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The Son of Man indeed goes, as it has been determined, but woe to that man through whom he is betrayed!”
Luke 22:22 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed!
  • BSB Indeed, the Son of Man will go as it has been determined, but woe to that man who betrays Him.”
  • NKJV And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”
  • NASB For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”
  • NLT For it has been determined that the Son of Man must die. But what sorrow awaits the one who betrays him.”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Jesus says the Son of Man goes as determined, yet pronounces woe on the man who betrays Him. It holds together God's sovereign plan and human responsibility.

Overview

Jesus affirms that His death proceeds according to God's eternal purpose, fulfilling Scripture. At the same time He declares the betrayer truly guilty, so that divine sovereignty does not excuse human sin. This balance assures believers that the cross was no accident while warning that those who reject Christ remain accountable.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 23

  • Acts 2:23him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;
  • Ps 109:6–15Set a wicked man over him. Let an adversary stand at his right hand.
  • 1 Cor 15:3–4For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
  • Ps 55:12–15For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him.
  • Luke 24:46He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
  • Acts 1:16–25“Brothers, it was necessary that this Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus.
  • Acts 26:22–23Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would happen,
  • Isa 53:1–12Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
  • Zech 13:7“Awake, sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is close to me,” says Yahweh of Armies. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
  • Matt 26:53–54Or do you think that I couldn’t ask my Father, and he would even now send me more than twelve legions of angels?
  • Luke 24:25–27He said to them, “Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
  • Ps 22:1–31For the Chief Musician; set to “The Doe of the Morning.” A Psalm by David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
  • Acts 13:27–28For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they didn’t know him, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.
  • Dan 9:24–26Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
  • 2 Pet 2:3In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.
  • Matt 26:24The Son of Man goes, even as it is written of him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.”
  • 1 Pet 1:11searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them.
  • Ps 69:1–36For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Lilies.” By David. Save me, God, for the waters have come up to my neck!
  • Mark 14:21For the Son of Man goes, even as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.”
  • Acts 4:25–28who by the mouth of your servant, David, said, ‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?
  • John 17:12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you have given me I have kept. None of them is lost, except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
  • Gen 3:15I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
  • Matt 27:5He threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary, and departed. He went away and hanged himself.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Luke 22:22YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.

How Luke 22:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.