyond the straight, but only toward lack.Let the one who steals steal no longer, but rather let him toil, working the good thing with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one who has need.THE THREAD
And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of what I have to the emptied, and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I give back fourfold."“I give” uses the same Greek giving root carried by “impart” here. The same verse also names the other movement: what was taken unjustly is returned, so sharing and restraint meet in one life.
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