What Does Luke 6:28 Mean?
Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who abuse 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
Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.THE KEY
The verse reverses the direction of speech: a call for harm meets spoken good, and the one causing harm remains the subject of prayer.
THE MEANING
When hostility reaches you, this verse holds two responses together: you speak good over the one cursing you, and pray for the one mistreating you. The harm remains visible, but it does not dictate the words directed back toward that person.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that returning harm is the only honest response to being harmed.
THE ROOT
εὐλογεῖτε
eulogeite
GROWS FROM
λέγω (legō), in εὐλογέω (eulogeō)
to say or speak; with εὖ (eu), to speak well
“bless” in this verse is eulogeite. The Greek verb joins “well” to “speak”: blessing is good spoken toward someone. The response to a curse is therefore not silence or denial, but speech turned toward the other person with a different kind of word.
ALSO GROWS
legō: say, speak
λέγω
The speaking element in “bless” makes the response an actual use of words.
logos: word, saying, account
λόγος
This related word shows the shared speech-root beneath an English word that can sound like a general sentiment.
eulogia: blessing, good speech
εὐλογία
This noun from the same family preserves the link between blessing and speaking good.
καταρωμένους
katarōmenous
GROWS FROM
ἀράομαι (araomai), in καταράομαι (kataraomai)
to invoke a curse or call harm down
“curse” in this verse is katarōmenous. The word describes an active call for harm, not merely a private dislike. Set beside εὐλογεῖτε, it makes the verse’s reversal audible: invoked harm is answered with spoken good.
ALSO GROWS
ara: curse, imprecation
ἀρά
This related noun names the invoked harm contained in the curse.
katara: curse, imprecation
κατάρα
This noun from the same family keeps the focus on a spoken or called-down harm.
προσεύχεσθε
proseuchesthe
GROWS FROM
εὔχομαι (euchomai), in προσεύχομαι (proseuchomai)
to pray, make a vow, or express a wish
The verb is formed with πρός (pros, toward), and the phrase names the mistreating person as the one you pray for. Prayer here stays directed toward a real person in the midst of harm.
ALSO GROWS
euchē: prayer, vow
εὐχή
This related noun shows the prayer-root within the verb used here.
proseuchē: prayer
προσευχή
This noun from the same family names the act of prayer directed toward God.
THE PATTERN
Hostility is answered with concrete good directed toward the hostile person instead of a returned curse or injury.
If the one who hates you hungers, feed him bread; and if he thirsts, give him water to drink.Bless those who pursue you. Bless, and do not curse.Not giving back evil for evil, or insult for insult, but on the contrary, speaking good, knowing that you are called to this, so that you may inherit good speech.THE THREAD
Bless those who pursue you. Bless, and do not curse.Romans 12:14 repeats the same Greek verb, εὐλογέω (eulogeō), for “bless,” then places it beside the explicit words “curse not.” That pairing makes Luke’s reversal a spoken counter-action while leaving the persecution fully in view.
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