Luke 7
Luke 7 | |
---|---|
Book | Gospel of Luke |
Category | Gospel |
Christian Bible part | New Testament |
Order in the Christian part | 3 |
Luke 7 is the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It tells the records of two great miracles performed by Jesus, his reply to John the Baptist's question, and the anointing by a sinful woman.[1] The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist, a companion of Paul the Apostle on his missionary journeys,[2] composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles.[3]
Text
The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 50 verses.
Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
- Papyrus 75 (AD 175-225)
- Papyrus 45 (~250).
- Codex Vaticanus (325-350)
- Codex Sinaiticus (330-360)
- Codex Bezae (~400)
- Codex Washingtonianus (~400)
- Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450; lacunae: verse 17 to end)
- Papyrus 2 (~550; extant verses 22-26 and 50 in Coptic language)[4]
- Papyrus 3 (6th/7th century; extant verses 36-45)[4]
Healing the centurion's servant (7:1-10)
Matthew 8:5–13 records the same healing. A similar event is recounted in John 4:46–53, but this may refer to another event as it concerns the son of a court official.
Widow of Nain's son raised (7:11-17)
This account of a miracle by Jesus is only recorded in the Gospel of Luke.
Following the healing, Jesus' fame spread "throughout all
Some parallels in details are noted with the raising of the son of the widow of Zarephath, by the Old Testament prophet Elijah (1 Kings 17),[10] especially some verbal parallels.[11] The raising of the son of the woman of Shunem (2 Kings 4) by Elisha is also similar, including the reaction of the people, and in particular, the location of Nain is very close to Shunem (identified with modern Sulam), giving an example of a repeated pattern in the history of redemption.[12]
Messengers from John the Baptist (7:18-35)
When John the Baptist was in prison and heard of the works performed by Jesus, John sent two of his disciples as messengers to ask a question of Jesus:
- "Are you the one who is to come (ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ho erchomenos), or should we expect someone else?"[13]
Following this episode, Jesus begins to speak to the crowds about John the Baptist, describing him as the 'messenger', a
Parable of the Two Debtors (7:36-50)
A
Jesus then uses the story of two debtors to explain that a woman loves him more than his host, because she has been forgiven of greater sins.
Verse 38
- And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.[16]
- "Stood at his feet behind him": Jesus, as other guests, 'reclined on couches with their feet turned outwards', a common posture in that period of time also for Persians, Greeks, Romans.[17] This arrangement is called triclinia, by which the guest reposed on his elbow at the table, with his unsandaled feet outstretched on the couch (as each guest left the sandals beside the door on entering).[9]
- "Ointment": or "fragrant oil" in NKJV, is translated from the Greek word μύρον which was applied 'for any kind of sweet-smelling vegetable essence, especially that of the myrtle'.[18]
Verses 47-48
- "Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”[19]
Eric Franklin observes that the woman is demonstrating her love and asks whether this is "because she has already been forgiven, which is what the parable would imply?" Verse 47, "on a first reading at any rate, does not appear to support this, but rather suggests that she has been forgiven because of her love". The Revised Standard Version and the New King James Version can be read in this way. Franklin notes that "more recent translations, assuming a consistency in the story as a whole, take the Greek ὅτι (hoti, translated as "for" in the quoted passage above) to mean, not "because" but "with the result that", for example the Revised English Bible translates, "Her great love proves that her many sins have been forgiven". Verse 48 then proclaims her forgiveness, which this translation assumes has already been pronounced to her.[20]
See also
- Dead Sea Scrolls 4Q521
- Miracles of Jesus
- Nain, Israel
- Other related Bible parts: Matthew 8, Matthew 11, John 4
References
- ^ Halley, Henry H., Halley's Bible Handbook: an Abbreviated Bible Commentary. 23rd edition. Zondervan Publishing House. 1962.
- ^ Jerusalem Bible (1966), "Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels", New Testament p. 5
- ^ Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1.
- ^ Translated as 'slave' in the RSV and the Holman Christian Standard Bible
- ^ Strong's Concordance: 515 axioó: to deem worthy
- ^ Meyer, H. A. W. (1880), Meyer's NT Commentary on Luke 7, translated from the German sixth edition, accessed 31 December 2021
- ^ Luke 7:17
- ^ a b Farrar, F. W. (1891), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Luke 7, accessed 6 June 2018
- ISBN 0664234356page 43, 95–8
- ^ The People's New Testament Commentary - M. Eugene Boring, Fred B. Craddock - 2004 Page 204 "7:11-17 RAISING THE WIDOW'S SON This story is only in Luke, but it has many points of contact with the story of Elijah's raising the widow of Zarephath's son (1 Kgs. 17:8-24), including such verbatim parallels as "he gave him to his mother" ..."
- ^ Sinclair Ferguson, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament Archived 2013-09-03 at the Wayback Machine, Proclamation Trust, 2002, page 12.
- ^ Luke 7:19: New International Version, repeated in 7:20
- ^ Guzik, D., Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Luke 7 - The Sick Healed, the Dead Raised, the Sinner Forgiven, accessed 1 January 2022
- Good News Translation
- ^ Luke 7:38 KJV
- ^ Expositor's Greek Testament. Luke 7. Accessed 24 April 2019.
- ^ Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors). On "Luke 7" in The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019.
- ^ Luke 7:47–48: Revised Standard Version
- ^ Franklin, E., 59. Luke in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary, p. 936
External links
- Luke 7 King James Bible - Wikisource
- English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate
- Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
- Multiple bible versions at Bible Gateway (NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.)
Preceded by Luke 6 |
Chapters of the Bible Gospel of Luke |
Succeeded by Luke 8 |