But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
Parallel translations
- WEB But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
- BSB But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.
- NKJV But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
- NASB But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.
- NLT But God kept them from recognizing 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
Their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. God withheld recognition so Jesus could first teach them from the Scriptures.
Overview
Luke notes that the disciples were divinely prevented from knowing Jesus. This restraint allowed Him to instruct them in the Scriptures before revealing Himself. The delay teaches that true recognition of Christ comes through understanding God's word, not merely sight, and that He opens eyes in His own time and way.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- John 20:14And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
- John 21:4But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
- Luke 24:31And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
- Mark 16:12After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.
- 2 Kgs 6:18–20And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 24:16 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.