What Does Luke 6:48 Mean?
He is like a human who built a house, dug deep, and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood rose, the river burst against that house and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.
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 is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.THE KEY
The flood does not create the house’s stability; it exposes what was placed beneath it.
THE MEANING
Your life is pictured as a house whose endurance comes from what holds beneath sight. The flood strikes hard, yet the house remains because its foundation rests on rock. The force tests the structure; it does not supply its footing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that a life is secure only while no flood strikes it: the verse locates its steadiness in what supports it beneath the impact.
THE ROOT
θεμέλιον
themelion
GROWS FROM
θεμελι-
themeli-
Foundation; what is set beneath a structure.
“foundation” in this verse is themelion. The word points to support placed below the visible house. The passage makes endurance depend on what has been set underneath before the flood arrives.
ALSO GROWS
themelioō: to lay a foundation; to establish
θεμελιόω
It is the verb from the same word family, linking the foundation to the act of setting a structure in place.
themelios: foundation; foundational
θεμέλιος
This form names the base beneath a structure, keeping the image focused on what carries its weight.
πέτρα
petra
GROWS FROM
πετρ-
petr-
Rock; stone.
Rock is the concrete ground on which the foundation rests. The verse ties the house’s resistance to the material beneath it, so stability is not just an idea but something that bears impact.
ALSO GROWS
petros: stone; rock
πέτρος
This related form carries the same stone-like image of a solid support.
petrōdēs: rocky; stony
πετρώδης
This branch describes ground characterized by rock, extending the image from a single stone to the terrain beneath.
ἐβάθυνεν
ebathynen
GROWS FROM
βαθ-
bath-
Deep; depth.
“deep” in this verse is ebathynen. The Greek wording pairs digging with deepening before it mentions the flood. It draws attention to work below the surface, where the house’s stability is prepared.
ALSO GROWS
bathys: deep
βαθύς
This adjective shares the root’s sense of depth and echoes the buried work beneath the house.
bathos: depth
βάθος
This noun names depth itself, reinforcing that the house’s strength lies below what is immediately visible.
THE PATTERN
What rests on a stable foundation remains when force strikes or the ground shifts.
Only he is my rock and my deliverance; he is my high place; I do not totter.Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a weighty cornerstone, a foundation set firm. The one who leans his weight will not hurry.Therefore, receiving an unshakable governance, let us hold favor, through which we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe.THE THREAD
For no one can set another foundation beside the one lying there, which is Jesus, the Anointed One.Both passages use θεμέλιον (themelion), meaning “foundation”: what is set beneath a structure. Luke shows the house enduring the flood; this verse names the foundation on which no other can be laid.
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