Bible Strands
Luke 13:4
Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam collapsed on them: Do you think that they were more sinful than all the others living in Jerusalem?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to a gathered crowd in Judea, responding to their report of a recent building collapse by redirecting their attention from others' fates to their own spiritual condition.
The words — The Greek ἔπεσεν (epesen) literally means "fell" or "collapsed," describing the sudden structural failure, while δεκαοκτὼ (dekaoktō) specifies the exact number of victims.
The thread — This rhetorical question functions as the hinge between the identical warnings in Luke 13:3 and Luke 13:5 that unrepentant listeners will perish.
Why it lands — The text explicitly denies that disaster victims are more guilty than survivors, demanding that readers abandon comparative judgment and address their own need for repentance.
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
Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 3:15 The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallun son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofed it, and installed its doors, bolts, and bars. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Shelah near the king’s garden, as far as the stairs that descend from the City of David.
- Job 1:19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
- Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
- Matthew 18:24 As he began the settlements, a debtor owing ten thousand talents was brought to him.
- 1 Kings 20:30 The rest of them fled into the city of Aphek, where the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the remaining men. Ben-hadad also fled to the city and hid in an inner room.
- Luke 7:41 “Two men were debtors to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
- John 9:7 Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.
- John 9:11 He answered, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and anointed my eyes, and He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and received my sight.”
- Luke 11:4 And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”