Luke 13:3 (KJV)

What does Luke 13:3 mean?

Luke 13:3 records Jesus warning his listeners that they too will perish unless they repent. His answer challenges the idea that people who suffered a terrible death must have been worse sinners than everyone else.

Jesus speaks after hearing about Galileans killed by Pilate’s orders. “Nay” answers the question Jesus has just raised about whether those Galileans were especially sinful. Jesus then turns the attention of his listeners toward their own need to repent.

The Greek behind Luke 13:3

• “repent” — μετανοέω (metanoeō): The Greek word carries the sense of changing one’s mind or turning from a previous way of thinking and acting. Here Jesus calls for a change of direction, rather than merely a feeling of regret.
• “likewise” — ὁμοίως (homoiōs): The word means “in a similar way.” It links the warning to the deaths under discussion, though the word alone does not specify that every listener would die in the same circumstances.

Why Luke 13:3 matters

• The verse challenges a judgment about the dead. Jesus says “Nay” to the suggestion that the slain Galileans were greater sinners than other Galileans (Luke 13:2).
• Jesus repeats the warning after mentioning another disaster: a tower that fell and killed eighteen people (Luke 13:4–5). The repeated answer shows that his point is not limited to the killings by Pilate.