Luke 11:33

No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(33, 34) No man, when he hath lighted a candle, . . .—See Note on Matthew 5:15. Here also it seems, on the whole, more probable that we have a portion of our Lord’s previous teaching repeated by Him in almost identical terms, than that a fragment of that teaching has either been torn from its proper context by St. Luke, or artificially woven into a discourse to which it did not belong by St. Matthew. Better, as in St. Matthew, lighted a lamp . . . under the bushel. . . on the lampstand.

Benson Commentary

Luke 11:33-36. No man, when he hath lighted a candle — The meaning is, God gives you this gospel-light, that ye may repent. Let your eye be singly fixed on him, aim only at pleasing God; and while ye do this, your whole soul will be full of wisdom, holiness, and happiness. But when thine eye is evil — When thou aimest at any thing else, thou wilt be full of folly, sin, and misery. On the contrary, If thy whole body be full of light — If thou art filled with holy wisdom, having no part dark, giving way to no sin or folly, then that heavenly principle will, like the clear flame of a lamp in a room that was dark before, shed its light into all thy powers and faculties. For a fuller explanation of these verses, see notes on Matthew 5:15; Matthew 6:22-23; Mark 4:21-22.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:29-36 Christ promised that there should be one sign more given, even the sign of Jonah the prophet; which in Matthew is explained, as meaning the resurrection of Christ; and he warned them to improve this sign. But though Christ himself were the constant preacher in any congregation, and worked miracles daily among them, yet unless his grace humbled their hearts, they would not profit by his word. Let us not desire more evidence and fuller teaching than the Lord is pleased to afford us. We should pray without ceasing that our hearts and understandings may be opened, that we may profit by the light we enjoy. And especially take heed that the light which is in us be not darkness; for if our leading principles be wrong, our judgment and practice must become more so.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

These verses are found in Matthew, but in a different connection. See the notes at Matthew 5:15; Matthew 6:22-23.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

33-36. (See on [1640]Mt 5:14-16; [1641]Mt 6:22, 23.) But Lu 11:36 here is peculiarly vivid, expressing what pure, beautiful, broad perceptions the clarity of the inward eye imparts.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

We met with this similitude Luke 8:16 Matthew 5:15: See Poole on "Luke 8:16", See Poole on "Matthew 5:15". It was a kind of proverbial speech, and so applicable to divers subjects. Some think that our Saviour bringeth in these words as a reason why he would show the Pharisees no sign, viz. because he knew it would do them no good, it had been like the lighting of a candle and putting it under a bushel, which no man doth. Others think that by it he designs to give an account why he pronounced those blessed who heard the word and did it, Luke 11:28, because practice, and giving light to others, is the end of all hearing.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

No man when he hath lighted a candle,.... These words are often repeated by Christ on different occasions; see Gill on Matthew 5:15 and See Gill on Luke 8:16 and here seem to design the free, open, and clear ministry of Christ, who excelled Solomon in wisdom, and Jonas in powerful preaching. It being as a candle, which, when lighted, no man

putteth in a secret place; as under a bed, Mark 4:21 where it cannot be seen, and its light be of any use:

neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come may see the light; intimating, that Christ and his disciples did not preach in corners, or in private houses, and secret places, but in the streets of the city, and in the temples and synagogues, the public places of worship: and therefore the Jews were the more inexcusable, that they did not attend to the ministry of the word; and this would be their condemnation, that light was come among them, and they preferred darkness to it, John 3:19.

Geneva Study Bible

{9} No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.

(9) Our minds are therefore lightened with the knowledge of God, that we should give light unto others, and therefore our main labour ought to be to pray for that light.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Luke 11:33-36. Comp. Luke 8:16; Mark 4:21; and see on Matthew 5:15; Matthew 6:22 f.

No awkward (Baur), unconnected (Bleek, Ritschl) interpolation, but the introduction of the passage in this place depends on the connection of thought: “Here is more than Solomon, more than Jonah (Luke 11:31-32). But this knowledge (the exceeding knowledge of Christ, Php 3:8), once kindled at my word, ought not to be suppressed and made inoperative, but, like a light placed upon a candlestick, it ought to be allowed to operate unrestrainedly upon others also;[145] for the attainment of which result (Luke 11:34 ff.) it is indeed necessary to preserve clear and undimmed one’s own inner light, i.e. the power of perception that receives the divine truth.” Certainly the train of thought in Matthew is easier and clearer, but Luke found them in the source whence he obtained them in the connection in which he gives them.

εἰς κρυπτήν] not instead of the neuter, for which the feminine never stands in the New Testament (not even in Matthew 21:42), nor is it according to the analogy of εἰς μακράν, εἰς μίαν, and the like (see Bernhardy, p. 221) adverbial (see Bornemann), since no instance of such a use of ΚΡΥΠΤΉΝ can be produced, but the accent must be placed on the penult, ΕἸς ΚΡΎΠΤΗΝ: into a concealed passage, into a vault (cellar). Thus ἡ κρύπτη in Athen. iv. p. 205 A. Comp. the Latin crypta, Sueton. Calig. 58; Vitruv. vi. 8; Prudent. Hippol. 154: “Mersa latebrosis crypta patet foveis.” The certainty of the usus loquendi and the appropriateness of the meaning confirm this explanation, although it occurs in none of the versions, and among the MSS. only in Γ. Yet Euthymius Zigabenus seems to give it in ΤῊΝ ἈΠΌΚΡΥΦΟΝ ΟἸΚΊΑΝ: in recent times, Valckenaer, Matthaei (ed. min. I. p. 395), Kuinoel, Bretschneider, Bleek, Holtzmann, Winer, p. 213 [E. T. 298], have it. Comp. Beza.

[145] These words have nothing further to do with the refusal of the sign. This is in opposition to Hilgenfeld, who regards the connection as being: that there is no need at all of such a sign, since, indeed, Jesus does not conceal His light, etc. Comp. also Weizsäcker, p. 157. Besides, the discourse, ver. 33, manifestly does not describe a procedure that takes place, but a duty.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 11:33-36 contain parabolic utterances concerning the placing of a light, and the conditions under which the eye sees the light.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

33-36. The Inward Light.

33. in a secret place] Rather, in a crypt or cellar.

under a bushel] Rather, ‘under the bushel’; i.e. the one in use in the house; and similarly ‘the candlestick,’ or rather, ‘lamp-stand.’

that they which come in may see the light] The comparison is the same as in Matthew 5:14, Mark 4:21; but the application in the next verse is different. The light is here used for inward enlightenment, not to be seen afar.

Bengel's Gnomen

Luke 11:33. [Οὐδεὶς δὲ, moreover no man) We ought to give ourselves wholly up to the Word of GOD, so as that those who are thoroughly and inwardly enlightened by it may be enabled to gain over others.—V. g.]—εἰς κρυπτὴν) Feminine, according to the Hebrew idiom, for the Neuter.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 33. - No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The Lord continues his reply to those who asked him to support his claims by a visible sign from heaven, "Do not think for a moment that the sign I speak about, and which was prefigured in the story of the Prophet Jonah, will be an obscure or secret thing. No man lights a lamp to hide: so will it be with that sign which will be given to you." Jesus was speaking all the while of the mighty sign of his resurrection. Luke 11:33

Vincent's Word Studies

Candle

Properly, lamp.

Secret place (κρυπτὴν)

Rather, a cellar or crypt, which latter is the Greek word transcribed.

The bushel

See on Matthew 5:15.

Candlestick

Properly stand. See on Matthew 5:15.

Which enter in (εἰσπορευόμενοι)

Better with the continuous force of the present participle, axe entering m from time to time.

Light (φέγγος)

The word occurs in only two other places: Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24, on which see notes.