Luke 10:13

Luke 10:13, in plain English

Jesus cried, 'Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!' He said that Tyre and Sidon would have repented long ago if they had seen the same miracles. Privilege brings responsibility.

Why it's here

These towns had front-row seats to Jesus' miracles and still did not change. Jesus compared them unfavorably to cities known for wickedness. The point is clear: the more you see, the more is expected of you.

Who's speaking

Jesus pronounces prophetic judgment on Galilean towns.

Where it sits in the story

Jesus called out specific towns by name: Chorazin and Bethsaida. They saw miracle after miracle and yawned. Meanwhile, Jesus said, cities known for evil would have repented if they had seen the same things.

The scholarly reading

Jesus pronounces ouai ('woe') upon Chorazin and Bethsaida, declaring that if the dynameis ('mighty works/miracles') done in them had been done in Tyre and Sidon, those Gentile cities would have metanoēsan ('repented') palai ('long ago') en sakkō kai spodō ('in sackcloth and ashes').

Language and setting

Chorazin and Bethsaida were Galilean Jewish towns near Capernaum where Jesus performed many miracles. Tyre and Sidon, wealthy Phoenician port cities condemned by the prophets (Isaiah 23, Ezekiel 26-28), serve as Gentile foils whose hypothetical repentance shames Jewish unresponsiveness.

Voice

Jesus pronounces prophetic woes on specific Galilean towns.

Significance

Jesus pronounced prophetic woes on Chorazin and Bethsaida, declaring that even notoriously pagan Tyre and Sidon would have repented in sackcloth and ashes if they had witnessed the same miracles these privileged Jewish towns saw and ignored.

11‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off as a testimony against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’

12I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

13Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

14But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.

15And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades!

Read all of Luke 10 — A lawyer asks how to inherit eternal life and gets an answer he doesn't expect. The hero of the story is the one everyone despises.