He ran on ahead, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was going to pass that way.
Parallel translations
- KJV And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.
- BSB So he ran on ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Him, since Jesus was about to pass that way.
- NKJV So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.
- NASB So he ran on ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree in order to see Him, because He was about to pass through that way.
- NLT So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
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
Short in stature but eager to see Jesus, Zacchaeus runs ahead and climbs a sycamore tree. His determination shows a heart already being drawn toward Christ.
Overview
Zacchaeus, a wealthy chief tax collector despised by his neighbors, overcomes both his physical limitation and his social shame to glimpse Jesus passing through Jericho. His undignified scramble up the tree pictures the earnestness with which a seeking sinner pursues the Savior. Luke sets the scene for a story that displays grace reaching even the most unlikely person.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Isa 9:10“The bricks have fallen, but we will build with cut stone. The sycamore fig trees have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.”
- Luke 5:19Not finding a way to bring him in because of the multitude, they went up to the housetop, and let him down through the tiles with his cot into the middle before Jesus.
- 1 Chr 27:28and over the olive trees and the sycamore trees that were in the lowland was Baal Hanan the Gederite; and over the cellars of oil was Joash;
- Amos 7:14Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was a herdsman, and a farmer of sycamore figs;
- 1 Kgs 10:27The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and cedars as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland.
- Ps 78:47He destroyed their vines with hail, their sycamore fig trees with frost.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 19:4 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.