Luke 13:10-17

Healing on the Sabbath

13:10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues ¹  on the Sabbath, 13:11 and a woman was there ²  who had been disabled by a spirit ³  for eighteen years. She ⁴  was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely. ⁵  13:12 When ⁶  Jesus saw her, he called her to him ⁷  and said, “Woman, ⁸  you are freed ⁹  from your infirmity.” ¹⁰  13:13 Then ¹¹  he placed his hands on her, and immediately ¹²  she straightened up and praised God. 13:14 But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ¹³  should be done! ¹⁴  So come ¹⁵  and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.” 13:15 Then the Lord answered him, ¹⁶  “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall, ¹⁷  and lead it to water? ¹⁸  13:16 Then ¹⁹  shouldn’t ²⁰  this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan ²¹  bound for eighteen long ²²  years, be released from this imprisonment ²³  on the Sabbath day?” 13:17 When ²⁴  he said this all his adversaries were humiliated, ²⁵  but ²⁶  the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things ²⁷  he was doing. ²⁸ 

[13:10]  ¹ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:15.

[13:11]  ² tn Grk “and behold, a woman.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[13:11]  ³ tn Grk “a woman having a spirit of weakness” (or “a spirit of infirmity”).

[13:11]  ⁴ tn Grk “years, and.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[13:11]  ⁵ tn Or “and could not straighten herself up at all.” If εἰς τὸ παντελές (ei" to pantele") is understood to modify δυναμένη (dunamenh), the meaning is “she was not able at all to straighten herself up”; but the phrase may be taken with ἀνακύψαι (anakuyai) and understood to mean the same as the adverb παντελῶς (pantelws), with the meaning “she was not able to straighten herself up completely.” See BDAG 754 s.v. παντελής 1 for further discussion. The second option is preferred in the translation because of proximity: The phrase in question follows ἀνακύψαι in the Greek text.

[13:12]  ⁶ tn The participle ἰδών (idwn) has been taken temporally. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:12]  ⁷ tn The verb προσεφώνησεν (prosefwnhsen) has been translated as “called (her) to (him),” with the direct object (“her”) and the indirect object (“him”) both understood.

[13:12]  ⁸ sn Woman was a polite form of address (see BDAG 208-9 s.v. γυνή), similar to “Madam” or “Ma’am” used in English in different regions.

[13:12]  ⁹ tn Or “released.”

[13:12]  ¹⁰ tn Or “sickness.”

[13:13]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[13:13]  ¹² sn The healing took place immediately.

[13:14]  ¹³ sn The irony is that Jesus’ “work” consisted of merely touching the woman. There is no sense of joy that eighteen years of suffering was reversed with his touch.

[13:14]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “on which it is necessary to work.” This has been simplified in the translation.

[13:14]  ¹⁵ tn The participle ἐρχόμενοι (ercomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[13:15]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “answered him and said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been shortened to “answered him.”

[13:15]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “from the manger [feeding trough],” but by metonymy of part for whole this can be rendered “stall.”

[13:15]  ¹⁸ sn The charge here is hypocrisy, but it is only part one of the response. Various ancient laws detail what was allowed with cattle; see Mishnah, m. Shabbat 5; CD 11:5-6.

[13:16]  ¹⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to show the connection with Jesus’ previous statement.

[13:16]  ²⁰ tn Grk “is it not necessary that.” Jesus argues that no other day is more appropriate to heal a descendant of Abraham than the Sabbath, the exact opposite view of the synagogue leader.

[13:16]  ²¹ sn Note that this is again a battle between Satan and God; see 11:18-23.

[13:16]  ²² tn The word “long” reflects the emphasis added in the Greek text by ἰδού (idou). See BDAG 468 s.v. 1.

[13:16]  ²³ tn Or “bondage”; Grk “bond.”

[13:17]  ²⁴ tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:17]  ²⁵ tn Or “were put to shame.”

[13:17]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:17]  ²⁷ sn Concerning all the wonderful things see Luke 7:16; 19:37.

[13:17]  ²⁸ tn Grk “that were being done by him.” The passive has been converted to an active construction in the translation.