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Their scribes and the Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”
Luke 5:30 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?
  • BSB But the Pharisees and their scribes complained to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
  • NKJV And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
  • NASB The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling to His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”
  • NLT But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?”

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

The Pharisees object to Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners. They are scandalized by his fellowship with the unclean.

Overview

To share a meal signified acceptance, so the leaders are offended that Jesus dines with the disreputable. Their complaint reveals a view of holiness as separation from sinners rather than redemptive engagement. Their murmuring sets up Jesus' explanation of his mission to the spiritually sick.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Luke 5:21The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this that speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”
  • Luke 15:1–2Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him.
  • Luke 5:17On one of those days, he was teaching; and there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every village of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was with him to heal them.
  • Matt 21:28–32But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’
  • Luke 7:29–30When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they declared God to be just, having been baptized with John’s baptism.
  • Luke 19:7When they saw it, they all murmured, saying, “He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner.”
  • Mark 7:3(For the Pharisees and all the Jews, don’t eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders.
  • Acts 23:9A great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ part stood up, and contended, saying, “We find no evil in this man. But if a spirit or angel has spoken to him, let’s not fight against God!”
  • Isa 65:5who say, ‘Stay by yourself, don’t come near to me, for I am holier than you.’ These are smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all day.
  • Luke 18:11The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
  • Luke 7:39Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what kind of woman this is who touches him, that she is a sinner.”
  • Luke 7:34The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drunkard; a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

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 5:30YouTube · 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 5:30 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.