LUKE 5:32 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) I didn’t come to call those who are ‘righteous’, but to call sinners to come and turn away from disobeying God.”

Key: khaki:verbs, orange:accusative/object, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

UST Similarly, I did not come from heaven to invite those who think they are righteous to come to me. On the contrary, I came to invite those who know that they are sinners to turn from their sinful behavior and come to me.”

AICNT I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

OEB I have not come to call the religious, but the outcast, to repent.’

WEBBE I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

WMBB (Same as above)

NET I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

LSV I did not come to call righteous men, but sinners, to conversion.”

FBV “I didn't come to call those who are living right to repentance—I came to call sinners.”

TCNT I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

T4T Similarly, I did not come from heaven to invite those who think they are righteous to come to me. On the contrary, I came to invite those who know that they are sinners to turn from their sinful behavior and come to me.”

LEB I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

BBE I have come, not to get the upright, but sinners, so that they may be turned from their sins.

Moff I have not come to call just men but sinners to repentance."

Wymth I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners."

ASV I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

DRA I came not to call the just, but sinners to penance.

YLT I came not to call righteous men, but sinners, to reformation.'

Drby I am not come to call righteous [persons], but sinful [ones] to repentance.

RV I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

SLT I came not to call the just, but the sinful to repentance.

Wbstr I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

KJB-1769 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

KJB-1611 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
(Same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps I came not to call the ryghteous: but sinners to repentaunce.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Gnva I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Cvdl I am not come to call ye righteous, but sinners to repentauce.
(I am not come to call ye/you_all righteous, but sinners to repentauce.)

TNT I came not to call the rightewes but synners to repentaunce.
(I came not to call the rightewes but sinners to repentance. )

Wycl for Y cam not to clepe iuste men, but synful men to penaunce.
(for I came not to call just men, but sinful men to penance.)

Luth Ich bin kommen, zu rufen die Sünder zur Buße und nicht die Gerechten.
(I am coming, to/for call/cry/shout the sinners to/for repentance and not the righteous_(ones).)

ClVg Non veni vocare justos, sed peccatores ad pœnitentiam.[fn]
(Not/No I_came to_call just, but sinners to repentance. )

5.32 Vocare justos. BEDA. Justos vocat eos qui, Dei justitiam ignorantes et suam volentes constituere, justitiæ Dei non sunt subjecti; et de lege præsumentes, gratiam Evangelii non quærunt; peccatores qui sua mala attendentes, nec per legem se posse justificari putantes, Christi se gratiæ pœnitendo submittunt.

5.32 Callre just. BEDA. Yustos he_calls them who, of_God justice ignorant and his_own volentes constituere, justice of_God not/no are subjects; and from/about lawfully beforesumentes, grace of_the_Gospels not/no they_seek; sinners who/which his_own evil attendentes, but_not through the_law himself posse justificari they_thinkes, of_Christ himself thanks pœnitendo submittunt.

UGNT οὐκ ἐλήλυθα καλέσαι δικαίους, ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλοὺς εἰς μετάνοιαν.
(ouk elaʸlutha kalesai dikaious, alla hamartōlous eis metanoian.)

SBL-GNT οὐκ ἐλήλυθα καλέσαι δικαίους ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλοὺς εἰς μετάνοιαν.
(ouk elaʸlutha kalesai dikaious alla hamartōlous eis metanoian.)

RP-GNT Οὐκ ἐλήλυθα καλέσαι δικαίους, ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλοὺς εἰς μετάνοιαν.
(Ouk elaʸlutha kalesai dikaious, alla hamartōlous eis metanoian.)

TC-GNT Οὐκ ἐλήλυθα καλέσαι δικαίους, [fn]ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλοὺς εἰς μετάνοιαν.
(Ouk elaʸlutha kalesai dikaious, alla hamartōlous eis metanoian. )

5:32 αλλα ¦ αλλ NA²⁸

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 5:27–32: Jesus chose Levi to become one of his disciples

In this section, Jesus asked a man named Levi to be his disciple. For the meaning of “disciple,” see the note at 5:30a.

Levi was a tax collector. Jews hated tax collectors for at least two reasons:

Tax collectors worked for the Roman government or for Herod’s government. These were foreign governments that ruled the Jews.
Tax collectors sometimes collected more money than necessary. Then they kept the extra money and became rich.

This story also tells about another conflict that Jesus had with the Jewish religious leaders. After Levi became Jesus’ disciple, Jesus came to have dinner at his house. Levi’s friends, who were also tax collectors or other sinners, also came to the dinner. During the dinner, the religious leaders criticized Jesus for associating with such people. Jesus answered that it is people who know they are sinners who need him, not people who believe themselves to be righteous.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Jesus called Levi to be his disciple and ate with sinners

Jesus loves sinners

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 9:9–13 and Mark 2:13–17.

Paragraph 5:31–32

Jesus responded to the Pharisees’ rhetorical question in 5:30 with a proverb and applied the proverb to his own work. Notice that the proverb and the way that Jesus applied it are parallel, and the similar parts are in the same order:

It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Jesus was comparing healthy people to righteous ones and sick people to sinners. He was comparing himself to a doctor.

Jesus used the words “healthy,” “sick,” and “doctor” as figures of speech. The “healthy” people represent people who think that they are already righteous and who think that they do not need any help. The “sick” represent people who know that they are sinners and need Jesus’ help. The “doctor” represents Jesus, who can help the sinners to become righteous.

It is important that people understand this figurative meaning. See the General Comment on 5:31–32 at the end of the notes on 5:32b and the Display for 5:31a and the following verse parts for translation suggestions.

5:32

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance: In this statement, Jesus used the proverb (in 5:31) to explain the reason why he was eating with sinners. Jesus came to call people who were “sick with sin” to repent and be with him. Jesus did not come to call people who were already righteous. That would be like telling healthy people to go to a doctor.

5:32a

I have not come to call the righteous,

I have/did not come to invite people who do what is right to repent.
Similarly, my work/ministry is not to tell people who obey God’s laws to repent.

I have not come to call the righteous: Jesus used the phrase I have not come to introduce a general statement about the purpose of his ministry. He was not referring specifically to his purpose for coming to Levi’s house. He used the verb come here in the sense that he had come “to the earth” or come “from God.” In some languages, it may be necessary to express the meaning in a different way. For example:

My work/ministry is not to call the righteous

call: In this context the Greek word that the BSB translates as call means “invite someone to do something.” It does not mean to shout or use a loud voice.

This verb could be followed by either indirect speech (as it is in Greek and in most English versions) or by direct speech. An example of using direct speech could be:

I have not come to say to the righteous, “Repent.” No/Instead, I have come to say that to sinners.

the righteous: The Greek word that the BSB translates as righteous refers to people who live according to God’s standards. In other words, they consistently do what is right. Some other ways to translate this word are:

those who obey God’s law

those who do what is right

In some languages people use an idiom to express this meaning. For example:

those who follow a straight path

upright people

In this context Jesus was using irony. There are no truly righteous people, because everyone has sinned. Jesus may have been referring to people who think that they are doing what is right and do not recognize their sins.

5:32b

but sinners, to repentance.”

Rather, I came to tell sinners to repent.”
Instead, my work/ministry is to tell people who break God’s laws to repent.”

but sinners, to repentance: There is ellipsis here. Its full form is:

but I have come to call sinners to repentance

This explains the reason why Jesus was eating with tax collectors and other sinners. He had come to earth for the purpose of calling them to repent and turn to God.

In some languages it may be natural to translate this as a separate sentence. For example:

Instead, I have come to call sinners to repent of their sins.

sinners: In your translation, use the same word for sinners that you used in 5:30b. Jesus did not say who the sinners were. The Pharisees and teachers of the law believed that they themselves were not sinners. Jesus knew that everyone at the feast except himself was a sinner. But he did not make this explicit here. He left this for everyone to think about.

to repentance: The Greek word that the BSB translates as repentance refers to changing one’s own mind, heart, or will. In the Bible it refers specifically to a change of mind and heart about sin and about God. The person who repents is sorry for his past sins. He decides to stop sinning and to obey God. Some ways to translate to repentance are:

to change their hearts/minds

to reject sin

In some languages, you may have an idiom for this type of change. For example:

to turn from sin to God

to leave sin behind

Other ways to translate to repentance in this context are:

to quit/leave their sinful way of life/behaving

to stop sinning and turn towards God

General Comment on 5:32a–b

In some languages it may be natural to state first what Jesus had come to do:

^32b I have come to call sinners to repent of their sins. ^32aI have not come to call righteous people.

General Comment on 5:31–32

Jesus’ words in 5:32 explain the sense in which he was using the proverb in 5:31. He implied that the Pharisees thought that they were already righteous. That was the reason why they would not come to him for help to become truly righteous. Jesus did not mean that the tax collectors and sinners were the only sinners. He implied that they knew that they needed him, just as sick people know that they need a doctor.There are other ways to think about the irony here. In one sense, no one fully recognizes his own sinfulness, and there is no one who is truly righteous. It is impossible for a person to see himself as God sees him unless God reveals that to him. Jesus came to offer salvation to all people. He was helping all people to recognize their sinfulness and turn to him, just as sick people turn to a doctor to help them. Only Jesus can make a person truly righteous so that the person is able always to do what is right.

Most readers will probably be able to connect the meaning of the proverb to what Jesus says in 5:32. However, if people in your language group do not readily think of sin as a kind of “sickness,” you might consider making this connection clearer. For example:

Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. In a similar way, I have not come to call the righteous to repent. Instead I have come to call sinners to repent of their sins.”

In some languages it may be necessary to make some of the implied information explicit. For example:

Jesus answered them using a proverb, “People who think that they are healthy do not go to a doctor. It is the sick people who know that they need a doctor. Like a doctor, my work is not to invite people who think that they are righteous to repent. I came to invite those who know that they are sinners to repent.”

Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” (NLT)

In some languages, it may be more natural to use a different order for some of the information. For example:

Jesus answered them, “It is sick people who know that they need a doctor. People who think that they are healthy do not seek a doctor. I came to invite people who know that they are sinners to be with me. I did not come for those who think that they are already righteous.”