Then should not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be released from her bondage on the Sabbath day?”
Parallel translations
- WEB Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”
- KJV And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?
- NKJV So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”
- NASB And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this restraint on the Sabbath day?”
- NLT This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?”
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 argues the woman, a daughter of Abraham bound by Satan, ought to be freed on the Sabbath. Mercy honors the Sabbath rather than violating it.
Overview
He elevates her dignity ('daughter of Abraham') above mere livestock and frames her healing as a liberation from Satan's bondage. The Sabbath, a day commemorating God's rest and Israel's redemption, is the fitting day for such release. Jesus shows Himself Lord of the Sabbath, restoring it to its merciful purpose and foreshadowing the rest He gives.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Mark 2:27Then Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
- Luke 3:8Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
- Luke 19:9Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham.
- Acts 13:26Brothers, children of Abraham, and you Gentiles who fear God, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.
- John 8:44You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
- 2 Tim 2:26Then they will come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to his will.
- Matt 4:10“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
- Rom 4:12–16And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
- Luke 13:11–12and a woman there had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was hunched over and could not stand up straight.
- Luke 16:24So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’
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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 13:16 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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