Bible Strands
Luke 19:9
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to Zacchaeus and the onlookers immediately after Zacchaeus's public pledge of restitution (v. 8), closing the encounter with a declaration of identity.
The words — σήμερον (sēmeron, "today") marks the arrival of salvation as a present, punctual event rather than a distant promise, echoing Luke 23:43.
The thread — "Son of Abraham" is a faith-identity claim found in Galatians 3:7 and Romans 4:16, where Abraham's offspring are defined by faith and grace rather than lineage or works; Luke 13:16 uses the same formula ("daughter of Abraham") to assert a person's belonging against a claim of bondage.
Why it lands — The verse strips away every label Zacchaeus carried (tax collector, collaborator, sinner) and replaces them with a single identity: son of Abraham. It asks the reader to accept that salvation is declared over a person before their reformation is complete — the restitution in v. 8 is a response, not a prerequisite.
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
And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
Cross-references
- Galatians 3:7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are sons of Abraham.
- Luke 13:16 Then should not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be released from her bondage on the Sabbath day?”
- Romans 4:16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
- Acts 16:30 Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
- 1 Peter 2:10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
- Luke 3:8 Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
- John 4:38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the hard work, and now you have taken up their labor.”
- Romans 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
- Galatians 3:29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
- Galatians 3:14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.