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And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing;
Luke 9:21 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB But he warned them, and commanded them to tell this to no one,
  • BSB Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone.
  • NKJV And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one,
  • NASB But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone,
  • NLT Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was.

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 the disciples to tell no one that He is the Christ. He restrains a premature or misunderstood proclamation of His messiahship.

Overview

Because popular expectations of the Messiah were largely political and triumphant, Jesus guards against a distorted message. The full meaning of His messiahship would only be clear in light of His suffering, death, and resurrection. This command shows that Jesus defines His mission on His own terms, not the crowd's.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 3

  • Matt 16:20Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
  • Matt 17:9And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
  • Mark 8:30–31And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.

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 9:21YouTube · 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 9:21 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.