View source for Luke 7

{{New Testament chapter short description}}
{{Bible chapter|letname= Luke 7 |previouslink= Luke 6 |previousletter= chapter 6 |nextlink= Luke 8 |nextletter= chapter 8 |book= [[Gospel of Luke]] |biblepart=[[New Testament]] | booknum= 3 |category= [[Gospel]] | filename= Papyrus 3 (GA) Luc 7,36.37.jpg |size=250px | name=Papyrus 3, Luc 7 |caption=<div style="width: 250px; text-align: center; line-height: 1em">Luke 7:36,37 on [[Papyrus 3]], written about 6th/7th century</div>}}
'''Luke 7''' is the seventh chapter of the [[Gospel of Luke]] in the [[New Testament]] of the [[Christianity|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.<ref name=Halley>Halley, Henry H., ''Halley's Bible Handbook'': an Abbreviated Bible Commentary. 23rd edition. Zondervan Publishing House. 1962.</ref> The book containing this chapter is [[anonymity|anonymous]], but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that [[Luke the Evangelist]], a companion of [[Paul the Apostle]] on his missionary journeys,<ref>Jerusalem Bible (1966), "Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels", New Testament p. 5</ref> composed this [[Gospel]] as well as the [[Acts of the Apostles]].<ref name=Holman>Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.</ref>

==Text==
[[File:Papyrus 3 - Austrian National Library, P. Vindob. G. 2323 - Gospel of Luke, 7,36–45, 10,38–42 - recto.jpg |right|thumb| 250px|Luke 7:36–45 in [[Papyrus 3]] (6th/7th century)]]
The original text was written in [[Koine Greek]]. [[Chapters and verses of the Bible|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]])<ref name = Aland>{{Cite book
 |last1=Aland
 |first1=Kurt
 |authorlink=Kurt Aland
 | last2 = Aland
 | first2 = Barbara
 | authorlink2 = Barbara Aland
 | others = Erroll F. Rhodes (trans.)
 |title=The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism
 |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company]]
 |year=1995
 |location=Grand Rapids
 |page=96
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2pYDsAhUOxAC&pg=PA96
 |isbn=978-0-8028-4098-1}}</ref>
*[[Papyrus 3]] (6th/7th century; extant verses 36–45).<ref name = Aland/>

==Healing the centurion's servant (verses 1–10)==
{{Main|Healing the centurion's servant}}
[[Luke 7:1-10|Luke 7:1–10]] relates that, when Jesus had "concluded all his [[Sermon on the Plain|sayings]]", a Roman [[centurion]] in [[Capernaum]] sent the Jewish elders to ask Jesus for help, because his servant (or slave) was ill.<ref>Translated as 'slave' in the [[Revised Standard Version|RSV]] and the [[Holman Christian Standard Bible]]</ref> The elders testified to the centurion's worthiness (ἄξιός, ''axios'') but the centurion did not consider himself worthy (using the same Greek word, ηξιωσα, ''ēxiōsa'')<ref>[http://biblehub.com/greek/515.htm Strong's Concordance: 515 axioó: to deem worthy]</ref> to have Jesus come into his home to perform the healing, sending friends, possibly relatives,<ref name=meyer /> to ask that Jesus perform the healing at a distance. Jesus concurred, and the servant was found to have been healed when the centurion's messengers returned home.

{{bibleverse||Matthew|8:5-13}} records the same healing. A similar event is recounted in {{bibleverse||John|4:46-53|NKJV}}, but this may refer to another event as it concerns the [[Healing the royal official's son|son of a court official]].<ref>See the discussion at [[Healing the centurion's servant#John's Gospel]]</ref>

==Widow of Nain's son raised (verses 11–17)==
{{Main|Raising of the son of the widow of Nain}}
[[File:Kfarnin.jpg|thumb|right|200px|View of Nain (modern: [[Nein]]) from entrance to the village (2007)]]
This account of a miracle by Jesus is only recorded in the Gospel of Luke.<ref name=meyer>[[Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer|Meyer, H. A. W.]] (1880), [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/meyer/luke/7.htm Meyer's NT Commentary] on Luke 7,  translated from the German sixth edition, accessed 31 December 2021</ref> Jesus, accompanied by a large crowd (verse 11), arrived at the gates of the village of [[Nain (Biblical village)|Nain]] during the burial ceremony of the son of a widow, and raised the young man from the dead. The location is the village of Nain in [[Galilee]], two miles south of [[Mount Tabor]]. This is the first of three miracles of Jesus in the canonical gospels in which he raises the dead, the other two being the [[raising of Jairus' daughter]] and [[Raising of Lazarus|of Lazarus]].

Following the healing, Jesus' fame spread "throughout all [[Judea]] and all the surrounding region".<ref>{{bibleverse||Luke|7:17|NKJV}}</ref> In the [[Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges]], commentator [[F. W. Farrar]] explains that "the notion that St Luke therefore supposed Nain to be in Judaea is quite groundless. He means that the story of the incident at Nain spread even into Judaea".<ref name=farrar>Farrar, F. W. (1891), [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/luke/7.htm Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges] on Luke 7, accessed 6 June 2018</ref>

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]]),<ref>[[Fred Craddock]], ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=HX10bLsVOqsC&q=nain Luke]'', 2009 {{ISBN|0664234356}} page 43, 95–8</ref> especially some verbal parallels.<ref>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" ..."</ref> 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 (theology)|redemption]].<ref>[[Sinclair Ferguson]], ''[http://www.proctrust.org.uk/dls/christ_paper.pdf Preaching Christ from the Old Testament] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130903060849/http://www.proctrust.org.uk/dls/christ_paper.pdf |date=2013-09-03 }}'', Proclamation Trust, 2002, page 12.</ref>

==Messengers from John the Baptist (verses 18–35)==
{{Main|Messengers from John the Baptist}}
[[File:Meal house simon pharisee xil2 hi.jpg|thumb|180px|''The Meal at the House of Simon the Pharisee'', {{circa}} 15th century]]
When John the Baptist was in [[Machaerus|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?"''<ref>{{bibleverse||Luke|7:19|NIV}}: [[New International Version]], repeated in {{bibleverse-nb||Luke|7:20|NIV}}</ref>

Following this episode, Jesus begins to speak to the crowds about John the Baptist, describing him as the 'messenger', a [[prophet]] who was himself foretold in prophecy ([[Malachi 3:1]]).<ref>Guzik, D., [https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/luke-7/ Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Luke 7 - The Sick Healed, the Dead Raised, the Sinner Forgiven], accessed 1 January 2022</ref>

==Parable of the Two Debtors (verses 36–50)==
{{Main|Simon the Pharisee|Parable of the Two Debtors}}
[[File:Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Albany, New York) - interior, stained glass, A Disciple washes Christ’s feet.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Illustration of "A disciple washes Christ's feet" (Luke 7:38) with the text on the bottom from [[Song of Solomon 1:12]] in Latin (English: "While the king was at his repose, my spikenard sent forth the odour thereof.")]]
[[File:Ballum - Hochaltar - Fußwaschung.jpg|thumb|330px|'''Anointing of Jesus''', 17th-century altar painting, Ballum, Denmark<!--do not wikilink this in error to Ballum, Netherlands-->]]
A [[Pharisee]] named [[Simon the Pharisee|Simon]] invites Jesus to eat in his house but fails to show him the usual marks of [[hospitality]] offered to visitors—a greeting kiss (v. 45), water to wash his feet (v. 44), or oil for his head (v. 46). A "sinful woman" comes into his house during the meal and [[Anointing of Jesus#The sinful woman|anoints]] Jesus' feet with perfume, wiping them dry with her hair. Simon is inwardly critical of Jesus, who, if he were a prophet, "would know what kind of sinful life she lives".<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|7:39|GNT}}: [[Good News Translation]]</ref>

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.''<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|7:38|KJV}}: [[King James Version|KJV]]</ref>
*"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.<ref name=expositor>[http://biblehub.com/commentaries/egt/luke/7.htm Expositor's Greek Testament. Luke 7]. Accessed 24 April 2019.</ref> 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).<ref name=farrar />
*"Ointment": or "fragrant oil" in [[New King James Version|NKJV]], is translated from the Greek word {{lang|grc|μύρον}} which was applied 'for any kind of sweet-smelling vegetable essence, especially that of the myrtle'.<ref name=pulpit>Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors). [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/luke/7.htm  On "Luke 7"] in ''The [[Pulpit Commentary]]''. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019.</ref>

===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." <sup>48</sup> And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."''<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|7:47-48|RSV}}: Revised Standard Version</ref>
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.<ref>Franklin, E., ''59. Luke'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), [https://b-ok.org/dl/946961/8f5f43 The Oxford Bible Commentary], p. 936</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] [[4Q521]]
* [[Miracles of Jesus]]
* [[Nein|Nain]]
* Other related [[Bible]] parts: [[Matthew 8]], [[Matthew 11]], [[John 4]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{bibleverse|Luke|7|KJV}} King James Bible - Wikisource
*[http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=1&b=3&c=7 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate]
*[http://www.gospelhall.org/bible/bible.php?passage=Luke+7 ''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org] (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, [[Bible in Basic English]])
*[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=49&chapter=7 Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''] (NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.)

{{sequence
| prev = [[Luke 6]]
| list = Chapters of the Bible<br />[[Gospel of Luke]]
| next = [[Luke 8]]
}}
{{Gospel of Luke}}
[[Category:Gospel of Luke chapters|Luke 07]]
[[Category:John the Baptist]]