Luke 6:22

22 "How blessed you are whenever people hate you and ostracize you and insult you and denounce you as a criminal on account of the Son of Man.

Luke 6:22 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 6:22

Blessed are ye when men shall hate you
For the sake of Christ, and his Gospel:

and when they shall separate you from their company;
either from civil conversation with them, as if they were Gentiles and uncircumcised persons; or from their religious assemblies, and so may have respect to that sort of excommunication in use, among the Jews, called (ywdn) or "separation": by which persons were not only excluded from the congregation, but from all civil society and commerce: such a person might not sit nearer to another than four cubits, and this continued for thirty days; and if not discharged then, he continued thirty more F20:

and shall reproach you:
as heretics, apostates, and enemies to the law of Moses, as the Jews did reproach the Christians;

and cast out your name as evil;
or "as of evil men": as the Syriac and Arabic versions render it: this may have respect to the greater sorts of excommunication, used among them, called "Shammatha" and "Cherem", by which a person was accursed, and devoted to destruction; so that our Lord's meaning is, that the should be esteemed and treated as the worst of men, and stigmatized in the vilest manner they were capable of:

for the son of man's sake;
not for any immorality committed by them, but only for professing and, preaching that the Messiah was come in the flesh, and that Jesus of Nazareth was he; and that he who was the son of man, according to his human nature, was, the Son of God according to his divine nature.


FOOTNOTES:

F20 Vid. Maimon. Talmud Tora, c. 7. sect. 4, 5, 6.

Luke 6:22 In-Context

20 He looked at his talmidim and said: "How blessed are you poor! for the Kingdom of God is yours.
21 "How blessed are you who are hungry! for you will be filled. "How blessed are you who are crying now! for you will laugh.
22 "How blessed you are whenever people hate you and ostracize you and insult you and denounce you as a criminal on account of the Son of Man.
23 Be glad when that happens; yes, dance for joy! because in heaven your reward is great. For that is just how their fathers treated the prophets.
24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already had all the comfort you will get!
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.