What Does Luke 8:10 Mean?
And he said, To you it has been given to know the sealed things of the governance of God, but to the others in parables, so that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
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 you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.THE KEY
You can see and hear a parable without perceiving it, because knowing its hidden meaning is given rather than automatic.
THE MEANING
Knowing the hidden things of God’s governance is something you receive. Others see and hear the parables, yet do not perceive or understand them. The verse holds these together: exposure to the words and understanding their meaning are not the same.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that hearing sacred words automatically means you understand them.
THE ROOT
δέδοται
dedotai
GROWS FROM
δο-/δω- (δίδωμι, didōmi)
Give, grant, or bestow; δέδοται means “it has been given.”
The knowing in this verse has been granted; it is not presented as something produced by sharp eyesight or careful hearing alone. The root keeps the opening concrete: what reaches understanding is given.
ALSO GROWS
apodidōmi: Give back, render, or repay.
ἀποδίδωμι
The same giving family can describe something being returned or rendered, keeping the act of giving at the center.
metadosis: Sharing or imparting.
μετάδοσις
This branch shows giving as something passed on, illuminating how understanding can reach a person as a gift.
γνῶναι
gnōnai
GROWS FROM
γνο-/γνω- (γινώσκω, ginōskō)
Know, recognize, or perceive.
English “know” can sound like possessing facts, while this word family also carries recognition of what one encounters. Here even that recognition is something given, rather than a result guaranteed by hearing the words.
ALSO GROWS
gnōsis: Knowledge or knowing.
γνῶσις
The related noun names the knowing that grows from the same root of recognition.
epiginōskō: Recognize or come to know.
ἐπιγινώσκω
This related verb makes recognition explicit, bringing the verse’s distinction between hearing and perceiving into focus.
συνιῶσιν
syniōsin
GROWS FROM
συνίημι
syniēmi
Bring together; comprehend by joining the parts.
“understand” in this verse is syniōsin. The verb for understanding carries the image of bringing things together. The ears can hear while the meaning fails to come together into comprehension.
ALSO GROWS
synesis: Understanding or comprehension.
σύνεσις
This noun names the understanding that comes when what is heard is brought together.
synetos: Discerning or perceptive.
συνετός
This related word describes the discernment that can arise when the parts come together.
THE PATTERN
Perception of God’s hidden things is disclosed, while exposure alone can leave their meaning concealed.
And he said, Go, and say to this people, Hear and hear again, but do not discern; see and see again, but do not perceive.Therefore I speak to them in parables, because looking, they do not see; and hearing, they do not hear, nor do they put it together.But God unveiled them to us through his breath, for the breath searches all things, even the depths of God.THE THREAD
He answered and said to them, Because it has been given to you to know the closed things of the governance of the heavens, but to them it has not been given.Matthew uses the same “given to know” construction as Luke. It makes Luke’s contrast explicit: the mysteries are received as a gift by some, while that gift is not given to others.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us