Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way. Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them; do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.”
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Luke 13:2-5 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way. Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them; do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.”
Parallel Translations
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Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things?
I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.
Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them; do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?
I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.”
-
And Iesus answered and sayde vnto them: Suppose ye that these Galileans were greater synners then all the other Galileas because they suffred suche punisshment?
I tell you naye: but except ye repent ye shall all in lyke wyse perysshe.
Or those.xviii. apon which the toure in Syloe fell and slewe the thinke ye that they were synners above all men that dwell in Ierusalem?
I tell you naye: But excepte ye repent ye all shall lykewyse perisshe.
Show all 3 translations
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And Iesus answered, and saide vnto them, Suppose ye, that these Galileans were greater sinners then al the other Galileans, because they haue suffered such things?
I tell you, nay: but except ye amend your liues, ye shall all likewise perish.
Or thinke you that those eighteene, vpon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slewe them, were sinners aboue all men that dwel in Hierusalem?
I tell you, nay: but except ye amend your liues, ye shall all likewise perish.
Cross-references (25)
- Acts 3:19 (v3) “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the…
- Matthew 3:2 (v3) “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”
- Acts 2:38-40 (v3) Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will…
- Luke 13:5 (v3) I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.”
- John 9:2 (v2) His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Show all 25 cross-references
- Revelation 2:21-22 (v3) I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her into a bed, and those who commit…
- Ezekiel 18:30 (v5) “Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways,” says the Lord Yahweh. “Return, and turn yourselves from all…
- Luke 13:3 (v5) I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.
- Luke 21:22-24 (v3) For these are days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who nurse…
- Luke 23:28-30 (v3) But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold,…
- Acts 28:4 (v2) When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has…
- Matthew 12:45 (v3) Then he goes, and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that…
- Nehemiah 3:15 (v4) Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah repaired the spring gate. He built it, and covered it, and set up its…
- Job 22:5-16 (v2) Isn’t your wickedness great? Neither is there any end to your iniquities. For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing, and…
- Isaiah 28:10-13 (v5) For it is precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little. But he will speak to this…
- Matthew 3:10-12 (v3) “Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire. I…
- Matthew 23:35-38 (v3) that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of…
- Luke 24:47 (v3) and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
- Matthew 22:7 (v3) When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
- Luke 13:4 (v2) Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them; do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell…
- Luke 19:42-44 (v3) saying, “If you, even you, had known today the things which belong to your peace! But now, they are hidden from your eyes. For the days…
- Job 1:19 (v4) and behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young men, and they…
- Matthew 6:12 (v4) Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
- Matthew 24:21-29 (v3) for then there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be. Unless those…
- Matthew 18:24 (v4) When he had begun to reconcile, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v4 To wit, in the place, or river: for Siloam…
To wit, in the place, or river: for Siloam was a small river, from whence the conduits of the city came, whereof John 9:7 and Isa. 8:6, and therefore it was a tower or castle, built upon the conduit side, which fell down suddenly, and killed some.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–5 2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye…
2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
Ver. 2. Because they suffered such things] None out of hell ever suffered more than those worthies, Heb 11:1-40. Shall any therefore condemn that generation of God’s children? Psa 73:15. See Lam 4:6; Dan 9:12.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v4 Another instance our Saviour gives of persons that fell…
Another instance our Saviour gives of persons that fell by a sudden death, even eighteen that were slain by the fall of a tower in Jerusalem. He takes occasion from thence to caution the Jews, that they did not rigidly censure the sufferers, or conclude that those have wrought the most sin, who are brought to most shame. Oh, how ready are we to judge of men’s eternal condition, by their present visitation; and to conclude them the greatest offenders, upon whom God inflicts the most visible punishments! Our Saviour forbids this, and advises every one to look at home, telling the whole body of the Jews, that if they did not repent, they should all likewise perish, and that two ways:
1. By as certain a punishment as these did.
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2. Ye shall likewise perish, by the same kind of punishment; you shall perish by the ruin of your whole city, as they did by the downfall of that tower, if a timely and sincere repentance does not intervene.
Learn hence, that we must judge of persons by their conversation towards God, and not by God’s dispensation towards them; all things here fall alike to all. A sudden death, yea, a violent death, as it comes upon many men, so it may come upon the best of men, as well as others: think not, says Christ, that those eighteen were sinners above all that dwelt in Jerusalem, because they sufferd such things, I tell you, Nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Teaching us, that repentance is the only way and means to prevent punishment here, and perishing hereafter: Except ye repent, ye shall perish.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–5 And Jesus answering, said unto them,.... Neither approving, nor…
And Jesus answering, said unto them,.... Neither approving, nor condemning Pilate's action; and though he allowed the Galileans to be sinners, which could not be denied, he does not bear hard upon them, but improves the instance for the conviction of his hearers, and in order to show them the necessity of repentance, and to bring them to it:
suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? such a supposition they seem to have made, by their speaking to Christ concerning this matter; and concluded from their violent and untimely deaths, that they had been notorious and uncommon sinners, and guilty of the most enormous crimes, which had brought upon them the just judgments of God: whereas this is not a rule of judging; oftentimes the best of men suffer exceedingly in this life; God's judgments are a great deep, and not to be fathomed by us, nor is it to be easily known, when any thing befalls persons in a way of judgment; there is nothing comes by chance, but every thing by the wise disposal of divine providence, to answer some end or another; nor are persons that are punished, either immediately by the hand of God, or by the civil magistrate, to be insulted, but rather to be pitied; besides, love and hatred, the characters and states of men, are not to be known by these effects in providence.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v3 Ye shall all likewise perish - All ye of…
Ye shall all likewise perish - All ye of Galilee and of Jerusalem shall perish in the very same manner. So the Greek word implies. And so they did. There was a remarkable resemblance between the fate of these Galileans and of the main body of the Jewish nation; the flower of which was slain at Jerusalem by the Roman sword, while they were assembled at one of their great festivals. And many thousands of them perished in the temple itself, and were literally buried under its ruins.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv4–5 Verse 4. The tower in Siloam] This tower was…
Verse 4. The tower in Siloam] This tower was probably built over one of the porticoes near the pool, which is mentioned Joh 9:7. See also Ne 3:15.
Debtors, οφειλεται, a Jewish phrase for sinners. Persons professing to be under the law are bound by the law to be obedient to all its precepts; those who obey not are reckoned debtors to the law, or rather to that Divine justice from which the law came. A different word is used when speaking of the Galileans: they are termed αμαρτωλοι, as this word is often used to signify heathens; See Clarke on Lu 7:37; it is probably used here in nearly a similar sense. "Do ye who live in Jerusalem, and who consider your selves peculiarly attached to the law, and under the strongest obligations to obey it - do ye think that those Galileans were more heathenish than the rest of the Galileans, because they suffered such things? No. It was not on this account that they perished: both these cases exhibit a specimen of the manner in which ye shall all perish, if ye do not speedily repent, and turn to God."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v4 Luk 13:4. Or those eighteen, &c. — The case…
Luk 13:4. Or those eighteen, &c. — The case here referred to seems to have occurred lately, and may seem, in some respects, more to the purpose than the former, as there was no human interposition attending the death of these men; so that their destruction appeared to be more immediately from Providence than that of the Galileans, whom Pilate had massacred: on whom the tower in Siloam fell — From the fountain of Siloam, which was without the walls of Jerusalem, a little stream flowed into the city, (Isa 8:6,) which was received in a kind of basin, thought by some to be the same with the pool of Bethesda. Being near the temple, it is no wonder that many frequented it for purification. And the calamity here spoken of, occasioned by the fall of a neighbouring tower, had probably happened at some late feast; and some of Christ’s hearers might then have been at Jerusalem.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 5 Suppose ye ... - From this answer it would…
Suppose ye ... - From this answer it would appear that they supposed that the fact that these men had been slain in this manner proved that they were very great sinners.
I tell you, Nay - Jesus assured them that it was not right to draw such a conclusion respecting these men. The fact that men come to a sudden and violent death is not proof that they are especially wicked.
Read full note →
Except ye repent - Except you forsake your sins and turn to God. Jesus took occasion, contrary to their expectation, to make a practical use of that fact, and to warn them of their own danger. He never suffered a suitable occasion to pass without warning the wicked, and entreating them to forsake their evil ways. The subject of religion was always present to his mind. He introduced it easily, freely, fully. In this he showed his love for the souls of people, and in this he set us an example that we should walk in his steps.
Ye shall all likewise perish - You shall all be destroyed in a similar manner. Here he had reference, no doubt, to the calamities that were coming upon them, when thousands of the people perished. Perhaps there was never any reproof more delicate and yet more severe than this. They came to him believing that these men who had perished were especially wicked. He did not tell them that “they” were as bad as the Galileans, but left them to “infer” it, for if they did not repent, they must soon likewise be destroyed. This was remarkably fulfilled. Many of the Jews were slain in the temple; many while offering sacrifice; thousands perished in a way very similar to the Galileans. Compare the notes at Matt. 24. From this account of the Galileans we may learn:
(1) That people are very prone to infer, when any great calamity happens to others, that they are especially guilty. See the Book of Job, and the reasonings of his three “friends.”
(2) That that conclusion, in the way in which it is usually drawn, is erroneous. If we see a man bloated, and haggard, and poor, who is in the habit of intoxication, we may infer properly that he is guilty, and that God hates his sin and punishes it. So we may infer of the effects of licentiousness. But we should not thus infer when a man’s house is burned down, or when his children die, or when he is visited with a loss of health; nor should we infer it of the nations that are afflicted with famine, or the plague, or with the ravages of war; nor should we infer it when a man is killed by lightning, or when he perishes by the blowing up of a steamboat. Those who thus perish may be far more virtuous than many that live.
(3) This is not a world of retribution. Good and evil are mingled; the good and the bad suffer, and all are exposed here to calamity.
(4) There is another world a future state - a world where the good will be happy and the wicked punished. There all that is irregular on earth will be regulated; all that appears unequal will be made equal; all that is chaotic will be reduced to order.
(5) When people are disposed to speak about the great guilt of others, and the calamities that come upon them, they should inquire about “themselves.” What is “their” character? What is “their” condition? It “may” be that they are in quite as much danger of perishing as those are whom they regard as so wicked.
(6) We must repent. We must all repent or we shall perish. No matter what befalls others, “we” are sinners; “we” are to die; “we” shall be lost unless we repent. Let us, then, think of “ourselves” rather than of “others;” and when we hear of any signal calamity happening to others, let us remember that there is calamity in another world as well as here; and that while our fellow-sinners are exposed to trials “here,” we may be exposed to more awful woes “there.” Woe “there” is eternal; here, a calamity like that produced by a falling tower is soon over.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2–5 Sinners, &c. People are naturally inclined to believe, that…
Sinners, &c. People are naturally inclined to believe, that those who are unfortunate, and afflicted with calamities, must likewise be culpable and impious. The Jews were very much given to these sentiments, as we see in many places in Scripture; John ix. 2 and 3. Our Saviour wishes to do away with this prejudice, by telling them that the Galileans, who are here spoken of, were not the most culpable among the inhabitants of that country; shewing by this, that God often spares the most wicked, and sends upon the good the most apparent signs of vengeance, that he may exercise the patience, and crown the merit of the latter, and give to the former an example of the severity which they must expect, if they continue in their disorders. Neither can it be said, that in this God commits any injustice. He uses his absolute dominion over his creatures, when he afflicts the just; he procures them real good, when he strikes them; and his indulgence towards the wicked, is generally an effect of his mercy, which waits for their repentance, or sometimes the consequences of his great anger, when he abandons them to the hardness of their reprobate hearts, and says, "I will rest, and by angry with you no longer." (Ezechiel, Chap. xvi. 42.) This is the most terrible mark of his final fury. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v4 tower in Siloam--probably one of the towers of the…
tower in Siloam--probably one of the towers of the city wall, near the pool of Siloam. Of its fall nothing is known.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2–4 2. Jesus answering—The two parts of Jesus’s answer at…
2. Jesus answering—The two parts of Jesus’s answer at once neutralize their sneer and rebuke the false theology of these informants. These Galileans were not proved by their sad fate to be worse than other Galileans, or than people in Jerusalem, Luk_13:4 For special misfortunes are no proof of special guilt; and the same perdition which these sinners may have incurred will be the fate of all who repent not.
Because they suffered these things—Our Lord does not deny that even temporary suffering is a penalty for wickedness; or that all mankind are sufferers because they are sinners. But he denies that the greater sufferings are proof of the greater guilt. Such are the sins of all that they might suffer these same calamities without injustice being done them.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–5 2. were sinners above all the Galileans] The ‘were’…
2. were sinners above all the Galileans] The ‘were’ is literally, ‘became,’ i.e. ‘stamped themselves as,’ ‘proved themselves to be.’ We trace a similar mistaken ‘supposition’ in the question of the disciples about the blind man (Joh_9:2). It was indeed deeply engrained in the Jewish mind, although the Book of Job had been expressly levelled at the uncharitable error of assuming that individual misfortune could only be the consequence of individual crime. Such is sometimes the case (Gen_42:21; Jdg_1:7), but although all human sorrow has its ultimate cause in human sin, it is wrong to assume in individual cases the connexion of calamity with crime.
suffered such things] Rather, have suffered these things.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 4 (2) Suppose ye that these Galilæans . . .?—The…
(2) Suppose ye that these Galilæans . . .?—The tale had probably been told with a conviction, expressed or implied, that the massacre had been a special judgment for some special and exceptional guilt. Our Lord at once, here as in Joh_9:7, sweeps away all their rash interpretations of the divine government, and declares that all, unless they repented, were under the sentence of a like destruction. The “likewise,” however, is hardly to be taken, as some have taken it, in a literal sense. Some, it may be of those who heard the words, perished by the sword of Titus, as the Galileans had done by the sword of Pilate, but hardly all who were impenitent. Still less could this be said of the form of death referred to in the verse that follows.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 5 Vers. 2, 3. And Jesus answering said unto them,…
Vers. 2, 3. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things! I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. "Yes," answered the Master," these, you are right, are among the dread signs of the times I spoke of; but do not dream that the doom fell on those poor victims because they were special sinners. What happened to them will soon be the doom of the whole nation, unless a great change in the life of Israel takes place."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv3–4 3. I tell you, Nay. He does not deny…
3. I tell you, Nay. He does not deny that they were sinners, but that they were greater sinners than others. Except ye repent. All were so great sinners that only repentance could save them. It was only a generation until the words of the Lord were strikingly fulfilled. The impenitent Jewish nation was destroyed by the Roman sword, as were those Galileans.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v2 Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").
sinners
Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v4 Or those
Or those
This is Jesus' second example of people who suffered. AT: "Or consider those" or "Think about those"
Read full note →
eighteen people
"18 people" (See: Numbers)
Siloam
This is the name of an area in Jerusalem. (See: How to Translate Names)
do you think they were worse sinners ... Jerusalem? No, I say
"does this prove that they were more sinful ... Jerusalem? No, I say." Jesus uses this question to challenge the understanding of the people. AT: "you think that they were more sinful ... Jerusalem, but I say that they were not" or "I say that you should not think that they were more sinful ... Jerusalem" (See: Rhetorical Question)
they were worse sinners
The crowd assumed that they died in this terrible way because they were especially sinful. This could be explicitly stated. AT: "they died because they were worse sinners" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
other men
"other people." The word here is the general term for a person. (See: When Masculine Words Include Women)
No, I say
Here "I say" emphasizes "No." It may be helpful to state Jesus' point clearly. AT: "They certainly did not die because they were more sinful" or "You are wrong to think that their suffering proves that they were more sinful" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
perish
die
translationWords
Jerusalem
repent
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v4 13:4 when the tower in Siloam fell: This incident…
13:4 when the tower in Siloam fell: This incident is also unknown apart from this reference. The pool of Siloam was a reservoir in the southeastern corner of Jerusalem, so the tower might have been part of the southern wall of Jerusalem.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.