Luke 19 7

Luke 19:7 kjv

And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.

Luke 19:7 nkjv

But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner."

Luke 19:7 niv

All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a sinner."

Luke 19:7 esv

And when they saw it, they all grumbled, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner."

Luke 19:7 nlt

But the people were displeased. "He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner," they grumbled.

Luke 19 verses

Luke 19 7 Meaning

Luke 19:7 describes the reaction of the crowd and observers when Jesus declared His intention to stay at the house of Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector. Their immediate response was a collective murmuring and objection, stemming from their perception that Jesus, a respected teacher and prophet, was associating with a man they considered a grave sinner and social outcast. This reveals a fundamental misunderstanding among the onlookers of Jesus' mission to seek and save those considered lost and marginalized.

Luke 19 7 Context

Luke 19:7 is embedded within the narrative of Jesus' final journey to Jerusalem, emphasizing His divine mission to bring salvation to all, including those typically ostracized by society. Immediately preceding this verse, Zacchaeus, a wealthy and socially despised chief tax collector, goes to extraordinary lengths to see Jesus (Lk 19:1-4). Jesus then unilaterally declares His intention to stay at Zacchaeus's house, publicly choosing to associate with an individual considered ritually unclean and morally corrupt (Lk 19:5). This surprising and counter-cultural action sets the stage for the public's grumbling described in verse 7. The following verses (Lk 19:8-10) depict Zacchaeus's dramatic conversion and repentance, which vindicates Jesus's controversial act and culminates in Jesus' declaration, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

Historically and culturally, tax collectors (publicani in Roman society) were reviled by Jews. They were perceived as traitors collaborating with the oppressive Roman regime, extorting their own people, and were thus considered unclean and excommunicated from Jewish communal life, equated with prostitutes and gentiles. A rabbi or respectable person associating with them, especially dining with them (a sign of fellowship and acceptance), was unthinkable and deeply offensive to conventional religious sensibilities. The grumbling thus reflects not just social snobbery but also a profound theological discomfort with Jesus' radical inclusion and redefinition of righteousness.

Luke 19 7 Word analysis

• And when they saw it:

  • And: Greek kai (καί), a common conjunction indicating sequence or consequence.
  • when they saw it: Greek eidontes (ἰδόντες), from eido (εἴδω), meaning not merely physical sight but also perception or understanding. The crowd did not just see Jesus enter Zacchaeus's house; they perceived the profound social and religious implications of His action. Their "seeing" immediately led to "grumbling," indicating their judgment based on their conventional understanding of purity and societal standing.

• they all grumbled:

  • they all: Greek pantes (πάντες). The use of "all" signifies the widespread and unanimous nature of the negative reaction among the crowd present. It wasn't just a few; it was a collective societal condemnation, underscoring the severity of Jesus's perceived breach of social and religious decorum.
  • grumbled: Greek diagongyzō (διαγογγύζω). This is a strong word, appearing only a few times in the New Testament (e.g., Lk 15:2, 1 Cor 10:10). The prefix dia intensifies gongyzō (to murmur or grumble), implying a deep, persistent, or thorough complaint, often an expression of dissatisfaction with divine action or leadership. It echoes the grumbling of the Israelites against God and Moses in the wilderness (e.g., Ex 16, Num 14), linking the crowd's reaction to a pattern of resistance against God's surprising ways. This murmuring indicates discontent rooted in judgment and a sense of affront.

• saying: Greek legontes (λέγοντες), standard participial form indicating speech.

• He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner:

  • He has gone to be the guest of: Greek hoti para hamartōlōi andri eiselthein katalysai (ὅτι παρὰ ἁμαρτωλῷ ἀνδρὶ εἰσῆλθεν καταλῦσαι).
    • guest of: Literally "beside" or "with."
    • gone... to be the guest of: eiselthein katalysai. Eiselthein (εἰσῆλθεν) means "entered," and katalysai (καταλῦσαι) is an aorist infinitive of katalyō (καταλύω), meaning "to lodge," "to stay," or "to unbind/dissolve." While commonly meaning "to lodge" or "be a guest," the underlying meaning of katalyō ("to break down," "dissolve," "destroy") subtly suggests that Jesus was, by this act, dismantling or overturning social and religious conventions concerning purity and association. He was indeed breaking down the rigid boundaries between "righteous" and "sinner."
  • a man who is a sinner: Greek hamartōlōi andri (ἁμαρτωλῷ ἀνδρί).
    • a man: andri, specifically emphasizing a male individual.
    • sinner: hamartōlos (ἁμαρτωλός). This term, particularly in the context of the Gospels, refers not just to a person who commits sins (as all do, Rom 3:23) but often to those who are publicly known for grave sins, specifically breaking Jewish law and religious norms, thus classified as social and religious outcasts. Tax collectors were prominent among this group, perceived as betraying their nation and extracting money from their kin for pagan rulers. This label represents the public's condemnatory categorization of Zacchaeus, marking him as beyond the pale of respectable association.

Luke 19 7 Bonus section

The intense grumbling by "all" (Lk 19:7) mirrors similar instances throughout Luke's Gospel, especially in contexts where Jesus dines with "sinners" or tax collectors (e.g., Lk 5:30; 15:2). This repeated motif highlights a core polemic of Luke's Gospel: Jesus consistently challenges the self-righteousness and exclusionary practices of the religious elite by demonstrating God's radical inclusivity. The critics often fail to recognize the metanoia (repentance) that such divine interaction often brings, as evidenced almost immediately by Zacchaeus's dramatic response (Lk 19:8). The episode reveals how easily religious people can mistake moral fastidiousness and social prejudice for genuine piety, thereby opposing the very will of God. It's a testament to the idea that God's grace often defies human expectation and comfort zones, choosing the humble and repentant over the outwardly respectable.

Luke 19 7 Commentary

Luke 19:7 captures the stark tension between human judgment and divine grace inherent in Jesus' ministry. The crowd's "grumbling" (diagongyzō) echoes the complaints of Israel in the wilderness against God’s leadership, indicating a deeper resistance to the unexpected and counter-intuitive nature of God's redemptive work. Their classification of Zacchaeus as "a man who is a sinner" was a social and religious verdict that barred him from respectability and divine favor in their eyes. For them, association with such an individual made Jesus himself "unclean" or compromised.

Jesus' action, however, was a deliberate challenge to these entrenched norms. By choosing to "lodge" (katalyō) with Zacchaeus, He wasn't merely visiting but indicating a shared table fellowship—a powerful symbol of acceptance, honor, and reconciliation in that culture. This act scandalized those who upheld a purity system based on outward adherence and social segregation. Jesus continually prioritized the transformation of the heart over ritualistic external purity, exemplified by His repeated engagement with tax collectors, prostitutes, and other marginalized individuals (e.g., Lk 5:29-32). The murmuring, therefore, reveals the widespread failure to grasp that God's compassion extends precisely to those deemed most undeserving by human standards. It foreshadows Jesus' own later explanation that His mission was to seek and save the lost (Lk 19:10). This verse serves as a crucial moment distinguishing the narrow, judgmental perspective of humanity from the broad, redemptive purpose of God.