The Meaning of Luke 8:17 Explained

Luke 8:17

KJV: For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.

YLT: for nothing is secret, that shall not become manifest, nor hid, that shall not be known, and become manifest.

Darby: For there is nothing hid which shall not become manifest, nor secret which shall not be known and come to light.

ASV: For nothing is hid, that shall not be made manifest; nor anything'secret, that shall not be known and come to light.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For  nothing  is  secret,  that  shall  not  be made  manifest;  neither  [any thing] hid,  that  shall  not  be known  and  come  abroad. 

What does Luke 8:17 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Jesus next commented on the parable of the lamp indicating its significance. Disciples should not suppose that because God had kept the truth that Jesus had revealed to them secret He wanted it to remain hidden. He wanted it declared publicly now.

Context Summary

Luke 8:16-25 - Hearing Doing Believing
Inconsistency, unkindly words and acts, disobedience to our known duty will prevent our light from shining. If Christ has illumined your wick, see that you trust Him to find for you your stand, from which you may emit the clearest rays. You are lighted to shine!
The closest relationship to Jesus is not that of nature but of grace. To listen in your heart to God's voice, to hear it in His Word and in Providence and then to do as it decrees, will bring you into the closest relationship with your Lord.
Be prepared for storms if you link your lives with Christ. But they cannot hurt you. Men and demons will rage against you; but there is a limit to their power. Jesus rules the waves. "The sea is His and He made it." If only you can include yourself and Christ in that pronoun we of Luke 8:24 you can never perish although there be as many demons against you as tiles on the house roofs. So Luther found it. See Isaiah 54:17. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 8

1  Women minister unto Jesus of their own means
4  Jesus, after he had preached from place to place,
9  explains the parable of the sower,
16  and the candle;
19  declares who are his mother, and brothers;
22  rebukes the winds;
26  casts the legion of demons out of the man into the herd of pigs;
37  is rejected by the Gadarenes;
43  heals the woman of her bleeding;
49  and raises Jairus's daughter from death

Greek Commentary for Luke 8:17

That shall not be known [ο ου μη γνωστηι]
Peculiar to Luke. First aorist passive subjunctive of γινωσκω — ginōskō with the strong double negative ου μη — ou mē See note on Mark 4:22 for discussion of krupton and apokruphon f0). [source]
Nothing is secret - manifest []
Correctly rendered in A. V., but not so the parallel passage, Mark 4:22, on which see note. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 8:17

Mark 4:22 Save that it should be manifested [εαν μη ινα πανερωτηι]
Note εαν μη — ean mē and ινα — hina Luke 8:17 has it that shall not be made manifest Here in Mark it is stated that the temporary concealment is for final manifestation and a means to that end. Those who are charged with the secret at this time are given the set responsibility of proclaiming it on the housetops after Ascension (Swete). The hidden (κρυπτον — krupton) and the secret (αποκρυπον — apokruphon) are to be revealed in due time. [source]
Mark 5:15 And behold [τεωρουσιν]
Present tense again.And they were afraid (και εποβητησαν — kai ephobēthēsan). They became afraid. Mark drops back to the ingressive aorist tense (passive voice). They had all been afraid of the man, but there he was “sitting clothed and in his right mind,” (κατημενον ιματισμενον και σωπρονουντα — kathēmenon himatismenon kai sōphronounta Note the participles). “At the feet of Jesus,” Luke adds (Luke 8:35). For a long time he had worn no clothes (Luke 8:17). Here was the healing of the wild man and the destruction of the hogs all by this same Jesus. [source]
Mark 5:15 And they were afraid [και εποβητησαν]
They became afraid. Mark drops back to the ingressive aorist tense (passive voice). They had all been afraid of the man, but there he was “sitting clothed and in his right mind,” “At the feet of Jesus,” Luke adds (Luke 8:35). For a long time he had worn no clothes (Luke 8:17). Here was the healing of the wild man and the destruction of the hogs all by this same Jesus. [source]
Colossians 2:3 Hid [ἀπόκρυφοι]
Only here, Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17. Compare 1 Corinthians 2:7. Not to be joined with are, as A.V. Its position at the end of the sentence, and so far from are, shows that it is added as an emphatic secondary predicate. Hence, as Rev., in whom are all the treasures, etc., hidden. For a similar construction, see Colossians 3:1, “where Christ is on the right hand of God seated (there).” James 1:17, “Every perfect gift is from above, coming down.” Grammatically, hidden may be taken as an attribute of treasures; “in whom the hidden treasures are contained;” but the other is preferable. The words which immediately follow in Colossians 2:4, suggest the possibility that hidden may convey an allusion to the Apocrypha or secret writings of the Essenes, whose doctrines entered into the Colossian heresy. Such writings, which, later, were peculiar also to the Gnostics, contained the authoritative secret wisdom, the esoteric teaching for the learned few. If such is Paul's allusion, the word suggests a contrast with the treasures of christian wisdom which are accessible to all in Christ. [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 8:17 mean?

Nothing for is hidden which not manifest will become nor secret not shall be known and to light come
οὐ γάρ ἐστιν κρυπτὸν οὐ φανερὸν γενήσεται οὐδὲ ἀπόκρυφον μὴ γνωσθῇ καὶ εἰς φανερὸν ἔλθῃ

οὐ  Nothing 
Parse: Adverb
Root: οὐ  
Sense: no, not; in direct questions expecting an affirmative answer.
κρυπτὸν  hidden 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: κρυπτός 
Sense: hidden, concealed, secret.
φανερὸν  manifest 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: φανερός  
Sense: apparent, manifest, evident, known.
γενήσεται  will  become 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Middle, 3rd Person Singular
Root: γίνομαι  
Sense: to become, i.
οὐδὲ  nor 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: οὐδέ  
Sense: but not, neither, nor, not even.
ἀπόκρυφον  secret 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: ἀπόκρυφος  
Sense: hidden, secret.
γνωσθῇ  shall  be  known 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: γινώσκω  
Sense: to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel.
φανερὸν  light 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: φανερός  
Sense: apparent, manifest, evident, known.
ἔλθῃ  come 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἔρχομαι  
Sense: to come.