English · KJV

Luke 3:14

“John Preaches Repentance and Judgment”Luke 3:7–14

King James Version
And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
And G1161 the soldiers G4754 likewise G2532 demanded G1905 of him G846, saying G3004, And G2532 what G5101 shall we G2249 do G4160? And G2532 he said G2036 unto G4314 them G846, Do violence G1286 to no man G3367, neither G3366 accuse any falsely G4811; and G2532 be content G714 with your G5216 wages G3800.

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” “Do not take money by force or false accusation,” he said. “Be content with your wages.”

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
And soldiers also asked him, saying, And we, what must we do? And he said unto them, Extort from no man by violence, neither accuse any one wrongfully; and be content with your wages.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

World English Bible Messianic
Soldiers also asked him, saying, “What about us? What must we do?” He said to them, “Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages.”

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
The souldiers likewise demaunded of him, saying, And what shall we doe? And he saide vnto them, Doe violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages.

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
And questioning him also were those warring, saying, `And we, what shall we do?' and he said unto them, `Do violence to no one, nor accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.'

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
23 Greek words
  1. ἐπηρώτωνepērōtōnWere askingG1905V-IAI-3PVerb Imperfect Active Indicative 3rd Plural
  2. δὲdethenG1161CONJConjunction
  3. αὐτὸνautonhimG846P-ASMPersonal pronoun Accusative Singular Masculine
  4. καὶkaialsoG2532CONJConjunction
  5. στρατευόμενοιstrateuomenoithose being soldiersG4754V-PMP-NPMVerb Present Middle Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
  6. λέγοντες·legontessayingG3004V-PAP-NPMVerb Present Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
  7. τίtiWhatG5101I-ASNInterrogative pronoun Accusative Singular Neuter
  8. ποιήσωμενpoiēsōmenmay doG4160V-AAS-1PVerb Aorist Active Subjunctive 1st Plural
  9. καὶkaialsoG2532CONJConjunction
  10. ἡμεῖς;hēmeiswe ourselvesG3165P-1NPPersonal pronoun Nominative 1st Plural
  11. καὶkaiAndG2532CONJConjunction
  12. εἶπενeipenhe saidG2036V-2AAI-3SVerb 2nd Aorist Active Indicative 3rd Singular
  13. πρὸςprostoG4314PREPPreposition
  14. αὐτοῖς·autoisto themG846P-DPMPersonal pronoun Dative Plural Masculine
  15. μηδέναmēdenaNo oneG3367A-ASMAdjective Accusative Singular Masculine
  16. διασείσητεdiaseisētemay extortG1286V-AAS-2PVerb Aorist Active Subjunctive 2nd Plural
  17. μηδὲmēdenorG3366CONJ-NConjunction Negative
  18. συκοφαντήσητεsukophantēsētemay accuse falselyG4811V-AAS-2PVerb Aorist Active Subjunctive 2nd Plural
  19. καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
  20. ἀρκεῖσθεarkeisthedo be contentG714V-PPM-2PVerb Present Passive Imperative 2nd Plural
  21. τοῖςtoiswith theG3588T-DPNDefinite article Dative Plural Neuter
  22. ὀψωνίοιςopsōnioiswagesG3800N-DPNNoun Dative Plural Neuter
  23. ὑμῶνhumōnof youG4771P-2GPPersonal pronoun Genitive 2nd Plural
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Greek, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Greek word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Greek word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “charity” where the gloss reads “love”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

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Study this verse

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This verse

John tells the soldiers to stop intimidating people, to bring no false charges, and to be content with their wages.

“And the soldiers likewise demanded of him,”

“Likewise” puts the soldiers alongside the crowd and the publicans.

“saying, And what shall we do?”

The third time the question is asked.

“And he said unto them, Do violence to no man,”

Keep from shaking people down or frightening them for money.

“neither accuse any falsely;”

Keep from bringing false charges to squeeze money out of the innocent.

“and be content with your wages.”

Lawful pay is enough, and contentment removes the motive for the other two sins.

Passage studyLuke 3:7–14

John Calls for Repentance That Bears Fruit

7Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 9And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 10And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? 11He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. 12Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? 13And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. 14And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

Summary

Crowds come out to the Jordan to be baptized by John, and he meets them with a hard question: “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” He calls them to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, warns them against trusting in their descent from Abraham, and tells them that the axe already lies at the root of the trees. When they ask, “What shall we do then?”, his answers are plain and practical. Whoever has two coats or food to spare is to share with someone who has none. Tax collectors are to collect only what is appointed. Soldiers are to keep from violence and false accusation and be content with their wages. In eight verses we learn that God’s judgment is near and real, that a turned heart shows itself in an honest and generous life, and that John’s stern words prepare the way for the One who comes after him.

Who came to John at the Jordan

Luke sets John’s ministry in a precise moment of history (Luke 3:1–2). John preaches in the wilderness near the Jordan River as the voice Isaiah foretold, preparing the way of the Lord (Luke 3:4–6, quoting Isaiah 40:3–5), and he comes “preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Luke 3:3). The Jordan was the boundary Israel crossed into the Promised Land. Ritual washing for purification was common in Judaism, but John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, and he gave it to Jews, which said that even the chosen people needed cleansing from sin.

The “multitude” of verse 7 is the óchlos, a crowd or throng of ordinary people, and the same word stands behind “the people” who ask their question in verse 10. It took in a broad cross-section of Jewish society. Matthew, who records the same sermon (Matthew 3:7–10), says that many Pharisees and Sadducees came to the baptism as well. Many in Israel were waiting for the Messiah and a day of God’s judgment, though they understood these hopes in different ways. John spoke into those hopes and made plain that the way to be ready was a changed life, which a family line or a religious standing could never supply.

Why John calls them a generation of vipers

“Generation” is génnēma, offspring or produce, and “vipers” is échidna, an adder or other poisonous snake. To call the crowd the offspring of vipers is to say that their nature matches their parentage: dangerous, deceitful and venomous. The picture calls to mind the serpent in Eden (Genesis 3), and the words are meant to shock people with an outward interest in religion into seeing their true state and their urgent need of a changed heart.

The question that follows, “who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”, is a challenge to their motives. John is asking whether they have come only from fear of judgment, hoping a ritual will shelter them while their hearts stay as they were. Someone has given them a false assurance, and verse 8 is his answer to it.

“Wrath” is orgḗ, which can mean violent passion or anger and, by implication, punishment. Used of God, it is his settled and holy indignation against sin, and “the wrath to come” is the righteous judgment he will surely carry out. Paul warns of those who treasure up “wrath against the day of wrath” and of God, who “will render to every man according to his deeds” (Romans 2:5–6). Jesus later tells his hearers to fear him who has power to cast into hell (Luke 12:5), and his woes on the Pharisees press John’s point that God looks at the inside of a person as well as the outside (Luke 11:37–54). John stands in the line of the prophets who called Israel to account, as Isaiah rebuked a people whose worship had become empty (Isaiah 1:10–20).

Who saves from the wrath to come?

Jesus saves from it, and John points to him when he speaks of the One who will baptize “with the Holy Ghost and with fire” (Luke 3:16). Jesus is “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He bore God’s judgment on sin at the cross, so that “being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Romans 5:9), and “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Paul describes believers as people who turned to God from idols to wait for his Son, “even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:9–10). In Christ a generation of vipers can become children of God, by new birth and by trusting in him as Saviour.

What fruits worthy of repentance are

“Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance” is the command at the centre of the passage, and Matthew gives it as “fruits meet for repentance”. Karpós is fruit, the produce of a plant, and in its figurative sense it means the natural result of what has been done. Áxios, “worthy”, means fitting or of comparable worth, and its older sense is of something that weighs as much as another thing. So the fruit must match the repentance, the way a tree’s fruit shows what kind of tree it is. Repentance (metanoia) is a change of mind and direction, and John wants to see it in the lives of those who claim it.

Paul preached the same to Jews and Gentiles, that they “should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance” (Acts 26:20). James writes, “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (James 2:17). These works are the natural fruit of a heart that has turned to God, and salvation is never earned by them. The Spirit whom Christ sends brings that fruit to life in believers, and Paul names it: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22–23).

Why “We have Abraham to our father” was no defence

“Begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father.” Many of John’s hearers presumed that being Abraham’s descendants gave them a favoured place with God and shelter from judgment, whatever their conduct. Pharisees and Sadducees, for all their differences, shared this pride of nation and ancestry. John meets the excuse “within yourselves”, in the thoughts where it was being made.

“God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” Dýnamai, “is able”, means to have the power to do a thing. Líthos is simply a stone, and egeírō, “raise up”, means to waken, rouse or cause to stand up, and here God is the one who raises. Stones are the last place anyone would look for children, and God, who gives life, can make Abraham’s children even from them if he chooses. His promises rest on his own power and his own will, and he is free to keep his word to Abraham through people nobody expected, if Abraham’s descendants refuse to repent. As Jesus said, “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

The rest of the New Testament draws out what John says here. Paul writes that a true Jew is one inwardly, with circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:28–29), that “they are not all Israel, which are of Israel” (Romans 9:6–8), that “they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7), and that Abraham is the father of all who believe (Romans 4:11–12). Jesus told those who boasted of Abraham that Abraham’s children would do the works of Abraham (John 8:39–44), and he called whoever does the will of God his brother, sister and mother (Mark 3:35).

In Christ the stones are raised. People who were dead in trespasses and sins, strangers to God’s promises, are made alive together with him (Ephesians 2:1–5), and all who belong to Christ, Jew and Gentile alike, are “Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26–29). The church, gathered by faith from every people, is where John’s words come to their fulfilment.

What the axe at the root means

“And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees.” “Now also” makes the judgment present and close at hand. The axínē is a heavy axe for felling trees, and it already rests against the rhíza, the root, the part that gives a tree its life and holds it up. An axe laid at the root means felling the whole tree, and that is final.

Each tree stands for a person. “Every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit” picks up the call of verse 8, and “therefore” ties the consequence to it. “Good” is kalós, what is valuable and right. Cutting down an unfruitful tree was a common and necessary task in an orchard or vineyard, so John’s hearers knew the picture well. The prophets used the same kind of picture for Israel, as in Isaiah’s song of the vineyard (Isaiah 5:1–7).

“Is hewn down, and cast into the fire” speaks of being cut off from God’s kingdom and condemned. Fire in Scripture often stands for God’s judgment, and here the judgment is final. Jesus repeats John’s words in the Sermon on the Mount, “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire”, and adds, “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:16–20). The one who carries out this judgment is the Son of Man, who will separate the righteous from the unrighteous when he comes in his glory (Matthew 25:31–46), and John’s warning prepares for his coming.

Fruit is also what Christ grows in his people. He calls himself the true vine and his disciples the branches, and the Father purges every branch that bears fruit so that it brings forth more (John 15). “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.” The call for fruit is answered by abiding in him.

Is this verse about losing salvation?

This verse warns people who claimed a place with God, through descent from Abraham or through coming to be baptized, while their lives stayed unchanged. Their hope rested on outward marks, and John tells them that the barren tree will be cut down. The verse teaches that true faith will bear fruit, so a life that has none shows that saving faith is missing. Whether a truly born-again believer can lose salvation is a question this verse leaves to other passages. What good fruit looks like, John shows in his answers in verses 11 to 14: sharing with the needy, honest collecting, and keeping from violence, false charges and greed.

What shall we do then?

The people’s question is a real one, asked by people who took John’s warning to heart and wanted concrete steps for a changed life. “Asked” is eperōtáō, to ask, question or inquire of someone. “Do” is poiéō, to make or do, a verb of very wide use. The question begins with tís, “what”, and the little word oûn, “then”, ties it to everything John has just said about fruit and judgment. The same question comes three times in these verses, from the crowd, the publicans and the soldiers, and each gets an answer that fits his own life.

Peter’s hearers at Pentecost were pricked in their heart and asked the same thing, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”, and Peter called them to repent and be baptized (Acts 2:37–38). Jesus began his own preaching with John’s message, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17), and he said that the work of God is to “believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6:29). The doing John asks for prepared people to receive the Messiah, and in Christ it flows from faith and from his Spirit living in us. Love is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:10), and every deed John names in his answers is a deed of love toward a neighbour.

Why John speaks of two coats and meat

John’s first answer, to the whole crowd, is about sharing. The “coat” is the chitṓn, the tunic worn next to the body, an essential garment. To have two is to have more than one needs, and the one who has a spare is to “impart”, metadídōmi, to give a share of what is his own to the one who has none. “Meat” is brōma, food of any kind, for in the KJV’s English “meat” means food in general.

In first-century Judea many lived in poverty and struggled to find food and clothing, and to lack either was a sign of real need. By naming these two, John gives a command anyone could carry out that very day, and it reaches the poorest neighbour at the point of greatest want. The two clauses run side by side, and between them they stand for every kind of surplus.

The law had already told Israel to open the hand wide to a poor brother (Deuteronomy 15:7–8), and Isaiah called the fast God chooses one that deals bread to the hungry and covers the naked (Isaiah 58:7). Amos cried, “let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24). Luke’s Gospel carries this care for the poor forward. Jesus announces that he is anointed to preach the gospel to the poor (Luke 4:18–19), he calls the poor blessed (Luke 6:20), and he counts food and clothing given to the least of his brethren as given to him (Matthew 25:35–40).

Christ gave far more than a spare coat. “Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). He fed the hungry crowds (Matthew 14:13–21) and gave his life a ransom for many. The generosity John asks for is a small share in the giving of God himself, and our possessions are entrusted to us by him for the good of others.

Why tax collectors came to be baptized

“Then came also publicans to be baptized.” The telṓnēs takes his name from telos (tax) and ōnéomai (to buy), and was literally a tax-buyer. Under Roman rule the right to collect taxes in a region was sold to contractors, who employed local men like these to gather them. They worked for Rome among their own people, and many grew rich by demanding more than was due, so their fellow Jews hated them as traitors and extortioners. The religious leaders grouped them with sinners, and Jesus was criticised for calling one of them, Matthew, and eating with publicans and sinners (Matthew 9:9–13).

That such men came to be baptized shows how far John’s call reached. Jesus later said that the publicans and the harlots believed John when the chief priests and elders would not (Matthew 21:31–32), and Luke records that the publicans who had been baptized by John “justified God”, while the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God (Luke 7:29–30).

They call John “Master”, didáskalos, a teacher or instructor, and they come to him as learners. Their question uses the same verb, poiéō, as the crowd’s. Jesus came “not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32), and the chief publican Zacchaeus shows what happens when such a man meets him (Luke 19:1–10). In Christ the despised and the outcast receive a new heart and become “a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Exact no more than that which is appointed

John’s answer is short. “Exact” is prássō, to practise or perform repeatedly, and in particular to collect dues. “No more” joins mēdeís, not even one, with pleíōn, more, the comparative of polýs. “Appointed” is diatássō, to arrange, prescribe or ordain, and here it is the amount officially set. So the publicans are to collect the lawful tax and keep strictly to it, with no surcharge for themselves.

Honest dealing in money runs all through Scripture. The law demanded “a perfect and just weight” and measure (Deuteronomy 25:15), and “A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight” (Proverbs 11:1). Paul tells believers to render to all their dues, “tribute to whom tribute is due” (Romans 13:7), which gives lawful taxes their rightful place. God who is righteous hates dishonest gain and the exploitation of the weak.

After meeting Jesus, Zacchaeus gave half his goods to the poor and restored fourfold to anyone he had wronged (Luke 19:8), an overflowing of the same honesty and generosity John called for. Jesus said that our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20), and the integrity John asked of the publicans is what that righteousness looks like at a tax table, now given a new heart in Christ.

Did John tell them to leave their work?

John told the tax collectors and the soldiers to do their work honestly, and he left them in it. The sin he named was using the position for unjust gain, and the work itself he let stand. Repentance can make any lawful calling a place of faithful service when it is carried out with integrity and justice.

What John told the soldiers

Soldiers were the most visible power in the land. Luke leaves unnamed whose soldiers these were, and they may have been Roman auxiliaries, Herod’s troops or a local force. Their position gave them many chances for abuse, especially as they were often quartered among the people and held authority over them, and their pay was often small, which pushed them toward gain by force or bribes. That they too asked, “And what shall we do?”, shows how deeply John’s preaching reached.

John gives them three commands. “Do violence to no man” translates diaseíō, from dia (through) and seíō (to shake), to shake thoroughly, and so to intimidate or extort by intimidation. It forbids using strength and authority to frighten money or goods out of people. “Neither accuse any falsely” is sykophantéō, built from sykon (fig) and phaínō (to show). An old explanation traces it to informers who reported people for exporting figs from Athens illegally, and in time it came to mean a false accuser, and in particular one who extorts money by false charges. “Be content with your wages” is arkéō, which properly means to ward off, and by implication to be enough or to be satisfied. The soldiers are to count their lawful pay as enough.

Contentment comes last and lies under the other two, because greed was the root of both the violence and the false charges. Paul writes, “But godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6–8), and Micah sums up what the LORD requires: “to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God” (Micah 6:8). Authority is a trust to be used for the good of others and the protection of the weak.

Christ is the perfect example of righteous authority. He used his power to heal and serve, and he taught that whoever would be chief must be servant of all, “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:42–45). When Satan tempted him in the wilderness, he refused to use his power for his own ends and trusted his Father to provide (Matthew 4:1–11). Through him believers put off the old man and put on “the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:22–24), and in their callings they are the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13–16).

The good news in a hard sermon

Luke sums up John’s preaching a few verses later: “And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people” (Luke 3:18), and the word for “preached” there is the word for telling good news. The sternness of these verses belongs to that good news. God sends a messenger to warn before the axe falls, because he does not want the tree cut down.

The passage shows us a holy God whose judgment is near and certain, who sees through every outward mark to the heart, and who is able to raise up children for Abraham from the stones. It shows a God whose call reaches the crowd, the hated publican and the soldier alike, and who meets each with duties fitted to his own life: a coat and a meal shared, an honest tax, a soldier’s pay counted as enough. And it points to Jesus, baptized in the same river soon after (Luke 3:21–22), who delivers us from the wrath to come and makes his people fruitful branches of the true vine.

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Luke 3:1–14. He set out his notes in a four-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.

1662–1714 · 14 verses
Passage under commentLuke 3:1–14
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details[1.] [2.] Fine details

John's baptism introducing a new dispensation, it was requisite that we should have a particular account of it. Glorious things were said of John, what a distinguished favourite of Heaven he should be, and what a great blessing to this earth (Luke 1:15, Luke 1:17); but we lost him in the deserts, and there he remains until the day of his showing unto Israel, Luke 1:80. And now at last that day dawns, and a welcome day it was to them that waited for it more than they that waited for the morning. Observe here,

I.The date of the beginning of John's baptism, when it was that he appeared; this is here taken notice of, which was not by the other evangelists, that the truth of the thing might be confirmed by the exact fixing of the time. And it is dated,

1.By the government of the heathen, which the Jews were under, to show that they were a conquered people, and therefore it was time for the Messiah to come to set up a spiritual kingdom, and an eternal one, upon the ruins of all the temporal dignity and dominion of David and Judah.

(1.)It is dated by the reign of the Roman emperor; it was in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, the third of the twelve Caesars, a very bad man, given to covetousness, drunkenness, and cruelty; such a man is mentioned first (saith Dr. Lightfoot), as it were, to teach us what to look for from that cruel and abominable city wherein Satan reigned in all ages and successions. The people of the Jews, after a long struggle, were of late made a province of the empire, and were under the dominion of this Tiberius; and that country which once had made so great a figure, and had many nations tributaries to it, in the reigns of David and Solomon, is now itself an inconsiderable despicable part of the Roman empire, and rather trampled upon than triumphed in.

- En quo discordia cives, Perduxit miseros

- What dire effects from civil discord flow!

The lawgiver was now departed from between Judah's feet; and, as an evidence of that, their public acts are dated by the reign of the Roman emperor, and therefore now Shiloh must come.

(2.)It is dated by the governments of the viceroys that ruled in the several parts of the Holy Land under the Roman emperor, which was another badge of their servitude, for they were all foreigners, which bespeaks a sad change with that people whose governors used to be of themselves (Jeremiah 30:21), and it was their glory. How is the gold become dim!

[1.]Pilate is here said to be the governor, president, or procurator, of Judea. This character is given of him by some other writers, that he was a wicked man, and one that made no conscience of a lie. He reigned ill, and at last was displaced by Vitellius, president of Syria, and sent to Rome, to answer for his mal-administrations.

[2.]The other three are called tetrarchs, some think from the countries which they had the command of, each of them being over a fourth part of that which had been entirely under the government of Herod the Great. Others think that they are so called from the post of honour they held in the government; they had the fourth place, or were fourth-rate governors: the emperor was the first, the pro-consul, who governed a province, the second, a king the third, and a tetrarch the fourth. So Dr. Lightfoot.

2.By the government of the Jews among themselves, to show that they were a corrupt people, and that therefore it was time that the Messiah should come, to reform them, Luke 3:2. Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. God had appointed that there should be but one high priest at a time, but here were two, to serve some ill turn or other: one served one year and the other the other year; so some. One was the high priest, and the other the sagan, as the Jews called him, to officiate for him when he was disabled; or, as others say, one was high priest, and represented Aaron, and that was Caiaphas; Annas, the other, was nasi, or head of the sanhedrim, and represented Moses. But to us there is but one high priest, one Lord of all, to whom all judgment is committed.

II.The origin and tendency of John's baptism.

1.The origin of it was from heaven: The word of God came unto John, Luke 3:2. He received full commission and full instructions from God to do what he did. It is the same expression that is used concerning the Old Testament prophets (Jeremiah 1:2); for John was a prophet, yea, more than a prophet, and in him prophecy revived, which had been long suspended. We are not told how the word of the Lord came to John, whether by an angel, as to his father, or by dream, or vision, or voice, but it was to his satisfaction, and ought to be to ours. John is here called the son of Zacharias, to refer us to what the angel said to his father, when he assured him that he should have this son. The word of the Lord came to him in the wilderness; for those whom God fits he will find out, wherever they are. As the word of the Lord is not bound in a prison, so it is not lost in a wilderness. The word of the Lord made its way to Ezekiel among the captives by the river of Chebar, and to John in the isle of Patmos. John was the son of a priest, now entering upon the thirtieth year of his age; and therefore, according to the custom of the temple, he was now to be admitted into the temple-service, where he should have attended as a candidate five years before. But God had called him to a more honourable ministry, and therefore the Holy Ghost enrols him here, since he was not enrolled in the archives of the temple: John the son of Zacharias began his ministration such a time.

2.The scope and design of it were to bring all the people of his country off from their sins and home to their God, Luke 3:3. He came first into all the country about Jordan, the neighbourhood wherein he resided, that part of the country which Israel took possession of first, when they entered the land of promise under Joshua's conduct; there was the banner of the gospel first displayed. John resided in the most solitary part of the country: but, when the word of the Lord came to him, he quitted his deserts, and came into the inhabited country. Those that are best pleased in their retirements must cheerfully exchange them, when God calls them into places of concourse. He came out of the wilderness into all the country, with some marks of distinction, preaching a new baptism; not a sect, or party, but a profession, or distinguishing badge. The sign, or ceremony, was such as was ordinarily used among the Jews, washing with water, by which proselytes were sometimes admitted, or disciples to some great master; but the meaning of it was, repentance for the remission of sins: that is, all that submitted to his baptism,

(1.)Were thereby obliged to repent of their sins, to be sorry for what they had done amiss, and to do so no more. The former they professed, and were concerned to be sincere in their professions; the latter they promised, and were concerned to make good what they promised. He bound them, not to such ceremonious observances as were imposed by the tradition of the elders, but to change their mind, and change their way, to cast away from them all their transgressions, and to make them new hearts and to live new lives. The design of the gospel, which now began, was to make men devout and pious, holy and heavenly, humble and meek, sober and chaste, just and honest, charitable and kind, and good in every relation, who had been much otherwise; and this is to repent.

(2.)They were thereby assured of the pardon of their sins, upon their repentance. As the baptism he administered bound them not to submit to the power of sin, so it sealed to them a gracious and pleadable discharge from the guilt of sin. Turn yourselves from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin; agreeing with the word of the Lord, by the Old Testament prophets, Ezekiel 18:30.

III.The fulfilling of the scriptures in the ministry of John.

The other evangelists had referred us to the same text that is here referred to, that of Esaias, Isaiah 40:3. It is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, which he heard from God, which he spoke for God, those words of his which were written for the generations to come. Among them it is found that there should be the voice of one crying in the wilderness; and John is that voice, a clear distinct voice, a loud voice, an articulate one; he cries, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight. John's business is to make way for the entertainment of the gospel in the hearts of the people, to bring them into such a frame and temper as that Christ might be welcome to them, and they welcome to Christ. Luke goes further on with the quotation than Matthew and Mark had done, and applies the following words likewise to John's ministry (Luke 3:5, Luke 3:6), Every valley shall be filled. Dr. Hammond understands this as a prediction of the desolation coming upon the people of the Jews for their infidelity: the land should be made plain by the pioneers for the Roman army, and should be laid waste by it, and there should then be a visible distinction made between the impenitent on the one side and the receivers of the gospel on the other side. But it seems rather to be meant of the gospel of Christ, of which that was the introduction.

1.The humble shall by it be enriched with grace: Every valley that lies low and moist shall be filled and be exalted.

2.The proud shall by it be humbled; the self-confident that stand upon their own bottom, and the self-conceited that lift up their own top, shall have contempt put upon them: Every mountain and hill shall be brought low. If they repent, they are brought to the dust; if not, to the lowest hell.

3.Sinners shall be converted to God: The crooked ways and the crooked spirits shall be made straight; for, though none can make that straight which God hath made crooked (Ecclesiastes 7:13), yet God by his grace can make that straight which sin hath made crooked.

4.Difficulties that were hindering and discouraging in the way to heaven shall be removed: The rough ways shall be made smooth; and they that love God's law shall have great peace, and nothing shall offend them. The gospel has made the way to heaven plain and easy to be found, smooth and easy to be walked in.

5.The great salvation shall be more fully discovered than ever, and the discovery of it shall spread further (Luke 3:6): All flesh shall see the salvation of God; not the Jews only, but the Gentiles. All shall see it; they shall have it set before them and offered to them, and some of all sorts shall see it, enjoy it, and have the benefit of it. When way is made for the gospel into the heart, by the captivation of high thoughts and bringing them into obedience to Christ, by the leveling of the soul and the removing of all obstructions that stand in the way of Christ and his grace, then prepare to bid the salvation of God welcome.

IV.The general warnings and exhortations which he gave to those who submitted to his baptism, Luke 3:7-9.

In Matthew he is said to have preached these same things to many of the Pharisees and Sadducees, that came to his baptism (Matthew 3:7-10); but here he is said to have spoken them to the multitude, that came forth to be baptized of him, Luke 3:7. This was the purport of his preaching to all that came to him, and he did not alter it in compliment to the Pharisees and Sadducees, when they came, but dealt as plainly with them as with any other of his hearers. And as he did not flatter the great, so neither did he compliment the many, or make his court to them, but gave the same reproofs of sin and warnings of wrath to the multitude that he did to the Sadducees and Pharisees; for, if they had not the same faults, they had others as bad. Now observe here,

1.That the guilty corrupted race of mankind is become a generation of vipers; not only poisoned, but poisonous; hateful to God, hating one another. This magnifies the patience of God, in continuing the race of mankind upon the earth, and not destroying that nest of vipers. He did it once by water, and will again by fire.

2.This generation of vipers is fairly warned to flee from the wrath to come, which is certainly before them if they continue such; and their being a multitude will not be at all their security, for it will be neither reproach nor loss to God to cut them off. We are not only warned of this wrath, but are put into a way to escape it, if we look about us in time.

3.There is no way of fleeing from the wrath to come, but by repentance. They that submitted to the baptism of repentance thereby evidenced that they were warned to flee from the wrath to come and took the warning; and we by our baptism profess to have fled out of Sodom, for fear of what is coming upon it.

4.Those that profess repentance are highly concerned to live like penitents (Luke 3:8): "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance, else, notwithstanding your professions of repentance, you cannot escape the wrath to come." By the fruits of repentance it will be known whether it be sincere or no. By the change of our way must be evidenced the change of our mind.

5.If we be not really holy, both in heart and life, our profession of religion and relation to God and his church will stand us in no stead at all: Begin not now to frame excuses from this great duty of repentance, by saying within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father. What will it avail us to be the children of godly parents if we be not godly, to be within the pale of the Church if we be not brought into the bond of the covenant?

6.We have therefore no reason to depend upon our external privileges and professions of religion, because God has no need of us or of our services, but can effectually secure by his own honour and interest without us. If we were cut off and ruined, he could raise up to himself a church out of the most unlikely, - children to Abraham even out of stones.

7.The greater professions we make of repentance, and the greater assistances and encouragements are given us to repentance, the nearer and the sorer will our destruction be if we do not bring forth fruits meet for repentance. Now that the gospel begins to be preached, now that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, now that the axe is laid to the root of the tree, threatenings to the wicked and impenitent are now more terrible than before, as encouragements to the penitent are now more comfortable. "Now that you are upon your behaviour, look to yourselves."

8.Barren trees will be cast into the fire at length; it is the fittest place for them: Every tree that doth not bring forth fruit, good fruit, is hewn down, and cast into the fire. If it serve not for fruit, to the honour of God's grace, let it serve for fuel, to the honour of his justice.

V.The particular instructions he gave to several sorts of persons, that enquired of him concerning their duty:

the people, the publicans, and the soldiers. Some of the Pharisees and Sadducees came to his baptism; but we do not find them asking, What shall we do? They thought they knew what they had to do as well as he could tell them, or were determined to do what they pleased, whatever he told them. But the people, the publicans, and the soldiers, who knew that they had done amiss, and that they ought to do better, and were conscious to themselves of great ignorance and unacquaintedness with the divine law, were particularly inquisitive: What shall we do? Note,

1.Those that are baptized must be taught, and those that have baptized them are concerned, as they have opportunity, to teach them, Matthew 28:19, Matthew 28:20.

2.Those that profess and promise repentance in general must evidence it by particular instances of reformation, according as their place and condition are.

3.They that would do their duty must desire to know their duty, and enquire concerning it. The first good word Paul said, when he was converted, was, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? These here enquire, not, What shall this man do? but, What shall we do? What fruits meet for repentance shall we bring forth? Now John gives answer to each, according to their place and station.

(1.)He tells the people their duty, and that is to be charitable (Luke 3:11): He that has two coats, and, consequently, one to spare, let him give, or lend at least, to him that has none, to keep him warm. Perhaps he saw among his hearers some that were overloaded with clothes, while others were ready to perish in rags, and he puts those who had superfluities upon contributing to the relief of those that had not necessaries. The gospel requires mercy, and not sacrifice; and the design of it is to engage us to do all the good we can. Food and raiment are the two supports of life; he that hath meat to spare, let him give to him that is destitute of daily food, as well as he that hath clothes to spare: what we have we are but stewards of, and must use it, accordingly, as our Master directs.

(2.)He tells the publicans their duty, the collectors of the emperor's revenue (Luke 3:13): Exact no more than that which is appointed you. They must do justice between the government and the merchant, and not oppress the people in levying the taxes, nor any way make them heavier or more burdensome than the law had made them. They must not think that because it was their office to take care that the people did not defraud the prince they might therefore, by the power they had, bear hard upon the people; as those that have ever so little a branch of power are apt to abuse it: "No, keep to your book of rates, and reckon it enough that you collect for Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and do not enrich yourselves by taking more." The public revenues must be applied to the public service, and not to gratify the avarice of private persons. Observe, He does not direct the publicans to quit their places, and to go no more to the receipt of custom; the employment is in itself lawful and necessary, but let them be just and honest in it.

(3.)He tells the soldiers their duty, Luke 3:14. Some think that these soldiers were of the Jewish nation and religion: others think that they were Romans; for it was not likely either that the Jews would serve the Romans or that the Romans would trust the Jews in their garrisons in their own nation; and then it is an early instance of Gentiles embracing the gospel and submitting to it. Military men seldom seem inclined to religion; yet these submitted even to the Baptist's strict profession, and desired to receive the word of command from him: What must we do? Those who more than other men have their lives in their hands, and are in deaths often, are concerned to enquire what they shall do that they may be found in peace. In answer to this enquiry, John does not bid them lay down their arms, and desert the service, but cautions them against the sins that soldiers were commonly guilty of; for this is fruit meet for repentance, to keep ourselves from our iniquity.

[1.]They must not be injurious to the people among whom they were quartered, and over whom indeed they were set: "Do violence to no man. Your business is to keep the peace, and prevent men's doing violence to one another; but do not you do violence to any. Shake no man" ( so the word signifies); "do not put people into fear; for the sword of war, as well as that of justice, is to be a terror only to evil doers, but a protection to those that do well. Be not rude in your quarters; force not money from people by frightening them. Shed not the blood of war in peace; offer no incivility either to man or woman, nor have any hand in the barbarous devastations that armies sometimes make." Nor must they accuse any falsely to the government, thereby to make themselves formidable, and get bribes.

[2.]They must not be injurious to their fellow-soldiers; for some think that caution, not to accuse falsely, has special reference to them: "Be not forward to complain one of another to your superior officers, that you may be revenged on those whom you have a pique against, or undermine those above you, and get into their places." Do not oppress any; so some think the word here signifies as used by the Septuagint in several passages of the Old Testament.

[3.]They must not be given to mutiny, or contend with their generals about their pay: "Be content with your wages. While you have what you agreed for, do not murmur that it is not more." It is discontent with what they have that makes men oppressive and injurious; they that never think they have enough themselves will not scruple at any the most irregular practices to make it more, by defrauding others. It is a rule to all servants that they be content with their wages; for they that indulge themselves in discontents expose themselves to many temptations, and it is wisdom to make the best of that which is.

Historical interpretation

Nine Centuries of Reception

14 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.

14 quotes · AD 235–1107
Ante-NicenePost-NiceneEarly MedievalMedieval
20030040050060070080090010001100

Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.

d. AD 235Hippolytus of RomeAnte-NiceneSourceDubious Hippolytus Fragments
Then shall the holy angels run on their commission to gather together all the nations, whom that terrible voice of the trumpet shall awake out of sleep. And before the judgment-seat of Christ shall stand those who once were kings and rulers, chief priests and priests; and they shall give an account of their administration, and of the fold, whoever of them through their negligence have lost one sheep out of the flock. And then shall be brought forward soldiers who were riot content with their provision, but oppressed widows and orphans and beggars. Then shall be arraigned the collectors of tribute, who despoil the poor man of more than is ordered, and who make real gold like adulterate, in order to mulct the needy, in fields and in houses and in the churches. Then shall rise up the lewd with shame, who have not kept their bed undefiled, but have been ensnared by all manner of fleshly beauty, and have gone in the way of their own lusts. Then shall rise up those who have not kept the love of the Lord, mute and gloomy, because they contemned the light commandment of the Saviour, which says, Thou shalt love try neighbour as thyself. Then they, too, shall weep who have possessed the unjust balance, and unjust weights and measures, and dry measures, as they wait for the righteous Judge.
d. AD 379Basil of Caesareaas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
But we are hereby taught, that every thing we have over and above what is necessary to our daily support, we are bound to give to him who hath nothing for God's sake, who hath given us liberally whatever we possess.
d. AD 397Ambrose of Milanas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
For other commands of duty have reference only to individuals, mercy has a common application. It is therefore a common commandment to all, to contribute to him that has not. Mercy is the fulness of virtues, yet in mercy itself a proportion is observed to meet the capacities of man's condition, in that each individual is not to deprive himself of all, but what he has to share it with the poor.

Teaching thereby that wages were affixed to military duty, lest men seeking for gain should go about as robbers.
d. AD 397Ambrose of MilanPost-NiceneSourceEXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 2.77
The Baptist gave a fitting response to each kind of people. To the tax collectors he said that they should not exact payment beyond what was appointed. To the soldiers, that they should not make false accusations or rob anyone, by which he meant that their pay was fixed, so that wanting to have more, they could not resort to plunder. These and other precepts are appropriate for all occupations, and the practice of compassion is shared. Thus it is a common precept that the basic necessities of life must be provided for all occupations, all ages and all people. Neither the tax collector nor the soldier is exempted, neither the farmer nor the townsman, neither the rich man nor the pauper—all are commanded in common to give to the one who does not have. Compassion is the fullness of the virtues and therefore the form of the perfect virtue is placed before all. Neither should they spare their own food and clothing. Yet the measure of compassion is maintained in relation to the capacity of the human condition, so that each does not take all for himself but shares what he has with the poor.
d. AD 407John Chrysostomas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
(Hom. in Matt. 24.) Great is the force of virtue that makes the rich seek the way of salvation from the poor, from him that hath nothing.

(Hom. in Matt. 11.) But John's desire when he spoke to the Publicans and soldiers, was to bring them over to a higher wisdom, for which as they were not fitted, he reveals to them commoner truths, lest if he put forward the higher they should pay no attention thereto, and be deprived of the others also.
d. AD 430Augustine of Hippoas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
(cont. Faust. lib. xxii c. 74.) For he knew that soldiers, when they use their arms, are not homicides, but the ministers of the law; not the avengers of their own injuries, but the defenders of the public safety. Otherwise he might have answered, "Put away your arms, abandon warfare, strike no one, wound no one, destroy no one." For what is it that is blamed in war? Is it that men die, who some time or other must die, that the conquerors might rule in peace? To blame this is the part of timid not religious men. The desire of injury, the cruelty of revenge, a savage and pitiless disposition, the fierceness of rebellion, the lust of power, and such like things are the evils which are justly blamed in wars, which generally for the sake of thereby bringing punishment upon the violence of those who resist, are undertaken and carried on by good men either by command of God or some lawful authority, when they find themselves in that order of things in which their very condition justly obliges them either to command such a thing themselves, or to obey when others command it.
d. AD 430Augustine of HippoPost-NiceneSourceLETTER 138
If Christian practice condemned war in general, then the soldiers in the Gospel who asked how they were to be saved should have been given the advice to throw down their arms and give up military service entirely. Instead, they were told, "Rob no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your wages."
d. AD 444Cyril of AlexandriaPost-NiceneSourceCOMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILIES 8-9
St. Luke has introduced three groups of people that ask John questions—the multitudes, the tax collectors and the soldiers. Just as a skillful physician applies to each sickness a suitable and fitting remedy, so also the Baptist gave to each group, representing a mode of life, useful and appropriate advice. He told the multitudes to practice mutual kindness as they strive for repentance. In the case of the tax collectors, he put an end to unrestrained taxation. Then, very wisely, he told the soldiers to oppress no one but be content with their wages.
d. AD 604Gregory the Dialogistas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Early MedievalSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
(ubi sup.) In the preceding words of John, it is plain that the hearts of his hearers were troubled, and sought for advice from him. As it is added, And they asked him, saying, &c.

(ubi sup.) Because a coat is more necessary for our use than a cloak, it belongs to the bringing forth of fruits worthy of repentance, that we should divide with our neighbours not only our superfluities but those which are absolutely necessary to us, as our coat, or the meat with which we support our bodies; and hence it follows, And he who has meat, let him do likewise.

(ubi sup.) For because it was written in the law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, he is proved to love his neighbour less than himself, who does not share with him in his distress, those things which are even necessary to himself. Therefore that precept is given of dividing with one's neighbour the two coats, since if one is divided no one is clothed. But we must remark in this, of how much value are works of mercy, since of the works worthy of repentance these are enjoined before all others.
d. AD 735Bedeas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Early MedievalSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
What great virtue there was in the discourse of the Baptist is manifested by this, that the Publicans, nay even the soldiers, he compelled to seek counsel of him concerning their salvation, as it follows, But the publicans came.

He commands them therefore that they exact no more than what was presented to them, as it follows, And he said unto them, Do no more than what is appointed to you. But they are called publicans who collect the public taxes, or who are the farmers of the public revenue or public property? Those also who pursue the gain of this world by traffic are denoted by the same titles, all of whom, each in his own sphere, he equally forbids to practise deceit, that so by first keeping themselves from desiring other men's goods, they might at length come to share their own with their neighbours. It follows, But the soldiers also asked him. In the justest manner he advises them not to seek gain by falsely accusing those whom they ought to benefit by their protection. Hence it follows, And he says unto them, Strike no one, (i. e. violently,) nor accuse any falsely, (i. e. by unjustly using arms,) and be content with your wages.
d. AD 735BedeEarly MedievalSourceOn the Gospel of Luke
But soldiers also questioned him, saying: What shall we do? And he said to them: Do not accuse anyone falsely, etc. The most just teacher, of exceptional moderation, advises that they should not extort money by falsely accusing those they ought to benefit by defending. He teaches that the wages of military service are therefore established so that one does not become a plunderer while seeking sustenance. No office, no type of activity should be exempt from showing mercy, which is the fullness of virtues, and alone liberates from death and confers eternal life. The judge himself attests, who promised to say: Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom. For I was hungry, and you gave me food, etc.
d. AD 1107Theophylact of Ohridas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274MedievalSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
Now to the Publicans and soldiers he gives a commandment to abstain from evil, but the multitudes, as not living in an evil condition, he commands to perform some good work, as it follows, He that hath two coats, let him give one.

But some one has observed that the two coats are the spirit and letter of Scripture, but John advises him that hath these two to instruct the ignorant, and give him at least the letter.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

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