“Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch?”
The full verse · Luke 6:39 · KJV
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Asked by
Jesus: the Son of God and promised Messiah, teaching His disciples on a level place with a great multitude gathered to hear Him (Luke 6:17, 20)
Asked to
Disciples: "the company of his disciples" (Luke 6:17), a wider group than the twelve He had just chosen and "named apostles" (Luke 6:13), with "a great multitude of people" also present (Luke 6:17). He "lifted up his eyes on his disciples" and taught (Luke 6:20), and here "spake a parable unto them" (Luke 6:39).
The Scene
In the Sermon on the Plain, right after teaching His hearers not to judge but to forgive and to give, Jesus "spake a parable unto them" (Luke 6:37-39).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionJesus wanted His hearers to see for themselves that a guide must be able to see. Both questions have obvious answers. In the Greek, the first question opens with a word (mēti) that expects the answer "no," and the second with a word (ouchi) that expects "yes." Barnes, at the parallel saying in Matthew 15:14, calls it "a plain proposition": a blind man leading blind men "would fall into every ditch that was in the way." Gill and Matthew Henry both apply it first to the Pharisees. Henry asks, "Can the Pharisees, who are blinded with pride, prejudice, and bigotry, lead the blind people into the right way?" The next words, "The disciple is not above his master" (Luke 6:40), show that the point also reaches the disciples: they will become like whoever teaches them.
The Response
What Scripture recordsNo one answers, because the answers are plain: the blind cannot lead the blind, and both will fall. Jesus goes straight on: "The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master" (Luke 6:40). Barnes explains that the learner "does not know more, and must expect to fare no better" than his teacher. Jesus then warns against trying to remove a mote from a brother's eye while a beam sits in one's own (Luke 6:41-42).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsLuke calls this two-question saying a "parable" (Luke 6:39), which shows the word could describe a short comparison, not only a longer story. The "ditch" is the Greek bothynos, a pit or ditch, which the ESV renders "pit."
Matthew records the same image in another setting. When the disciples told Jesus the Pharisees were offended, He said, "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch" (Matthew 15:12-14). Barnes explains "Let them alone" as "do not be troubled at their rage."
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyJesus' questions show His concern for the people being led, not only for the leaders. Barnes says that in exposing the blind guides in Matthew 15:14, Jesus "wished, by doing it, to save the deluded multitude." A blind guide harms everyone who trusts him.
The answer to blindness is in the next verse. A disciple becomes like his master (Luke 6:40), so everything depends on who the master is. Jesus is calling His hearers to learn from Him, the Teacher who sees, and to let Him clear their own eyes before they lead anyone else (Luke 6:42).
Look Closer
What answers do the two questions in Luke 6:39 expect?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Lord, where do I need You to open my eyes before I try to lead anyone else?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- Whose teaching is shaping you most right now, and where is it leading you?
- Tell about someone who helped you see clearly because they had walked the road ahead of you.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
Everyone follows someone, and everyone influences someone. Before you guide others, make sure you are being taught by Jesus. A disciple becomes like his master (Luke 6:40), so stay close to the Master who sees.
Be careful, too, about whom you follow. Jesus goes on to say that "every tree is known by his own fruit" (Luke 6:44).
This doesn't mean you must see perfectly before you help anyone. Jesus' remedy is to deal with your own beam first, "and then shalt thou see clearly" (Luke 6:42).
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”
“Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
“Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?”