The Meaning of Luke 13:27 Explained

Luke 13:27

KJV: But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

YLT: and he shall say, I say to you, I have not known you whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of the unrighteousness.

Darby: and he shall say, I tell you, I do not know you whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

ASV: and he shall say, I tell you, I know not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But  he shall say,  I tell  you,  I know  you  not  whence  ye are;  depart  from  me,  all  [ye] workers  of iniquity. 

What does Luke 13:27 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 13:18-30 - The Penalty Of Neglected Opportunity
Notice here the inward movement and the outward effect of the gospel whether in the heart or in the world of men. The garden and the kitchen, the lives of men and women, respectively yield the same lesson. Though the seed of the divine nature is sown in secret, it cannot remain secret, but works its way into manifestation. Man's method is from without inward; God's, from within outward. You cannot estimate the results when a little child receives the incorruptible seed, 1 Peter 1:23.
But the entrance into the full power and blessedness of Christ is by a narrow way. The strait gate is open to all, but it means that we have to deny and leave behind all that is carnal, whether good or bad in the estimate of men, so that the divine life may have the entire field. Merely to eat and drink in Christ's presence betrays a self-indulgence which is foreign to His Spirit. You may sit at the Lord's table and yet be a worker of iniquity! We may be first in privilege, but last in grace. Luke 13:29-30 remind us of Acts 10:34-35 and Romans 2:13. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 13

1  Jesus preaches repentance upon the punishment of the Galilaeans and others
6  The fruitless fig tree may not stand
10  He heals the crooked woman;
18  shows the powerful working of the word, by the parable of the grain of mustard seed,
20  and of leaven;
22  exhorts to enter in at the strait gate;
31  and reproves Herod and Jerusalem

Greek Commentary for Luke 13:27

I know not whence ye are [ουκ οιδα ποτεν εστε]
This blunt statement cuts the matter short and sweeps away the flimsy cobwebs. Acquaintance with Christ in the flesh does not open the door. Jesus quotes Psalm 8:9 as in Matthew 7:23, there as in the lxx, here with παντες εργαται αδικιας — pantes ergatai adikias there with οι εργαζομενοι την ανομιαν — hoi ergazomenoi tēn anomian But αποστητε — apostēte (second aorist active imperative) here, and there αποχωρειτε — apochōreite (present active imperative). [source]
I know not whence []
“The sentence is fixed, but it is repeated with emphasis” (Bengel). [source]
Shall sit down [ἀνακλιθήσονται]
Sit down at table. Jesus casts his thought into a familiar Jewish image. According to the Jewish idea, one of the main elements of the happiness of the Messianic kingdom was the privilege of participating in splendid festive entertainments along with the patriarchs of the nation. With this accords Luke 13:30, in allusion to places at the banquet. Compare Luke 14:7-9; Matthew 23:6. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 13:27

2 Timothy 2:19 The Lord knoweth them that are his [ἔγνω κύριος τοὺς ὄντας αὐτοῦ]
The first inscription: God knows his own. Comp. Numbers 16:5; 1 Corinthians 13:12. For ἔγνω knowethsee on Galatians 4:9. Them that are his, his ἐκλεκτοὶ chosensee 2 Timothy 2:10; Titus 1:1; Romans 8:33; Colossians 3:12; 1 Peter 2:9: Revelation 17:14. Not, however, in any hard, predestinarian sense. Comp. John 10:14; Matthew 7:23; Luke 13:25, Luke 13:27. [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 13:27 mean?

And he will say I tell you not I do know you from where you are depart from me all [you] workers of unrighteousness
Καὶ ἐρεῖ Λέγων ὑμῖν Οὐκ οἶδα [ὑμᾶς] πόθεν ἐστέ ἀπόστητε ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ πάντες ἐργάται ἀδικίας

ἐρεῖ  he  will  say 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: λέγω  
Sense: to utter, speak, say.
Λέγων  I  tell 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: λέγω 
Sense: to say, to speak.
οἶδα  I  do  know 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular
Root: οἶδα  
Sense: to see.
πόθεν  from  where 
Parse: Adverb
Root: πόθεν  
Sense: of place: from where, from what condition.
ἐστέ  you  are 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
ἀπόστητε  depart 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: ἀφίστημι  
Sense: to make stand off, cause to withdraw, to remove.
ἐμοῦ  me 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 1st Person Singular
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
πάντες  all  [you] 
Parse: Adjective, Vocative Masculine Plural
Root: πᾶς  
Sense: individually.
ἐργάται  workers 
Parse: Noun, Vocative Masculine Plural
Root: ἐργάτης  
Sense: a workman, a labourer.
ἀδικίας  of  unrighteousness 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: ἀδικία  
Sense: injustice, of a judge.