Luke 13:16

16 Now here is this descendant of Abraham whom Satan has kept in bonds for eighteen years; should she not be released on the Sabbath?"

Luke 13:16 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 13:16

And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham,
&c.] Not only a woman, or rational creature, and much preferable, as such, to an irrational one; but a descendant of Abraham, of whom the Jews gloried, and in descent from him prided themselves, and trusted; and chose to call their women by this name ^F23, which gave them a character above others: and who, besides all this, was doubtless a good woman, a spiritual worshipper of the God of Israel; who, in a spiritual sense, was a daughter of Abraham, that walked in the steps of his faith, and was now a believer in Christ, and appeared to be a chosen vessel of salvation:

whom Satan hath bound, lo these eighteen years;
with a bodily distemper that none could loose her from in so long a time. The Persic version, very wrongly, reads "twelve years"; though in ( Luke 13:11 ) it observes the right number.

Should not such an one be loosed from this bond on the
sabbath day?
the force of Christ's reasoning is this, that if it was lawful, on a sabbath day, to lead out a beast to watering, to quench its thirst, that so it may not suffer so much as one day for want of water, how much more reasonable must it be, that a rational creature, one of Abraham's posterity, and a religious person, who had been for eighteen years under a sore affliction, through the power of Satan over her, by divine permission, should be freed from so long and sore an affliction on the sabbath day? if mercy is to be shown to beasts, much more to men and women.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 72. 2. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 109. 1.

Luke 13:16 In-Context

14 The official of the synagogue was angry that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, so he spoke up and said to the people, "There are six days in which we should work; so come during those days and be healed, but not on the Sabbath!"

15 The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Any one of you would untie your ox or your donkey from the stall and take it out to give it water on the Sabbath.

16 Now here is this descendant of Abraham whom Satan has kept in bonds for eighteen years; should she not be released on the Sabbath?"

17 His answer made his enemies ashamed of themselves, while the people rejoiced over all the wonderful things that he did.

18 Jesus asked, "What is the Kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it with?