Luke 7
Luke 7 is the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It tells the records of two great miracles performed by Jesus, his reply to John the Baptist's question, and the anointing by a sinful woman. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist, a companion of Paul the Apostle on his missionary journeys, composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles.
Text
The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 50 verses.Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:- Papyrus 75
- Papyrus 45
- Codex Vaticanus
- Codex Sinaiticus
- Codex Bezae
- Codex Washingtonianus
- Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus
- Papyrus 2
- Papyrus 3.
Healing the centurion's servant (verses 1–10)
records the same healing. A similar event is recounted in, but this may refer to another event as it concerns the son of a court official.
Widow of Nain's son raised (verses 11–17)
This account of a miracle by Jesus is only recorded in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus, accompanied by a large crowd, arrived at the gates of the village of Nain during the burial ceremony of the son of a widow, and raised the young man from the dead. The location is the village of Nain in Galilee, two miles south of Mount Tabor. This is the first of three miracles of Jesus in the canonical gospels in which he raises the dead, the other two being the raising of Jairus' daughter and of Lazarus.Following the healing, Jesus' fame spread "throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region". In the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, commentator F. W. Farrar explains that "the notion that St Luke therefore supposed Nain to be in Judaea is quite groundless. He means that the story of the incident at Nain spread even into Judaea".
Some parallels in details are noted with the raising of the son of the widow of Zarephath, by the Old Testament prophet Elijah, especially some verbal parallels. The raising of the son of the woman of Shunem by Elisha is also similar, including the reaction of the people, and in particular, the location of Nain is very close to Shunem, giving an example of a repeated pattern in the history of redemption.
Messengers from John the Baptist (verses 18–35)
When John the Baptist was in prison and heard of the works performed by Jesus, John sent two of his disciples as messengers to ask a question of Jesus:Following this episode, Jesus begins to speak to the crowds about John the Baptist, describing him as the 'messenger', a prophet who was himself foretold in prophecy.
Parable of the Two Debtors (verses 36–50)
A Pharisee named Simon invites Jesus to eat in his house but fails to show him the usual marks of hospitality offered to visitors—a greeting kiss, water to wash his feet, or oil for his head. A "sinful woman" comes into his house during the meal and anoints Jesus' feet with perfume, wiping them dry with her hair. Simon is inwardly critical of Jesus, who, if he were a prophet, "would know what kind of sinful life she lives".Jesus then uses the story of two debtors to explain that a woman loves him more than his host, because she has been forgiven of greater sins.
Verse 38
- "Stood at his feet behind him": Jesus, as other guests, 'reclined on couches with their feet turned outwards', a common posture in that period of time also for Persians, Greeks, Romans. This arrangement is called triclinia, by which the guest reposed on his elbow at the table, with his unsandaled feet outstretched on the couch.
- "Ointment": or "fragrant oil" in NKJV, is translated from the Greek word μύρον which was applied 'for any kind of sweet-smelling vegetable essence, especially that of the myrtle'.
Verses 47–48