Bible Strands
Luke 5:19
but they could not find a way through the crowd. So they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The men carrying the paralyzed man act at the moment Jesus is teaching, after attempting to bring him inside but encountering an impenetrable crowd.
The words — The Greek μὴ (mē) negates the men's ability to find a path, while εὑρόντες (heurontes) denotes the completed action of seeking that path.
The thread — This roof-lowering action parallels Mark 2:4, while the architectural detail echoes the roof-railing law in Deuteronomy 22:8 and the housetop imagery of Matthew 10:27.
Why it lands — The text records that determined action bypassed physical obstruction to place a need directly before Jesus. It asks the reader to acknowledge that persistent effort, not passive waiting, positions a person for intervention.
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 when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.
Cross-references
- Mark 2:4 Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd, they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening, and lowered the paralytic on his mat.
- Matthew 10:27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops.
- Deuteronomy 22:8 If you build a new house, you are to construct a railing around your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if someone falls from it.
- 2 Samuel 11:2 One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.
- Matthew 24:17 Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house.
- Jeremiah 19:13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like that place, Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they burned incense to all the host of heaven and poured out drink offerings to other gods.”