What Does Luke 8:25 Mean?
And he said to them, Where is your trust? And being afraid, they marveled, saying to one another, Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the waters, and they hear and respond to him!
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, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.THE KEY
The storm obeys Jesus while the disciples ask where their trust is, faith is exposed by the very danger that seems to contradict it.
THE MEANING
The wind and water are a real threat, and the disciples are afraid. Yet the forces they fear hear and obey Jesus, while his question exposes where their trust has gone. Fear and wonder occupy the same moment: the danger remains real, but it does not have the final word.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a real threat means trust has nowhere to rest: the storm is real, and it still answers Jesus.
THE ROOT
πίστις
pistis
GROWS FROM
πείθω
peithō
to persuade, convince; the word family carries the sense of being persuaded and trusting
The Greek word πίστις (pistis, trust) belongs to a word family associated with πείθω (peithō, persuade or convince). Jesus’ question asks where that trust is anchored while the storm remains a real threat.
ALSO GROWS
pisteuō: to trust, believe, or entrust oneself
πιστεύω
The related verb makes trust an active response, not merely an abstract idea.
pepoitha: to be confident, to have trust
πέποιθα
This related form shows how persuasion can settle into confidence, the quality the question brings into focus amid the storm.
ὑπακούουσιν
hypakouousin
GROWS FROM
ἀκούω (akouō), within ὑπακούω (hypakouō)
ἀκούω (akouō) means to hear or listen; the compound adds ὑπό (hypo, under) and develops the sense of heeding or obeying
“hear and respond to” in this verse is hypakouousin. The verb behind ‘obey’ is ὑπακούω (hypakouō, hear under or obey), built from ὑπό (hypo, under) and ἀκούω (akouō, hear). Luke’s wording pictures wind and water hearing and responding to Jesus, giving the disciples’ question about trust a sharp edge: the elements answer the voice they fear.
ALSO GROWS
akoē: hearing, or what is heard
ἀκοή
The root keeps hearing inside the idea of obedience: the command is received and answered.
hypakoē: obedience, attentive response
ὑπακοή
This related noun preserves the same compound, showing obedience as hearing that responds.
THE PATTERN
Rising waters meet a voice with authority to set their limit and still them.
And said, This far shall you come, but no further, and here shall your swelling waves be held?He makes the storm stand in stillness, and its waves are hushed.And waking, he rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Be silent. Be muzzled. And the wind wore itself out, and a great calm came.THE THREAD
And he said to them, Why are you so timid? Do you not yet have trust?Mark uses the same Greek noun πίστις (pistis, trust) that Luke renders ‘faith.’ Read together, their questions bring the location of trust into focus as Jesus’ authority over the storm becomes visible.
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