And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”
Parallel translations
- WEB They said to one another, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us, while he spoke to us along the way, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?”
- KJV And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
- BSB They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
- NASB They said to one another, “Were our hearts not burning within us when He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?”
- NLT They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”
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
The two realize their hearts had burned while Jesus expounded the Scriptures on the road. Encountering Christ in the word kindles living faith and joy.
Overview
Looking back, the disciples recognize that the warmth they felt came from Jesus opening the Scriptures to them. The burning heart describes the inward effect of God's word rightly understood and applied. Their experience commends Christ-centered reading of Scripture as the means by which the Spirit warms and assures believers.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Luke 24:45Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures.
- Jer 23:29“Isn’t my word like fire?” says Yahweh; “and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
- Heb 4:12For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
- Ps 39:3My heart was hot within me. While I meditated, the fire burned. I spoke with my tongue:
- Jer 20:9If I say, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name, then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I can’t.
- Jer 15:16Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name, Yahweh, God of Armies.
- Prov 27:17Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.
- John 6:63It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.
- Acts 17:2–3Paul, as was his custom, went in to them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
- Acts 28:23When they had appointed him a day, many people came to him at his lodging. He explained to them, testifying about God’s Kingdom, and persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning until evening.
- Ps 104:34Let my meditation be sweet to him. I will rejoice in Yahweh.
- Isa 50:4The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary. He wakens morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
- Prov 27:9Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man’s friend.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 24:32 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.