Luke - 14:5



5 He answered them, "Which of you, if your son or an ox fell into a well, wouldn't immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?"

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of Luke 14:5.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?
And he said unto them, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a well, and will not straightway draw him up on a sabbath day?
And answering them, he said: Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fall into a pit, and will not immediately draw him out, on the sabbath day?
And answering he said to them, Of which of you shall an ass or ox fall into a well, that he does not straightway pull him up on the sabbath day?
And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not forthwith pull him out on the sabbath?
and answering them he said, 'Of which of you shall an ass or ox fall into a pit, and he will not immediately draw it up on the sabbath-day?'
Then He turned to them and said, "Which of you shall have a child or an ox fall into a well on the Sabbath day, and will not immediately lift him out?"
And he said to them, Which of you, whose ox or ass has got into a water-hole, will not straight away get him out on the Sabbath?
And responding to them, he said, "Which of you will have a donkey or an ox fall into a pit, and will not promptly pull him out, on the day of the Sabbath?"
And he said to them, "Which of you, finding that your son or your ox has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull them out on the Sabbath day?"

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

Which of you shall have an ox or an ass? Though they did not deserve that Christ should take pains to remove the offense, yet he shows that he did nothing inconsistent with the observance of the Sabbath. And this he undoubtedly does, not so much with the view of instructing them, as of protecting himself against their slanders; for he knew that they were too much blinded by virulent hatred to yield submissively, to argument, but wished to triumph over their malice, by compelling them through shame to be silent. If we are at liberty to relieve brute animals on Sabbath, it would be unreasonable that we should not perform a similar office of kindness to man, who is formed after the image of God.

See the notes at Matthew 12:11.
Which of you - In this way Jesus refuted the notion of the Pharisees. If it was lawful to save an ox on the Sabbath, it was also to save the life of a man. To this the Jews had nothing to answer.

An ass or an ox - See on Luke 13:15 (note).

And answered them, saying,.... Murmuring secretly at what he had done:
which of you shall have an ass, or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day? being just ready to be drowned there; and therefore it must be much more right and necessary to cure a man, a reasonable creature, just drowning with a dropsy, as this man was. The Syriac and Persic versions, instead of "an ass", read "a son", very wrongly: a like kind of reasoning is used by Christ, in See Gill on Matthew 12:11, Luke 13:15.

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