Luke 13 — Liberation and Inclusion Translation

Vélez Johnson, Brandon C.

¹ Some people were present at the time, who informed Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrificial offerings.

² He answered them, “Because they suffered those things, do you think those Galileans were deviators^a more so than all other Galileans? ³ No! However, I’m telling you, unless you reorient your minds,^b you will all die in a similar way. ⁴ Or, those eighteen on whom the tower fell and killed them: do you think they were debtors^c more so than all the other people living in Jerusalem? ⁵ No! However, I’m telling you, unless you reorient your minds, you will all die in the same way.”

⁶ Then Jesus told this parable: “Someone had a fig tree that had been planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it, but he didn’t find any. ⁷ He said to the vineyard worker, ‘Look, it’s been three years of me coming to look for fruit on this fig tree, and I haven’t found any. Cut it down. Why should it waste this ground?’ ⁸ But the vineyard worker responded, ‘Sir, leave it alone for this year too, until I dig around it and fertilize it, ⁹ and it might produce fruit next time, but if it still does not, then you’ll cut it down.’”

¹⁰ Later, he was teaching in one of the synagogues on Shabbat,^d ¹¹ and a woman was there who had a spirit that had been weakening her^e for eighteen years. She was bent over, completely unable to lift herself upright.

¹² When he saw her, Jesus called her to him and told her, “Madam,^f you’ve been freed from your debilitation,” ¹³ and he placed his hands on her. She straightened up immediately and praised God.^g

¹⁴ In response, the synagogue leader, indignant because Jesus healed on Shabbat, told the crowd, “There are six days on which we’re supposed to work, so come and be healed then, not on the day of Shabbat!”

¹⁵ The Lord^h answered him, “Pretenders! Doesn’t each of you release your ox or donkey from its stall and lead it to water on Shabbat? ¹⁶ Wasn’t this woman, who is a daughter of Abraham, whom the Adversaryⁱ bound for the last 18 years, supposed to be released from this bondage on the day of Shabbat?”^j ¹⁷ When he said these things, all his opponents were put to shame, and the whole crowd began rejoicing at all the glorious things he was doing.

¹⁸ Then, he said, “What is the Reign of God like, and what should I compare it to? ¹⁹ It’s like a mustard seed that someone planted in their garden, and it grew and became a tree,^k and wild birds^l nested in its branches.”

²⁰ Then he said, “What should I compare the Reign of God to? ²¹ It’s like yeast that a woman mixed into almost 50 pounds^m of flour until it spread throughout the whole batch.”

²² Jesus traveled through towns and villages, teaching as he made the journey toward Jerusalem.

²³ Someone asked him, “Sir, aren’tⁿ only a few being liberated?”^o

So, Jesus told the crowd,^p ²⁴ “Strive to enter through the narrow doorway since many, I’m telling you, will try to enter and won’t be able to. ²⁵ From the moment the homeowner rouses himself and shuts the door, you’ll be standing outside, and you’ll start knocking on the door, saying, ‘Sir, let us in!’ He will respond to you by saying, ‘I don’t know where you’re from.’^q ²⁶ Then, you’ll start saying, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets!’ ²⁷ Yet, he’ll tell you, ‘I don’t know where you’re from! Get away from me, all you workers of injustice!’^r ²⁸ There will be weeping and teeth gnashing out there when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the Reign of God, but you yourselves are thrown out. ²⁹ People will be there who arrived from east and west and from north and south, and they will receive places at the table^s in the Reign of God. ³⁰ Look, those who are last will be first, and those who are first will be last.”

³¹ That very hour, some Pharisees came to Jesus and told him, “Get out! Leave, because Herod wants to kill you!”

³² “Go tell that fox,” he said, “Look, I’m driving demons out and accomplishing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day, I’ll be finished. ³³ Nevertheless, it’s necessary for me to continue today and tomorrow and the next day because it’s unthinkable for a prophet to be killed outside Jerusalem. ³⁴ Oh, Jerusalem!^t You are she who kills the prophets and stones those who are commissioned to her, how often I have wished to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, yet you—her children—didn’t want it. ³⁵ Look, your household is left to yourselves. Now, I tell you, you will most certainly not see me until the time has come when you say, ‘Praised be the one who comes representing The-One-Who-Is!^u’”^v

Footnotes

a The word in Greek here is hamartoloi, traditionally translated ‘sinners.’ The actual meaning is an archery term for missing the target; it’s a metaphor. It evokes an image of veering off course, ending up at an unintended location. It is used regarding many situations, including harmful behavior, disregarding responsibilities as a people or individual called to a specific purpose, and even having chronic illness or debilitating injuries or cultural identities that prohibit one from full participation in temple worship according to the Torah, which is not implied to be wrongdoing but simply not aligned with Torah.
b The Greek word metanoia is traditionally translated as ‘repent.’ The meaning of metanoia is ‘change the mind’ or ‘transform the mind.’ It does not mean ‘remorse’ or ‘guilt.’ The confusion comes from the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible, which used paenitere, which means ‘to be penitent,’ which was a significant shift away from the Greek meaning. The use of ‘reorient’ here reflects the kind of transformation in view, and it also surfaces the Hebraic understanding of the concept that the biblical writers would have had in mind. The Hebrew word traditionally translated as ‘repent’ was shuv, which literally meant ‘turn around’ or ‘turn back.’
c The word “debtors” here is opheiletai, which is its literal meaning. The Hebrew Bible consistently used two primary images for what English speakers typically call sin: debt (Hebrew chov or asham) and burden (Hebrew avon or nasha). The word here leans on that tradition of viewing wrongdoing as incurring debt, an obligation to make it right for the one who was wronged.
d This is traditionally ‘Sabbath.’ It’s from the Hebrew word Shabbat, which means ‘rest’ and was used to refer to the seventh day of the week as a designated day for resting (See Exodus 20:8-11). Spelling and pronouncing it ‘Sabbath’ instead of Shabbat just needlessly distances it from the Jewish origin. It’s not an accident that this story directly follows Jesus promising rest for those who carry his yoke. See the book Sabbath as Resistance by Walter Brueggemann for more insight into the significance of Shabbat in the Bible.
e The Greek phrase is pneuma astheneias, literally “a spirit of weakness,” where “of weakness” is a genitive of product: a spirit that produces debility as its effect. Asthenia refers broadly to weakness and frailty without specifying a diagnosis. Luke understands spiritual forces as capable of producing physical suffering directly. The condition had lasted eighteen years, a detail that situates her suffering not just as physical but as social and communal. A woman with a chronic debilitating condition in this context would have faced significant marginalization: limited mobility, economic vulnerability, dependence on others, and the cultural tendency to read visible suffering as evidence of divine disfavor, which is precisely the retributive logic Jesus dismantles throughout this chapter.
f Literally, the word means ‘woman.’ However, addressing a woman as ‘woman’ in our culture is considered rude, an attempt to put her in her place, especially when done by a man. In Jesus’ culture, it was done as a respectful way to address someone.
g Traditionally, “glorified God”
h The Greek word kurios, when applied to Jesus, can be translated in several ways, including ‘sir,’ ‘master,’ or ‘sovereign.’ Rendering it as ‘Lord’ reflects the reversal of the feudal, patriarchal, and imperial assumptions of imperial and domination-based culture, intended to be a direct challenge to hierarchical power structures. In both Greco-Roman and American history, kurios and ‘lord’ were titles used for slaveowners. As Rev. Dr. Wilda C. Gafney notes, “Lord is a slavery word,” and when used without theological and historical framing, it risks reinscribing the very systems of domination that Jesus came to upend (A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church: Year A, Introduction). In the Roman imperial context, kurios was also a title for Caesar—as was soter (‘savior’ or ‘liberator’). The New Testament’s application of kurios to Jesus is thus not only theological but also politically subversive. The Christ of the Christian scriptures is not an overlord but a radically different kind of lord—one who liberates through justice, solidarity, and self-giving love.
i The word satanas was not a name. It meant ‘adversary’ in the sense of prosecutor or opponent. It carries the meaning of someone who is against another, trying to sabotage their efforts and their wellbeing, and against someone as a plaintiff in court. It is an enemy, but also someone accusing another of wrongdoing, whether truly or falsely. It’s not just about pointing out something bad, but actively moving to cause adversity for someone else. The concept of Ha Shatan in the Hebrew Bible was not the evil archnemesis of God that Christian teaching has turned it into. It was described as a member of the council of spiritual beings whose role was to test people to see how genuine they were. The clearest example of this is in the book of Job.
j See Deuteronomy 15:12ff, which directs the release of an enslaved Israelite in the seventh year, mandating a steady rhythm of liberation. Exodus 21:2–11, though more complex in its social setting, makes a similar point, especially in verse 9: if a woman is designated to be married to the head of the household’s son, “he must give her the rights of a daughter” (CEB). If she is not fully provided for, she is to be released with nothing owed to the head of the household. Jesus’ question suggests that the community had failed to treat this woman as a true “daughter of Abraham,” and Torah therefore required her release.
k The mustard plant, most likely Brassica nigra (black mustard), was well known in first-century Palestine as the largest of common garden plants. Ancient sources, including the Talmud, describe it reaching impressive sizes, with one rabbi noting he was accustomed to climbing into it as one would a fig tree. However, it was not classified as a tree. Calling it a dendron here is deliberate hyperbole rather than botanical description. The image of a great tree whose branches shelter birds draws directly on the Hebrew prophets: in Ezekiel 17:23, 31:6, and Daniel 4:12, a vast, sheltering tree represents a kingdom with reach across peoples and nations.
l Literally, “birds of the air,” which was used of wild birds in contrast with domesticated ones.
m Literally, “three sata.” Each saton was the equivalent of about three gallons, so three sata would have been about 50 pounds of flour.
n The Greek here introduces a question that presupposes the answer is “yes.” It’s a rhetorical question, not one being asked in genuine curiosity.
o Traditionally, ‘saved.’ This word carries a meaning of any kind of action to prevent or repair harm. Appropriate translations could be ‘liberated,’ ‘restored,’ ‘rescued,’ ‘healed,’ ‘preserved,’ or ‘protected.’
p Literally, the Greek says, “told them.” The word “crowd” is added for clarity and based on the context.
q The phrasing “where you’re from” is not about geographical origin so much as about their identity and whether they belong with him or not. He is saying that he does not know them, despite their claim that they are from the same place as he is.
r Apparently, he does in fact know something about them. It’s not so much that they are not from the right place but that they live unjustly, and he knows it.
s This literally says, ‘reclined,’ which was the customary position for eating meals, even in homes, for the culture.
t The Greek includes the word Ierosoluma twice, which was a way to indicate pleading with a figure.
u “The-One-Who-Is” is used to translate the Greek kurios (traditionally, “Lord”) when it refers to God, especially in Hebrew Bible quotations. In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible), kurios regularly replaces the Divine Name (YHWH), following an earlier Jewish oral tradition in which readers would say Adonai (“my Lord”) aloud wherever the written text read YHWH. The Jewish community attempted to honor the command “You will not take my name in vain” by not speaking it aloud at all. The practice of saying Adonai preserved reverence for the sacred Name while making the text speakable in public worship. Translating kurios as “The-One-Who-Is” recovers the theological resonance of YHWH, which is linguistically connected to the Hebrew root haya (“to be”). In Exodus 3:14, God self-identifies as Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh (“I will be who I will be” or “I am who I am”), using the first-person imperfect form ehyeh. The third-person equivalents—yihyeh (“he is” or “he will be” [in an ongoing way]), haya (“he was” [or time-limited, completed way]), and the rare participle howeh (“being” or “the one who is”)—suggest that YHWH blends all three in a fusion of past, present, and future being as well as presence both in particular moments and an ongoing reality. Early Jewish and Christian interpreters, including in Revelation 1:8 and 4:8, echoed this understanding in phrases like “the one who was, and is, and is to come.” Rendering kurios as “The-One-Who-Is” is an attempt to honor the Name’s linguistic roots while resisting the patriarchal and hierarchical connotations carried by “Lord” in English. It also recalls the liberating presence of the Name given from the burning bush in Exodus as The-One-Who-Is began moving to liberate the oppressed people of Israel.
v Citation of Psalm 118.

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