Luke 14:26
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Study Note
Study Note
Jesus' demand to 'hate' father, mother, wife, children, brethren, sisters, and even one's own life is one of the most confrontational sayings in the synoptic tradition and requires careful reading within its Semitic rhetorical context. Comparative hatred ('love less by comparison') is a known idiom in Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic — Genesis 29:31 says Leah was 'hated' while the context shows she was simply loved less than Rachel — suggesting Jesus is demanding relative, not absolute, priority: he must come first, before all other attachments. Matthew 10:37 renders the same saying with 'loveth father or mother more than me,' confirming the comparative interpretation. The verse's placement at the beginning of the cost-of-discipleship material (verses 27-33) frames the entire passage as a call to clear-eyed commitment rather than emotional alienation from family.
Other Translations
If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
`If any one doth come unto me, and doth not hate his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and yet even his own life, he is not able to be my disciple;
And turning round, he said to them, If any man comes to me, and has not hate for his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and even for his life, he may not be my disciple.
Cross References
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved …
And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all …
Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is …
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or …
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish …
I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.
So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.
And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? …
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.