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Now on that very occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
Luke 13:1 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
  • KJV There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
  • BSB At that time some of those present told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
  • NKJV There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
  • NLT About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple.

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

Some report to Jesus that Pilate had killed Galileans, mixing their blood with their sacrifices. The tragedy raises the question of suffering and sin.

Overview

This account of Pilate's brutality sets up a common assumption that such victims must have been especially sinful. Jesus uses the report to address the relationship between suffering and personal guilt. His response will overturn the idea that disaster is always proportional punishment, redirecting all hearers to their own need for repentance.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 5

  • 1 Pet 4:17–18For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. If it begins first with us, what will happen to those who don’t obey the Good News of God?
  • Lam 2:20“Look, Yahweh, and see to whom you have done thus! Shall the women eat their offspring, the children that are dandled in the hands? Shall the priest and the prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
  • Ezek 9:5–7To the others he said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him, and strike. Don’t let your eye spare, neither have pity.
  • Acts 5:37After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the enrollment, and drew away some people after him. He also perished, and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered abroad.
  • Matt 27:2and they bound him, and led him away, and delivered him up to Pontius Pilate, the governor.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Luke 13:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 13:1 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.