Luke 14:26

The context

Jesus is travelling toward Jerusalem and large crowds are accompanying him. He turns and addresses them with a series of sayings about the cost of discipleship, of which this is the first. The passage continues with carrying a cross, counting the cost of a tower, and a king going to war.

What it establishes

The saying uses a strong contrast to insist that loyalty to Jesus takes precedence over every other bond, including the closest family ties. The point is comparative, and the Gospel makes that explicit in a parallel saying about loving family more.

What it does not establish

It does not command literal hatred or the severing of family ties. The idiom is a Semitic way of expressing preference, and reading it flatly contradicts the same Gospel's teaching on honouring parents and loving enemies.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• I guess I can’t be a Christian because I don’t hate my parents. Why does Jesus tell us we need to hate our parents in order to be his disciple (Luke 14:26)?

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.