Luke 6:38 Meaning and Explanation
“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Read on its own, this verse gets pressed into service as a formula for financial return. Read in place, it sits at the end of a paragraph about loving enemies, lending without hope of repayment, refusing to judge, and forgiving. The giving in view is far wider than money, and the picture Jesus paints comes from a grain market anyone in the crowd would recognize.
Generosity meets generosity. Jesus pictures grain heaped into the fold of a garment, packed and overflowing, and states the principle plainly: the measure we use toward others is the measure used toward us.
The Context of Luke 6:38
Luke 6 records Jesus coming down with the twelve He has just chosen and standing in a plain, where a great multitude from Judaea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon has gathered to hear Him and be healed. The blessings and woes come first, in verses 20 through 26. Then a long section on love of enemies runs from verse 27, reaching the call in verse 36 to be merciful as the Father is merciful. Verse 37 lists judging, condemning, and forgiving, each with a matching result. Verse 38 completes that series and adds its overflowing picture.
What Does Luke 6:38 Mean?
Four phrases describe the return, and they follow the actions of a merchant filling a container with grain. 'Good measure' means a full one. 'Pressed down' packs the contents. 'Shaken together' settles them so more will fit. 'Running over' takes the heap past the rim. Each step adds to what a level scoop would hold. The grain falls 'into your bosom,' the fold of an outer garment gathered at the waist and used to carry things. The closing sentence supplies the principle behind the picture, using the vocabulary of measuring twice over. What we hand out sets the size of the container that comes back.
The verse belongs to a chain of paired statements. Judging invites judgment, condemning invites condemnation, forgiving opens the way to being forgiven, and giving brings a return. Each pair works the same way, so verse 38 is the positive climax of a pattern already established. The controlling sentence is verse 36, where mercy in the Father becomes the model for mercy in us. Verse 35 has already made the motive clear by describing God as kind to the unthankful and the evil. Generosity in this passage flows downstream from God's own character, and imitation is the reason given for it.
Luke's Gospel keeps returning to open hands. Zacchaeus gives half his goods away, the good Samaritan spends his own money on a stranger, and the widow at the treasury gives all her living. Paul told the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:35 to remember a saying of the Lord Jesus about the greater blessing belonging to the giver. Behind all of it stands the pattern of Christ Himself, who gave without limit to people who had no way to repay Him. The overflowing measure in this verse describes how God has already dealt with us before it describes what we can expect.
Luke 6:38 in the Original Language
kolpon (κόλπον), 'bosom' -- the fold of a loose outer garment, gathered above the belt and used as a pocket for carrying grain or produce. The image is of someone holding out that fold while a generous seller pours in more than it can hold.
Bible Verses Related to Luke 6:38
“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”
- Luke 6:36
“The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.”
- Proverbs 11:25
“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”
- 2 Corinthians 9:6
“I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
- Acts 20:35
Where Luke 6:38 Echoes in Scripture
2 Corinthians 9:6 sets the same principle in agricultural terms, telling the Corinthians that sowing sparingly leads to a sparing harvest and sowing bountifully to a bountiful one. Paul is organizing a collection for believers in Jerusalem, so the words are practical rather than theoretical. He adds in the next verse that God loves a cheerful giver, which guards the promise from becoming a calculation. The measure returned stays generous, and the giver's heart matters as much as the amount.
How to Apply Luke 6:38 Today
The command is short enough to act on today. Give something: attention to a person who has been talking without being heard, the benefit of the doubt to someone who annoys us, money to a need we have been noticing and postponing. Because the surrounding verses concern enemies and judgment, the hardest giving here is mercy toward people we would rather keep at a distance. A helpful check is to notice the measure we are using. Where we are careful and stingy with grace, we are also setting the size of the cup handed back to us.
Reflection & Prayer
What measure have we been using this week with the person hardest to be generous toward? Father, You have poured into our lives far past the rim. Loosen our grip on what we are holding, and make us glad to hand it on. Let mercy be the measure we reach for, since it is the measure You have used with us. Amen.
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