Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. — Luke 6:38 (ESV)
Historical and literary context
Luke 6:38 closes the section on enemy-love and judgment in Jesus' Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:27-38). The 'give' in v. 38 is the same family of giving as 'do good to those who hate you' (v. 27), 'lend, expecting nothing in return' (v. 35), and 'judge not' (v. 37). The context is overwhelmingly about mercy, judgment, and forgiveness — not finance.
Original language: metron
μέτρον (metron) — 'Measure' — a measuring container, like a grain basket. The picture Jesus paints — pressed down, shaken together, running over — is a grain merchant filling the buyer's lap-fold of a robe to overflowing. The Aramaic background is reciprocity language used in marketplace and judgment contexts.
What the verse means
The most common modern misreading is that 'give' refers to money and 'it will be given to you' refers to financial return. Luke's context is mercy and non-judgment. Read the four parallel commands in vv. 37-38: do not judge, do not condemn, forgive, give. All four name a posture you extend; all four name a corresponding posture you will receive. The 'measure' is the standard of mercy you use toward others, returned upon you.
That said, Scripture elsewhere does affirm that material generosity often returns materially (Proverbs 11:24-25; 2 Corinthians 9:6). Luke 6:38 includes that principle but is broader. The 'measure' applies to every form of grace — judgment, forgiveness, mercy, AND material generosity.
The image of grain 'pressed down, shaken together, running over' was a known marketplace practice. An honest grain merchant pressed the grain, shook it, then poured in more until it spilled. Jesus says God is that merchant. The 'lap' is the fold of an outer garment used as a pocket — a tangible, physical return, not just an abstract spiritual one.
How this verse is misused
Used as a fundraising verse: 'Seed a $1,000 gift and reap $10,000.' That is a category mistake. Jesus is not teaching transactional sowing-and-reaping; he is teaching that the standard you apply to others — in judgment, mercy, forgiveness, and generosity — becomes the standard heaven applies to you. Treating God as a divine slot machine inverts the verse.
Applying it today
- Audit the measure you use. How harshly do you judge? How quickly do you forgive? That same standard is being prepared for you.
- Give without calculating return. The promise is real but is voided the moment giving becomes investment.
- Apply the verse to mercy, not just money. The lap-fold overflow is most often relational, spiritual, and reputational, not always financial.
- Read it alongside the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:23-35). The 'measure' principle has teeth — withholding mercy invites the same.
Related Scripture
- Proverbs 11:24-25 — The generous soul will be made rich.
- Matthew 7:2 — With the measure you use it will be measured to you.
- 2 Corinthians 9:6 — Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.
- Matthew 6:14-15 — Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Frequently asked questions
Does Luke 6:38 promise financial return for giving?
It includes that principle, but the primary context is mercy and judgment. Jesus is naming a kingdom law of reciprocity that covers material generosity, forgiveness, and the standards we apply to others.
Is it wrong to give expecting return?
Yes, in the prosperity-gospel sense. Jesus elsewhere commands lending 'expecting nothing in return' (Luke 6:35). The return comes precisely because you stopped trying to engineer it.
What is 'good measure, pressed down, shaken together'?
A first-century marketplace image of an honest grain merchant overfilling the buyer's robe-pocket. Jesus says heaven gives back that way — beyond fair, beyond expected, into overflow.