Luke 6:23

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers did the same thing to the prophets.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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σκιρτήσατε

skirtáō

G4640

“to leap”

Verb, Aorist, Active, Imperative, 2nd person, Plural

Appears 3× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Luke 1:41

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: akin to skairo (to skip)

TDNT: 13:41,1

1. to leap

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

26: words
18: distinct lemmas
Gospels: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is σκιρτήσατε to leap G4640 — appearing just 3 times in the whole Greek New Testament.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

σκιρτήσατε to leap G4640 occurs in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Repetition

Words recur within this verse:

τῇ the G3588 ×6
ἐν in G1722 ×2
γὰρ for G1063 ×2
αὐτὰ he G846 ×2

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Luke 6:23 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Matthew 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Acts 5:41 They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for Jesus' name.
Revelation 21:7 He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son.
Revelation 3:5 He who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Revelation 3:12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name.
2 Chronicles 36:16 but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of Yahweh arose against his people, until there was no remedy.
Acts 3:8 Leaping up, he stood, and began to walk. He entered with them into the temple, walking, leaping, and praising God.
James 1:2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations,

Revelation 2:10–11 Don't be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Revelation 2:26 He who overcomes, and he who keeps my works to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.
2 Samuel 6:16 It was so, as the ark of Yahweh came into the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before Yahweh; and she despised him in her heart.
Nehemiah 9:26 Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against you, and cast your law behind their back, and killed your prophets that testified against them to turn them again to you, and they committed awful blasphemies.
2 Timothy 4:7–8 I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.
Hebrews 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.
1 Peter 4:13 But because you are partakers of Christ's sufferings, rejoice; that at the revelation of his glory also you may rejoice with exceeding joy.
Revelation 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my God.

Revelation 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.
1 Kings 18:4 for it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Yahweh, that Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
1 Kings 19:2 Then Jezebel send a messenger to Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I don't make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.
1 Kings 19:10 He said, I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword: and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
1 Kings 19:14 He said, I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
1 Kings 21:20 Ahab said to Elijah, Have you found me, my enemy? He answered, I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh.
1 Kings 22:8 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, there is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Yahweh, Micaiah the son of Imlah: but I hate him; for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. Jehoshaphat said, "Don't let the king say so."
1 Kings 22:27 and say, Thus says the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.

2 Kings 6:31 Then he said, God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
Isaiah 35:6 Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the mute shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
Jeremiah 2:30 In vain have I struck your children; they received no correction: your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
Matthew 6:1–2 "Be careful that you don't do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 21:35–36 The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
Matthew 23:31–37 Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets.
Luke 1:41 It happened, when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, that the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Luke 1:44 For behold, when the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy!

Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil.
Acts 7:51–52 "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.
Acts 14:10 said with a loud voice, "Stand upright on your feet!" He leaped up and walked.
Romans 5:3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering works perseverance;
2 Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong.
Colossians 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the assembly;
1 Thessalonians 2:14–15 For you, brothers, became imitators of the assemblies of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus; for you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews;
2 Thessalonians 1:5–7 This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which you also suffer.

2 Timothy 2:12 If we endure, We will also reign with him. If we deny him, He also will deny us.
Hebrews 11:26 accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
Hebrews 11:32–39 What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets;

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Where the printed editions differ

1 variant

Places in this verse where the major printed Greek editions disagree on the wording in a way that affects the translation — a comparison of editions, not a manuscript-by-manuscript collation. The editions are the modern critical texts (Nestlé-Aland 28/27, SBL, Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Tyndale House) and the traditional texts behind the KJV (the Textus Receptus and the Byzantine/Majority text). It is not a claim about which reading is original.

Editions differ

τὰ

“the [things]”

In NA28NA27TynSBLWHTregTR»1Byz»1 Not in TRByz

Textual data: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible TAGNT) · CC BY 4.0.

Commentary

Notes on Luke 6:23 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Commentary source

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

6:23 treated the ancient prophets that same way: See “The Suffering Prophet” Theme Note.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Bengel's Gnomon

Johann Albrecht Bengel

Luk 6:23. Ἐν, in) See Rom 2:16, note.—σκιρτήσατε, leap for joy) The reward must surely be a great one: since He who thus commands us, is One whose words contain no hyperbole.—κατὰ ταῦτα, according to these things) Characteristics and means of distinguishing character may be derived from examples: so Luk 6:26. Hebr. כָּאֵלֶּה, LXX. κατὰ ταῦτα, Num 28:24; but κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ is the formula, Eze 45:25. And this is the reading of Epiphanius and the Cambridge MS. here.[62]

[62] BDQ read κατὰ τὰ αὐτά; ‘eadem’ in c; ‘similiter’ in a; ‘sic’ in d. But b and Vulg. have “secundum hæc;” and AP Orig. 3,466a with Rec. Text, κατὰ ταῦτα.—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Meyer's Critical & Exegetical Commentary

Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer

Luk_6:23. Ἐν ἐκείνῃ τ. ἡμερ.] in which they shall have thus dealt with you. σκιρτήσατε: leap for joy.

Moreover, see on Mat_5:12; and as to the repeated γάρ, the second of which is explanatory, on Mat_6:32; Mat_18:11; Rom_8:6.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Expositor's Greek Testament

ed. W. Robertson Nicoll

Luk 6:23 . σκιρτήσατε , leap for joy; the word occurs in Luk 1:41 ; Luk 1:44 , and this and other terms found in the sermon have led some to infer that Lk. uses as his source a version of the discourse emanating from a Jewish-Christian circle. Vide the list of words in J. Weiss, Meyer, note, p. 387. Vide also Feine, Vork. Überlief .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Leaps (as cattle do, which are provender pricked) for exceeding joy.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

leap for joy--a livelier word than "be exceeding glad" of "exult" (Mat 5:12).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 23. Did - unto the prophets.] See 1Kg 18:4; 1Kg 19:20; 2Ch 24:21; 2Ch 36:16; Ne 9:26.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(23) Leap for joy.—The word is peculiar to St. Luke in the New Testament, and occurs elsewhere only in Luk_1:41; Luk_1:44.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

23. Rejoice ye in that day] See Act_5:41. “We glory in tribulation;” Rom_5:3; Jas_1:2-3; Col_1:24; Heb_11:26. They accepted with joy that ‘ignominy of Christ’ which made the very name of ‘Christian’ a term of execration; 1Pe_4:14; 1Pe_4:16.

in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets] Elijah and his contemporaries, 1Ki_19:10. Hanani imprisoned by Asa, 2Ch_16:10. Micaiah imprisoned, 1Ki_22:27. Zechariah stoned by Joash, 2Ch_24:20-21. Urijah slain by Jehoiakim, Jer_26:23. Jeremiah imprisoned, smitten and put in the stocks, Jer_32:38. Amos slandered, expelled, and perhaps beaten to death (Amos 7). Isaiah (according to tradition) sawn asunder, Heb_11:37, &c. See the same reproach against the Jews in Heb_11:36-38; Act_7:52; 1Th_2:14-15.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

But woe unto you that are rich,.... Not in worldly riches and substance, for some of these have been, and are happy persons in a spiritual sense; and at most, it can only mean such, who trust in their riches, and place their, happiness in them; but it chiefly regards such, as are rich in their own opinion, and stand in need of nothing; who place their confidence in their own righteousness, and do not apply to Christ, in whom alone are durable riches and righteousness:

for ye have received your consolation; which they take from their own works, and a very unstable and short lived one it is; for while they are crying Peace, Peace, to themselves, from their own services, sudden destruction comes upon them, and all their comforts vanish away: for there is no true solid comfort but in Christ, and in his righteousness; that administers consolation now, and lays a foundation for everlasting comfort hereafter.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

Ver. 23. See Mat 5:12. {See Trapp on "Mat 5:12"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. Well and faithfully did his followers in after, days fulfil their Master"s prophetic charge. Not only did men like Paul and his brother apostles welcome persecution "for the Name" with joy, but long after Paul and his fellows had "fallen asleep," Christians in well-nigh every populous centre of the empire followed the same glorious lead. Indeed, we find the great teachers of the faith positively condemning the fiery zeal of men and women who even too literally obeyed this and other like charges of their adored Master, who positively courted a painful martyrdom, too willingly throwing away their lives, so deeply had words like these burned into their souls. The terrible persecutions which many of the old Hebrew prophets underwent were well known. These men of God endured this treatment during several generations, while evil princes sat on the thrones of Judah and Israel. Thus Elijah mourned the wholesale massacre of his brother prophets when Ahab and Jezebel reigned. (1Ki_19:10) Urijah was slain by Jehoiakim. (Jer_26:23) Jeremiah himself underwent long and painful persecution. Amos was accused and banished, and, according to tradition, beaten to death. Isaiah, so the Jews said, was sawn asunder by order of King Manasseh. These are only a few instances of the treatment which faithful prophets of the Lord had undergone.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges

23. χάρητε ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ. See Act 5:41. “We glory in tribulation;” Rom 5:3; Jas 1:2-3; Col 1:24; Heb 11:26. They accepted with joy that ‘ignominy of Christ’ which made the very name of ‘Christian’ a term of execration; 1Pe 4:14; 1Pe 4:16.

τοῖς προφήταις. Elijah and his contemporaries, 1Ki 19:10. Hanani imprisoned by Asa, 2Ch 16:10. Micaiah imprisoned, 1Ki 22:27. Zechariah stoned by Joash, 2Ch 24:20-21. Urijah slain by Jehoiakim, Jer 26:23. Jeremiah imprisoned, smitten and put in the stocks, Jer 32:38. Amos slandered, expelled, and perhaps beaten to death (Amos 7). Isaiah (according to tradition) sawn asunder, Heb 11:37, &c. See the same reproach against the Jews in Heb 11:36-38; Act 7:52; 1Th 2:14-15.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Alford’s Greek Testament

Henry Alford

23.] ἐν ἐκ. τ. ἡμ., not in the most solemn sense of the words (see Mat 7:22), but in the day when men shall do thus to you.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

International Critical Commentary

23. σκιρτήσατε. Peculiar to Lk. See on 1:41 and comp. Mal 4:2.

κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ γὰρ ἐποίουν τοῖς προφήταις. This implies that they are to receive “a prophet’s reward” (Mat 10:41), as in this world, so in the next.

For the dat. comp. τοῖς μισοῦσιν ὐμᾶς (ver. 27). In class. Gk. we should have had τὰ αὐτὰ ἐποίουν τοὺς προφ. Thus, ἐγὼ δὲ ταῦτα τοῦτον ἐποίησα σὺν δίκῃ (Hdt. i. 115. 3, iv. 166., 3: comp. Aristoph. Nub. 259; Vesp. 697). In later Gk. the dat. of relation becomes much more common.

οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν. The gen. refers to οἱ ἄνθρωποι in ver. 22; “the fathers of them” who hate and abuse you.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament

Marvin R. Vincent

Leap for joy [σκιρτησατε] . See chapter Luk 1:41, 44. Compare Matthew, be exceeding glad (ajgalliasqe : see on 1Pe 1:6).

Their fathers. Peculiar to Luke.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Luke, in the Gospels, opens this verse with 26 words (18 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is skirtáō (“to leap”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “to leap” (skirtáō) contribute to the verse as a whole?
Luke 1:41 shares the word «to leap» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“the” occurs 6× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
Reading how Tyndale Open Study Notes and Bengel's Gnomon read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 6 words in this verse.
“the” occurs 6× in this single verse.
18 distinct Greek lemmas span 26 words in this verse.