Matthew 11:22-24

11:22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you! 11:23 And you, Capernaum, ¹  will you be exalted to heaven? ²  No, you will be thrown down to Hades! ³  For if the miracles done among you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued to this day. 11:24 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom ⁴  on the day of judgment than for you!”

Ezekiel 16:48-56

16:48 As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never behaved as wickedly as you and your daughters have behaved.

16:49 “‘See here – this was the iniquity ⁵  of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help ⁶  the poor and needy. 16:50 They were haughty and practiced abominable deeds before me. Therefore when I saw it I removed them. 16:51 Samaria has not committed half the sins you have; you have done more abominable deeds than they did. ⁷  You have made your sisters appear righteous with all the abominable things you have done. 16:52 So now, bear your disgrace, because you have given your sisters reason to justify their behavior. ⁸  Because the sins you have committed were more abominable than those of your sisters; they have become more righteous than you. So now, be ashamed and bear the disgrace of making your sisters appear righteous.

16:53 “‘I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters (along with your fortunes among them), 16:54 so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in consoling them. 16:55 As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters will be restored to their former status, Samaria and her daughters will be restored to their former status, and you and your daughters will be restored to your former status. 16:56 In your days of majesty, ⁹  was not Sodom your sister a byword in your mouth,

Mark 6:11

6:11 If a place will not welcome you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off ¹⁰  your feet as a testimony against them.”

Luke 10:11-12

10:11 ‘Even the dust of your town ¹¹  that clings to our feet we wipe off ¹²  against you. ¹³  Nevertheless know this: The kingdom of God has come.’ ¹⁴  10:12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom ¹⁵  than for that town! ¹⁶ 

John 15:22-24

15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. ¹⁷  But they no longer have any excuse for their sin. 15:23 The one who hates me hates my Father too. 15:24 If I had not performed ¹⁸  among them the miraculous deeds ¹⁹  that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. ²⁰  But now they have seen the deeds ²¹  and have hated both me and my Father. ²² 

[11:23]  ¹ 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.

[11:23]  ² tn The interrogative particle introducing this question expects a negative reply.

[11:23]  ³ sn In the OT, Hades was known as Sheol. It is the place where the unrighteous will reside (Luke 10:15; 16:23; Rev 20:13-14).

[11:24]  ⁴ 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, and will result in more severe punishment, than the worst sins of the old era. The phrase region of Sodom is in emphatic position in the Greek text.

[16:49]  ⁵ tn Or “guilt.”

[16:49]  ⁶ tn Heb “strengthen the hand of.”

[16:51]  ⁷ tn Or “you have multiplied your abominable deeds beyond them.”

[16:52]  ⁸ tn Heb “because you have interceded for your sisters with your sins.”

[16:56]  ⁹ tn Or “pride.”

[6:11]  ¹⁰ sn To shake the dust off represented shaking off the uncleanness from one’s feet; see Luke 10:11; Acts 13:51; 18:6. It was a sign of rejection.

[10:11]  ¹¹ tn Or “city.”

[10:11]  ¹² sn See Luke 9:5, where the verb is different but the meaning is the same. This was a sign of rejection.

[10:11]  ¹³ tn Here ὑμῖν (Jumin) has been translated as a dative of disadvantage.

[10:11]  ¹⁴ tn Or “has come near.” As in v. 9 (see above), the combination of ἐγγίζω (engizw) with the preposition ἐπί (epi) is decisive in showing that the sense is “has come” (see BDAG 270 s.v. ἐγγίζω 2, and W. R. Hutton, “The Kingdom of God Has Come,” ExpTim 64 [Dec 1952]: 89-91).

[10:12]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Or “city.”

[15:22]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “they would not have sin” (an idiom).

[15:24]  ¹⁸ tn Or “If I had not done.”

[15:24]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the works.”

[15:24]  ²⁰ tn Grk “they would not have sin” (an idiom).

[15:24]  ²¹ tn The words “the deeds” are supplied to clarify from context what was seen. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[15:24]  ²² tn Or “But now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.” It is possible to understand both the “seeing” and the “hating” to refer to both Jesus and the Father, but this has the world “seeing” the Father, which seems alien to the Johannine Jesus. (Some point out John 14:9 as an example, but this is addressed to the disciples, not to the world.) It is more likely that the “seeing” refers to the miraculous deeds mentioned in the first half of the verse. Such an understanding of the first “both – and” construction is apparently supported by BDF §444.3.