And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?
Parallel translations
- WEB He spoke a parable to them. “Can the blind guide the blind? Won’t they both fall into a pit?
- BSB Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?
- NKJV And He spoke a parable to them: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch?
- NASB Now He also spoke a parable to them: “A person who is blind cannot guide another who is blind, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?
- NLT Then Jesus gave the following illustration: “Can one blind person lead another? Won’t they both fall into a ditch?
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 warns with a parable that a blind guide leads others into ruin. Those who teach and lead must themselves first see clearly.
Overview
This short parable cautions against following or becoming spiritually blind guides, likely directed at self-righteous leaders. The disciple's understanding must be shaped by Christ before he can help others. True sight comes only from the One who is the light of the world, lest both leader and follower fall together.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Matt 15:14Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
- 2 Tim 3:13But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
- Jer 14:15–16Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
- Matt 23:16–26Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
- Isa 9:16For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
- 1 Tim 6:3–5If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
- Zech 11:15–17And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.
- Isa 56:10His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
- Jer 8:12Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
- Jer 6:15Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
- Matt 23:33Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
- Rom 2:19And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
- Mic 3:6–7Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 6:39 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.