Give and It Shall Be Given
The Phrase Today "Give, and it shall be given" is regularly invoked in the contexts of generosity, philanthropy, and reciprocal ethics. It appears in fundraising appeals, motivational literature, and discussions of the economics of giving. The phrase functions as a promise of return on generosity - not necessarily a financial return, but an assurance that liberality creates the conditions for receiving in kind. It is used both in religious contexts, where the return is understood as divine blessing, and in secular contexts, where it describes the social dynamics of generous behaviour.
Biblical Origin The phrase comes from Luke 6:38, part of the Sermon on the Plain: *"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."* Jesus's use of grain-market imagery is vivid: a measure pressed down, shaken so the grain settles, and filled to overflowing suggests not just equal return but lavish abundance exceeding what was given. The passage is part of a broader teaching on generosity, forgiveness, and non-judgment, in which each virtue is paired with a promise of proportionate or superabundant return.
Semantic Drift The original context was explicitly about the ethics of generosity and the divine economy of blessing. The phrase entered English usage and was applied to multiple domains of reciprocity. By the 18th century it appeared in economic writing about the social benefits of generous commerce. By the 19th century it was used in mutual aid and cooperative movements to describe the principle that pooled generosity benefits all givers. In the 20th century it entered the self-help and motivational genre: the law of reciprocity and the concept of "givers gain" in networking and business circles often echo this phrase without knowing its source.
Historical Usage The phrase was a staple of Christian charitable preaching from the patristic era onward. Church fathers including Chrysostom used the image of the overflowing measure to argue for the spiritual logic of giving to the poor. In medieval homiletics, the passage was regularly cited as the theological foundation for almsgiving and hospitality. In the Reformation era, Protestant preachers used it to motivate church giving and community generosity. In Victorian philanthropic culture the phrase appeared regularly in charity sermons. In American evangelicalism the phrase has had a prominent - and sometimes controversial - place in prosperity gospel teaching, where "pressed down, shaken together, and running over" is taken as a literal promise of financial return on tithing.
Cross-Linguistic Reach The phrase has been translated and used in every major language of the Christian world. In German, Luther's rendering *"Gebt, so wird euch gegeben werden"* carries the same cadence. In Spanish, *"Dad, y se os dará"*. In French, *"Donnez, et il vous sera donné."* Each translation has been used in the homiletic and charitable literature of its tradition. The vivid physical imagery of the overflowing measure translates readily across agricultural societies, where grain-measure standards were universal practical knowledge.
Cultural Usage The principle of reciprocal generosity expressed in this verse has influenced Western economic thought as well as religious ethics. Adam Smith's concept of mutual benefit through exchange echoes the structure, though not the theological content, of this teaching. In modern philanthropy and social enterprise, the maxim "give and it shall be given" underlies theories of social capital and the virtuous cycles created by generosity. The phrase appears in fundraising copy, in inspiring talks about charitable giving, and in the literature of the effective altruism movement. Its biblical origin lends it authority even when cited without attribution, because the principle it expresses - that generous giving creates the conditions for receiving - resonates with both religious and secular experience.
Bible References (1)
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lukegenerosityreciprocityabundanceproverbidiom