The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
Parallel translations
- WEB Those who sat at the table with him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
- KJV And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?
- BSB But those at the table began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
- NKJV And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
- NASB And then those who were reclining at the table with Him began saying to themselves, “Who is this Man who even forgives sins?”
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 other guests are stunned that Jesus claims to forgive sins, since only God can do that. Their question unwittingly points to who Jesus really is.
Overview
At a Pharisee's table, after Jesus pronounces a sinful woman forgiven, the guests murmur about His audacity. Their objection assumes, rightly, that forgiveness of sins is God's prerogative alone. The episode quietly presses the deeper claim of the Gospel: that in Jesus, God Himself has come to pardon sinners.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Luke 5:20–21Seeing their faith, he said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
- Mark 2:7“Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
- Matt 9:3Behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man blasphemes.”
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 7:49 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.