Foxes Have Holes

The words

Luke 9:51–62 (opens a new tab)

1. Bury

   In Luke, Jesus tells another man to follow him; the man asks first to bury his father. Jesus replies with the saying about the dead and directs him to proclaim the kingdom of God.

   Luke 9:59–60 (opens a new tab) · Matthew 8:21–22 (opens a new tab)

2. Consume

   Destroy, in the brothers’ proposed action.

   James and John ask whether they should call down fire to consume the unwelcoming Samaritan villagers. Jesus turns and rebukes them, and they go to another village; Luke does not describe fire being sent.

   Luke 9:52–56 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Luke 9:51-62 (opens a new tab)

3. Dead

   Jesus answers the burial request with “Let the dead bury their dead,” then tells the man to proclaim God’s kingdom. Matthew records the same saying after an instruction to follow him.

   Luke 9:59–60 (opens a new tab) · Matthew 8:21–22 (opens a new tab)

4. Farewell

   Say goodbye.

   Another speaker offers to follow Jesus but first asks to bid farewell to those at home. Jesus answers with the image of a hand on the plow and looking back.

   Luke 9:61–62 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Luke 9:51-62 (opens a new tab)

5. Foxes

   Jesus answers an offer to follow him by contrasting foxes’ holes and birds’ nests with the Son of man having nowhere to lay his head. Matthew records the same comparison.

   Did you know?

   In Yellowstone, the Park Service notes that red fox mothers nursing kits at dens in late April and May may forage during daylight to feed their young.

   Luke 9:57–58 (opens a new tab) · Matthew 8:19–20 (opens a new tab) · NPS: Yellowstone red fox (opens a new tab)

6. Holes

   Dens; the foxes’ shelters in the saying.

   Holes are the foxes’ shelters in Jesus’s contrast between animals with resting places and the Son of man with nowhere to lay his head. The NET calls the shelters dens.

   Luke 9:58 (opens a new tab) · Matthew 8:20 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Luke 9:51-62 (opens a new tab)

7. Home

   The speaker asks to bid farewell to those at home in his house before following Jesus. The NET renders the phrase as goodbye to his family; Jesus answers with the plow image.

   Luke 9:61–62 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Luke 9:51-62 (opens a new tab)

8. Looking Back

   Looking back appears in Jesus’s answer to the request for a farewell at home. His image joins a hand put to the plow with looking backward, then speaks of fitness for God’s kingdom.

   Luke 9:61–62 (opens a new tab)

9. Men's Lives

   The KJV says the Son of man came to save “men’s lives.” The King James Version follows later manuscripts here; many modern Bibles, following older ones, read differently or put these words in a footnote.

   Luke 9:55–56 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Luke 9:51-62 (opens a new tab)

10. Messengers

    Jesus sends messengers ahead of him, and they enter a Samaritan village to prepare for him. The village does not receive him because he is heading toward Jerusalem; the messengers are not named.

    Luke 9:51–53 (opens a new tab)

11. Nests

    Birds’ nests stand alongside foxes’ holes in Jesus’s reply to an offer to follow him. Both animals have shelters, while his statement about the Son of man names nowhere to lay his head.

    Luke 9:57–58 (opens a new tab) · Matthew 8:19–20 (opens a new tab)

12. Plough

    Plow; a farming implement for turning soil.

    Jesus uses a plow in his reply to the man who wants first to say farewell at home. The image combines starting to plow with looking back and speaks of fitness for God’s kingdom.

    Luke 9:61–62 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Luke 9:51-62 (opens a new tab)

13. Stedfastly

    Resolutely; with firm determination.

    Luke says Jesus “stedfastly” sets his face toward Jerusalem as the time for his being received up approaches. The NET renders the movement as setting out resolutely; messengers are then sent ahead.

    Luke 9:51–52 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Luke 9:51-62 (opens a new tab)

14. Village

    The Samaritan village refuses to receive Jesus because he is traveling toward Jerusalem. After James and John propose fire and Jesus rebukes them, the group goes to another village.

    Luke 9:52–56 (opens a new tab)

15. Whithersoever

    Wherever; to any place.

    In Luke, an unnamed man offers to follow Jesus “whithersoever” he goes, prompting the foxes-and-nests reply. Matthew identifies the speaker making the same offer as a scribe; the NET renders the word wherever.

    Luke 9:57–58 (opens a new tab) · Matthew 8:19–20 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Matthew 8:18-22 (opens a new tab)