Bible Strands
Luke 13:15
“You hypocrites!” the Lord replied. “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Lord addresses the synagogue leader and the assembled crowd immediately after healing a woman crippled for eighteen years, directly responding to the leader's complaint about performing work on the Sabbath.
The words — The text records Jesus calling his opponents ὑποκριταί (hupokritai), literally "hypocrites" or "stage players," before posing a rhetorical question about untieing livestock for water on the Sabbath.
The thread — This Sabbath conflict pattern runs through Luke 14:5, where Jesus questions whether one would not immediately pull an ox or child from a pit, and aligns with the broader tension over Sabbath law in John 7:21 and Luke 6:42.
Why it lands — The text states that daily animal care is permitted on the Sabbath, then demands the reader to apply that same practical mercy to a person bound by illness, exposing inconsistent application of religious rules.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
Cross-references
- Luke 14:5 And He asked them, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out?”
- John 7:21 Jesus answered them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed.
- Luke 6:42 How can you say, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while you yourself fail to see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
- Acts 13:9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas
- Job 34:30 that godless men should not rule or lay snares for the people.
- Isaiah 29:20 For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down—
- Matthew 7:5 You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
- Matthew 15:7 You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you:
- Matthew 15:14 Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
- Matthew 23:13 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.