Bible Strands
Luke 7:47
Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, for she has loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses Simon, contrasting Simon’s lack of hospitality with the woman’s anointing, immediately before declaring her pardon. The words — The Greek ἀφέωνται (apheōntai) translates literally as “have been forgiven,” standing in causal proximity to ἁμαρτίαι (hamartiai), “sins,” to mark the text’s grammatical sequence. The thread — The promise of sin’s removal appears in Isaiah 1:18, while 1 John 4:19 grounds the capacity to love in prior divine action. Why it lands — It demands the reader accept that love is the measured response to recognized pardon, not the currency that purchases it.
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
Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
Cross-references
- 1 John 4:19 We love because He first loved us.
- 1 John 3:18 Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.
- Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
- Romans 5:20 The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
- Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. What matters is faith expressing itself through love.
- John 21:15 When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus replied, “Feed My lambs.”
- Ephesians 6:24 Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.
- Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,
- Matthew 10:37 Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;