“You hypocrites!” the Lord replied. “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water?
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath, and lead him away to water?
- KJV The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
- NKJV The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?
- NASB But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, does each of you on the Sabbath not untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it?
- NLT But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus calls them hypocrites, noting they untie their animals to water them on the Sabbath. Their own practice exposes their inconsistency.
Overview
By appealing to a recognized exception for animal care, Jesus shows that mercy was never forbidden on the Sabbath. The charge of hypocrisy lies in valuing an ox's thirst above a woman's suffering. He defends the Sabbath as God intended it, a day fitting for acts of compassion and release.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Luke 14:5And He asked them, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out?”
- John 7:21–24Jesus answered them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed.
- Luke 6:42How can you say, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while you yourself fail to see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
- Acts 13:9–10Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas
- Job 34:30that godless men should not rule or lay snares for the people.
- Matt 15:7You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you:
- Matt 15:14Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
- Matt 7:5You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
- Luke 12:1In the meantime, a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling one another. Jesus began to speak first to His disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
- Matt 23:13Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.
- Matt 23:28In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
- Acts 8:20–23But Peter replied, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!
- Isa 29:20For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down—
- Prov 11:9With his mouth the ungodly man destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous are rescued.
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 13:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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