The Fallible Study Bible

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Luke8:16–18

The Lesson of the Lamp

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Luke 8:16–18 — The Lesson of the Lamp. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

16

No one lights a lamp and covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he sets it on a stand, so those who enter can see the light.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Oudeis hapsas lychnon kalyptei auton skeuei ē tithēsin hypokatō klinēs all’ tithēsin epi lychnias hina hoi eisporeuomenoi blepōsin to phōs

Word by word21 · parsed
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ΟὐδεὶςOudeisNo oneG3762
√ οὐδείς — not even one (man, woman or thing), iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
oudeis: not even one An appeal to universal household sense: the absurdity of the alternative carries the argument.
ἅψαςhapsaslightsG681
√ ἅπτω — properly, to fasten to, iVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
haptō (G681): to kindle Aorist participle, action complete before the main verb. A rare verb in the NT (the Verifier counts it in 5 verses), distinct from the common haptomai “touch.” Luke alone uses it for lamps and fires (Luke 11:33; 15:8; 22:55; Acts 28:2), so the kindling here is part of a Lukan vocabulary of light deliberately struck.
λύχνονlychnona lampG3088
√ λύχνος — a portable lamp or other illuminator (literally or figuratively)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
lychnos (G3088): a portable lamp A small clay oil lamp, not a torch or the sun. In the setting of the Sower’s interpretation (8:11 to 15) the lamp is the word just explained to the disciples; Gill reads it of “evangelical light and knowledge,” Cambridge of the disciples themselves as lamps Christ lit.
καλύπτειkalyptei[and] coversG2572
√ καλύπτω — to cover up (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
kalyptō (G2572): to cover up Present indicative, a general truth. The same verb stands in Matthew 10:26, the parallel to v. 17, of what is covered and will be revealed; covering is precisely what the next verse says cannot last.
αὐτὸνautonitG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
σκεύειskeueiwith a jarG4632
√ σκεῦος — a vessel, implement, equipment or apparatus (literally or figuratively [specially, a wife as contributing to the usefulness of the husband])NounDative Neuter Singular
skeuos: vessel, implement Luke’s general term where Matthew and Mark name the bushel measure.
ἢēorG2228
√ ἤ — disjunctive, orConjunction
τίθησινtithēsinputs [it]G5087
√ τίθημι — to place (in the widest application, literally and figurativelyVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
tithēmi: to place The same verb is used for the wrong placement (under) and the right one (upon, idx 12): the issue is not whether the lamp is placed but where.
ὑποκάτωhypokatōunderG5270
√ ὑποκάτω — down under, iPreposition
κλίνηςklinēsa bedG2825
√ κλίνη — a couch (for sleep, sickness, sitting or eating)NounGenitive Feminine Singular
ἀλλ’all’InsteadG235
√ ἀλλά — properly, other things, iConjunction
Strong adversative: “but rather,” turning from two absurd placements to the only sensible one.
τίθησινtithēsinhe sets [it]G5087
√ τίθημι — to place (in the widest application, literally and figurativelyVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ἐπὶepionG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
λυχνίαςlychniasa standG3087
√ λυχνία — a lamp-stand (literally or figuratively)NounGenitive Feminine Singular
lychnia (G3087): lampstand The fixed stand that lifts a lamp so its light reaches the room. In the Greek Old Testament this is the word for the tabernacle lampstand (Exodus 25:31), and Revelation 1:20 makes lampstands the churches: the stand is the appointed public place of light.
ἵναhinasoG2443
√ ἵνα — compare G3588 (ὁ))Conjunction
Purpose clause: the lamp is lit for seeing; concealment would defeat the reason for kindling it.
οἱhoithose whoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
εἰσπορευόμενοιeisporeuomenoienterG1531
√ εἰσπορεύομαι — to enter (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Masculine Plural
eisporeuomai: to enter Present participle, middle or passive form with active sense: people still coming in. Ellicott ventures, explicitly as a conjecture, that Luke the Gentile convert felt this phrase personally.
βλέπωσινblepōsincan seeG991
√ βλέπω — to look at (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Subjunctive Active3rd Person Plural
blepō (G991): to look, see Present subjunctive in a purpose clause. The verb returns as the command Blepete in v. 18: those entering are to see the light; the hearers are to see to how they hear.
τὸtotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
φῶςphōslightG5457
√ φῶς — compare G5316 (φαίνω), G5346 (φημί))NounAccusative Neuter Singular
phōs (G5457): light The article marks “the light” the lamp gives. In Luke the word has already carried Simeon’s “light for revelation to the Gentiles” (Luke 2:32).
17

For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought to light.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

gar estin ou krypton ho ou genēsetai phaneron oude apokryphon ho ou mē gnōsthē kai elthē eis phaneron

Word by word18 · parsed
γάρgarForG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
gar: for Grounds v. 16: lamps are set up because concealment is never the final state of things.
ἐστινestinthere isG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
οὐounothingG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
κρυπτὸνkryptonhiddenG2927
√ κρυπτός — concealed, iAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
kryptos (G2927): hidden The Verifier counts it in 16 NT verses. In context (vv. 9 to 10) what is “hidden” is the mystery of the kingdom given to the disciples in parable; Cambridge insists the first meaning is the spread of revealed truth, not the exposure of secret crimes.
ὃhothatG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Neuter Singular
οὐouvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
γενήσεταιgenēsetaiwill not beG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
ginomai: to become Future middle: a promised change of state, from hidden to manifest.
φανερὸνphanerondisclosedG5318
√ φανερός — shining, iAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
phaneros (G5318): visible, manifest From the root of phainō, “to shine.” The word closes both halves of the verse (idx 7 and 17), so the verse is framed by manifestation; light from v. 16 becomes visibility here.
οὐδὲoude[and] nothingG3761
√ οὐδέ — not however, iConjunction
ἀπόκρυφονapokryphonconcealedG614
√ ἀπόκρυφος — secretAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
apokryphos (G614): stored away, secret Rare (3 NT verses per the Verifier). Its one use outside the synoptic saying is Colossians 2:3, where all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are “hidden” in Christ: there the hiddenness is a treasury, here a temporary state that will open.
ὃhothatG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Neuter Singular
οὐouvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
μὴmēvvvG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
With ou (idx 11), the emphatic double negative: certainty, not probability.
γνωσθῇgnōsthēwill not be made knownG1097
√ γινώσκω — to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applications and with many implications (as follow, with others not thus clearly expressed)VerbAorist Subjunctive Passive3rd Person Singular
ginōskō (G1097): to know Aorist subjunctive passive, likely a divine passive: God is the implied agent of the making-known. Knowledge, not merely sight, is the goal, which prepares v. 18’s warning about hearing.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἔλθῃelthēbroughtG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
erchomai: to come The hidden thing “comes” into the open: revelation pictured as an arrival.
εἰςeistoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
φανερὸνphaneronlightG5318
√ φανερός — shining, iAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Singular
Repeats phaneron from idx 7, now as destination: “into the open.”
18

Pay attention, therefore, to how you listen. Whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Blepete oun pōs akouete gar hos an echē autō dothēsetai kai hos an mē echē kai ho dokei echein arthēsetai ap’ autou

Word by word22 · parsed
ΒλέπετεBlepetePay attentionG991
√ βλέπω — to look at (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
blepō (G991): to look, see Present imperative plural: an ongoing vigilance, not a single act. It answers v. 16’s blepōsin: the hearers who have been given light are told to watch how they receive it.
οὖνounthereforeG3767
√ οὖν — (adverbially) certainly, or (conjunctionally) accordinglyConjunction
oun: therefore Draws the practical inference from vv. 16 to 17: since the light is meant to spread, hearing is a stewardship.
πῶςpōsto howG4459
√ πῶς — an interrogative particle of mannerAdverb
Manner, not content: Luke’s form of the saying (Mark 4:24 has “what”).
ἀκούετεakoueteyou listenG191
√ ἀκούω — to hear (in various senses)VerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
akouō (G191): to hear Present indicative: “how you are hearing” now. The Sower’s parable closed with “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (8:8), and the good soil are those who “hear the word, cling to it” (8:15); this verb ties the lamp saying back to that interpretation.
γὰρgarG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ὃςhosWhoeverG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
ἂνan. . .G302
√ ἄν — (what-, where-, wither-, who-)soeverParticle
ἔχῃechēhasG2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
echō (G2192): to have, hold Present subjunctive in an indefinite relative clause. In context, “having” echoes the good soil that katechousin (“cling to,” 8:15) the word: the one who holds what he hears is given more.
αὐτῷautōvvvG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
δοθήσεταιdothēsetaiwill be given [more]G1325
√ δίδωμι — to give (used in a very wide application, properly, or by implication, literally or figurativelyVerbFuture Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
didōmi (G1325): to give Future passive with the giver unstated, most naturally God. The same law recurs as the lesson of the Pounds (Luke 19:26) and the Talents (Matthew 25:29), as Ellicott records.
καὶkai[but]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὃςhoswhoeverG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
ἂνan. . .G302
√ ἄν — (what-, where-, wither-, who-)soeverParticle
μὴmēvvvG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
mē, the negative proper to the subjunctive conditional clause.
ἔχῃechēdoes not haveG2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
καὶkaievenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὃhowhatG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
δοκεῖdokeihe thinksG1380
√ δοκέω — compare the base of G1166 (δεικνύω)) of the same meaningVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
dokeō (G1380): to think, seem Present indicative: “he supposes.” Luke’s distinctive addition; JFB: “Hanging loosely on him, and not appropriated, it is and is not his.” Paul uses the same verb for the same danger of a supposed standing (1 Corinthians 10:12, cited by Ellicott).
ἔχεινecheinhe hasG2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Infinitive Active
echō: to have Infinitive after dokei: the having exists only in his estimate.
ἀρθήσεταιarthēsetaiwill be taken awayG142
√ αἴρω — to lift upVerbFuture Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
airō (G142): to lift, take away Future passive, the counterpart of dothēsetai: the same unnamed Giver withdraws. The removal of a merely supposed possession is judgment by exposure, which v. 17 has already announced.
ἀπ’ap’fromG575
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
αὐτοῦautouhimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The lamp is lit to be lifted — Luke 8:16

Jesus has just explained the Sower privately (8:9 to 15). He now answers the obvious question: is this explanation a secret to keep? The Greek frames the answer as household absurdity: Οὐδεὶς, “no one,” having kindled (ἅψας) a lamp covers it with a vessel or sets it under a couch; the same verb tithēsin names both the wrong placement and the right one, “upon a λυχνία.” Gill draws the inference directly: what Christ gave the disciples in private was “not to be retained and concealed in their bosoms, but to be diffused.” Geneva puts it as a rule: what each has received in private he owes “to the use and profit of all men.” Cambridge identifies the lamp with the disciples themselves, kindled by Christ “to be a beacon to all the world,” while Pulpit reads the lamp as the Lord’s own plain explanation of his parable. Ellicott and Cambridge both observe that Luke’s generic “vessel” replaces the bushel of Matthew and Mark, and Ellicott, as a conjecture, connects the phrase “those who enter” with Luke’s own entry from outside Israel.

ii. Hiddenness is a season, not a destiny — Luke 8:17

The γάρ grounds the lamp saying in a law: nothing κρυπτὸν will fail to become φανερὸν, nothing ἀπόκρυφον shall by any means (ou mē) fail to be known and come into the open. Cambridge refuses the popular reading about exposed crimes here: “He is not thinking of the discovery of crimes, but of the right use and further dissemination of divine light.” Gill hears in it the commission: what was whispered privately would be “published upon the house tops.” Ellicott notes that the same maxim serves different ends elsewhere: the apostolic charge (Matthew 10:26) and a warning against hypocrisy (Luke 12:2). Pulpit, quoting Godet, sees the disciples advancing into fuller light while “the night thickens over Israel,” and then extends the promise to every patient searcher across the ages.

iii. Hearing as holding — Luke 8:18

The command Βλέπετε picks up v. 16’s blepōsin: those who enter see the light; those who have received it must see to πῶς, how, they hear. Mark 4:24 says “what”; JFB judges that “the one implies the other,” and Benson works both out at length: hearers must test what they hear by Scripture, and hear it with attention, humility and seriousness. The law that follows is stated in divine passives: to the one who has, δοθήσεται; from the one who has not, even what he δοκεῖ, thinks, he has ἀρθήσεται. Ellicott marks the “thinks he has” form as unique to this passage; Cambridge calls the fancied possession “mere self-deception”; JFB: “it is and is not his.” Henry turns it to use: gifts are continued “as we use them for the glory of God, and the good of our brethren.” Gill limits what can be lost to outward gifts and notions so as to protect the perseverance of true saints, a doctrinal guard the reader should recognise as Gill’s and weigh against the text.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Read within Luke 8, these three verses are the hinge between the Sower’s interpretation (8:11 to 15) and the true family “who hear the word of God and carry it out” (8:21). The lamp is the word given to the disciples; it was lit by Christ, and its purpose clause (hina) is that others entering may see. The hiddenness of the parables (8:10) is therefore provisional: v. 17 promises with the strongest negation Greek has that it will become manifest. Verse 18 then turns the promise into responsibility. The present imperative and the divine passives place the disciple between gift and removal: God gives more to the one who holds what he hears, and exposes the one whose possession was only his own estimate. This reading does not settle the question Gill raises about perseverance; Luke’s point is the warning, and the parable of the soils already shows hearers who receive with joy and fall away (8:13). Test this against the whole of Luke and the rest of Scripture, not against this tool.

The lamp is lit to be lifted; the word is heard to be held, and held to be given.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The same saying in Mark: “nothing secret” verbal / quotation: confirmed

Mark 4:21 to 22 carries the identical sequence after the identical parable: lamp, bed, lampstand, then the hidden-made-manifest saying. The Verifier finds three shared lexemes with Mark 4:22, including the very rare ἀπόκρυφος. Ellicott argues that this agreement in setting “favours the view that it was actually spoken in connection with the interpretation of the parable.” Luke’s differences (the general “vessel,” “those entering,” “how” you hear, “thinks he has”) stand out against this shared frame.

Mark 4:21 · Mark 4:22

basis: Verifier: Mark 4:22 shares G614 ἀπόκρυφος (in 3 vv, rare), G2927 κρυπτός (in 16 vv), G5318 φανερός (in 16 vv); Mark 4:21 shares G2825 κλίνη (in 9 vv) and G5087 τίθημι. Synoptic parallel of the same saying in the same setting.

Luke’s own doublet: the lamp again at 11:33 verbal / quotation: confirmed

Luke repeats the lamp saying in a different context (11:33), after the sign of Jonah, there tied to the eye as the lamp of the body. The Verifier records the rare kindling verb ἅπτω in both. Ellicott’s observation that these are maxims “often in our Lord’s lips, and applied as circumstances presented themselves” explains a doublet better than a scribal duplication would.

Luke 11:33

basis: Verifier: shared G681 ἅπτω (in 5 vv, rare) plus G5087 τίθημι (96 vv) and G991 βλέπω (117 vv); same saying repeated within Luke

Covered, revealed: the commission form of the saying verbal / quotation: confirmed

Matthew 10:26 places the hidden-made-known saying in the charge to the Twelve, followed by the command to proclaim on the housetops what was heard in the ear. Gill reads Luke 8:17 through it explicitly. JFB and Ellicott also point to Luke 12:2, where the same maxim warns against the leaven of hypocrisy. The Verifier’s basis covers Matthew 10:26; Luke 12:2 is recorded here on the commentators’ citation only.

Matthew 10:26 · Luke 12:2

basis: Verifier (Matthew 10:26): shared G2572 καλύπτω (in 7 vv, rare) and G2927 κρυπτός (in 16 vv). Luke 12:2 not computed by the Verifier; cited by JFB and Ellicott.

Whoever has: the law of the Talents and the Pounds structural / thematic: confirmed

Ellicott traces v. 18’s law through Matthew 13:12 (after the Sower), Matthew 25:29 (the Talents) and Luke 19:26 (the Pounds); Cambridge adds the pruning of the fruitful branch in John 15:2. In the parables of stewardship the “having” is visibly the use of an entrusted gift, which supports reading Luke 8:18 of holding and using the word rather than mere possession.

Matthew 13:12 · Matthew 25:29 · Luke 19:26 · John 15:2

basis: Recurring dominical saying recorded by Ellicott and Cambridge; not among the Verifier candidates, so no shared-lexeme frequency is claimed

Hidden treasure in Christ: the only other ἀπόκρυφος structural / thematic: confirmed

Outside the synoptic saying, ἀπόκρυφος occurs only at Colossians 2:3, where in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” ⚙ The pairing is suggestive: what Luke 8:17 promises will come into the open, Paul locates in a person. The link is lexical and thematic; Paul is not quoting the saying.

Colossians 2:3

basis: Verifier: shared G614 ἀπόκρυφος (in 3 vv, rare); a real verbal echo but different referent and no quotation, so tiered thematic

The lampstand from tabernacle to churches typological

⚙ λυχνία is the word the Greek Old Testament uses for the tabernacle lampstand (Exodus 25:31), the golden stand that bore the sanctuary’s lamps. Revelation 1:20 identifies seven lampstands as the churches. Read figurally, the stand on which the lamp is set in Luke 8:16 is the appointed, public place of God’s light among his people. This is a figural reading; Exodus is Hebrew and cannot share a Strong’s number with Luke.

Exodus 25:31 · Revelation 1:20

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew): no shared Strong’s possible; Revelation 1:20 is not among the Verifier candidates. Figural lampstand motif; the church-as-lampstand reading is widely held on the basis of Revelation 1:20, its application to Luke 8:16 is the tool’s.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The lamp lit by Christ, for those still entering ancient/widely-held

⚙ The lamp does not light itself. Cambridge: “Christ lighted the flame in their souls to be a beacon to all the world.” Gill reads it of the Gospel light Christ imparted to the apostles to be spread, not hoarded. In Luke the light has already been named at the start: Simeon’s “light for revelation to the Gentiles” (Luke 2:32), and the commission at the end sends repentance and forgiveness to all nations (Luke 24:47). The “those entering” of v. 16, which Ellicott ties (tentatively) to Luke’s own conversion, are the Gentiles that commission reaches. This apostolic reading is recorded by Gill, Cambridge and Geneva alike.

Luke 2:32 · Luke 24:47 · Matthew 5:14

What was hidden in parable, opened at the resurrection novel

⚙ Verse 17 promises that the hidden will come into the open. Within Luke, the decisive hiddenness concerns the Son of Man’s suffering, which “was hidden from them” (Luke 18:34), and the decisive opening is the risen Christ who “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). Pulpit (with Godet) and Cambridge read v. 17 of truths shown privately to the disciples and later flashed over the world; tying that fulfilment specifically to the Easter opening of the Scriptures is the tool’s synthesis.

Luke 18:34 · Luke 24:45

The Judge who brings hidden things to light ancient/widely-held

Cambridge grants that the saying’s secondary truth, the disclosure of what is secret, is taught elsewhere, citing 1 Corinthians 4:5, where the Lord at his coming “will bring to light what is hidden in darkness.” ⚙ The divine passives of v. 18 (given, taken away) find their agent there: the same Christ who lights the lamp will assess what each hearer did with it.

1 Corinthians 4:5

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text: BSB with Berean interlinear; no textual variant is recorded in the brief for these verses, and none is asserted here. Several interlinear glosses are placeholders (“vvv”, “. . .”) for words BSB absorbs into its idiom (the second ou and mē in v. 17; an and autō in v. 18). Sources: Barnes and Poole offer only cross-references here (to Mark 4:21 to 25 and parallels) and are not quoted. Henry’s entry is one summary of Luke 8:4 to 21 repeated under every verse. Benson’s entry treats vv. 16 to 18 together and is capped in the brief. Pulpit’s source text has an apparent typo (“shall net be”) at v. 17 that is not quoted. Uncertain: Ellicott’s link between “those entering” and Luke’s Gentile background is his own conjecture; the identity of the lamp (the word, the disciples, or Christ’s explanation) is read differently by Gill, Cambridge and Pulpit; Gill’s limitation of v. 18 to external gifts is a doctrinal judgment, not a datum of the text. Frequencies (“in N vv”) are the Verifier’s counts.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)