Luke 10:12-15

10:12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom ¹  than for that town! ² 

10:13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! ³  Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if ⁴  the miracles ⁵  done in you had been done in Tyre ⁶  and Sidon, ⁷  they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 10:14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you! 10:15 And you, Capernaum, ⁸  will you be exalted to heaven? ⁹  No, you will be thrown down to Hades! ¹⁰ 

[10:12]  ¹ sn The allusion to Sodom, the most wicked of OT cities from Gen 19:1-29, shows that to reject the current message is even more serious than the worst sins of the old era and will result in more severe punishment. The noun Sodom is in emphatic position in the Greek text.

[10:12]  ² tn Or “city.”

[10:13]  ³ sn Chorazin was a town of Galilee that was probably fairly small in contrast to Bethsaida and is otherwise unattested. Bethsaida was declared a polis by the tetrarch Herod Philip, sometime after a.d. 30.

[10:13]  ⁴ tn This introduces a second class (contrary to fact) condition in the Greek text.

[10:13]  ⁵ tn Or “powerful deeds.”

[10:13]  ⁶ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[10:13]  ⁷ sn Tyre and Sidon are two other notorious OT cities (Isa 23; Jer 25:22; 47:4). The remark is a severe rebuke, in effect: “Even the sinners of the old era would have responded to the proclamation of the kingdom, unlike you!”

[10:15]  ⁸ sn Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region.

[10:15]  ⁹ tn The interrogative particle introducing this question expects a negative reply.

[10:15]  ¹⁰ sn In the OT, Hades was known as Sheol. It is the place where the unrighteous will reside (Matt 11:23; Luke 16:23; Rev 20:13-14).