Luke 10:12

“I tell you that it will be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that city.”

Luke 10:12 · direct translation from the Greek
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With the Greek beneath

12

Luke 10:12, word by word

I tellλέγωlegō

say

To express something in words to others.

Where else “legō” appears
it will beἔσταιestai

be

To be: says who or what something is.

Where else “estai” appears
more tolerableἀνεκτότερονanektoteron

tolerable

Tolerable, bearable; "more tolerable".

Where else “anektoteron” appears
dayἡμέρᾳhēmerai

judgment day

The day of the Lord, when God judges the world.

Where else “hēmerai” appears
for SodomΣοδόμοιςSodomois

Sodom

See it on the mapWhere else “Sodomois” appears
cityπόλειpolei

city, town

City, town.

Where else “polei” appears

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

The sending of the twelve

Matthew 10:5-15Mark 6:7-13Luke 9:1-6

Luke 10 tells of the sending of the seventy-two; it is discussed whether it is the same sending.

See them side by side

Luke 10:1-12

1Now after these things the Lord appointed seventy-two others also, and sent them two by two ahead of him into every city and place where he himself was about to come. 2And he was saying to them, “The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the workers are few; so ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest. 3Go; look, I am sending you like lambs in the midst of wolves. 4Do not carry a money bag, nor a bag, nor sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5And whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 7And remain in that same house, eating and drinking the things offered by them; for the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not move from house to house. 8And whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you, 9and cure the sick in it, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11‘Even the dust from your city that clung to our feet we wipe off against you; yet know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12I tell you that it will be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that city.

Matthew 10:5-15

5These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, saying, “Do not go off onto a road of the nations, and do not enter into a town of Samaritans; 6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7And as you go, proclaim, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Freely you received; freely give. 9Do not acquire gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10no bag for the road, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the worker is worthy of his food. 11And whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. 12As you enter the house, greet it. 13And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14And whoever does not receive you or listen to your words, as you go out of that house or town, shake off the dust from your feet. 15Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

Mark 6:7-13

7And he summons the Twelve and began to send them out two by two, and he was giving them authority over the unclean spirits. 8And he instructed them that they should take nothing for the journey except a staff only; no bread, no bag, no copper coins in their belts, 9but to wear sandals; “and do not put on two tunics.” 10And he was saying to them, “Wherever you enter into a house, stay there until you leave from there. 11And whatever place does not receive you nor listen to you, as you leave from there, shake off the dust that is under your feet as a testimony to them.” 12And going out, they proclaimed that people should change their minds. 13And they were driving out many demons, and anointing with oil many who were sick, and healing them.

Luke 9:1-6

1And having called together the Twelve, he gave them power and authority over all the demons and to cure diseases. 2And he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3And he said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staff nor bag nor bread nor money, nor have two tunics apiece. 4And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5And as for those who do not receive you, when you go out from that city shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” 6And going out, they went through the villages proclaiming the good news and curing people everywhere.

Woes on the cities of the lake

Matthew 11:20-24

A similar saying; scholars discuss whether it is the same saying in another setting or a repeated one.

See them side by side

Luke 10:12-15

12I tell you that it will be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that city. 13Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have changed their minds long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. 15And you, Capernaum, will you really be exalted as far as heaven? You will be brought down as far as Hades!

Matthew 11:20-24

20Then he began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been done, because they had not changed their minds. 21“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have changed their minds long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23And you, Capernaum, you will not be exalted to heaven, will you? To Hades you will go down; for if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24But I tell you that it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

Places in this verse

Dead SeaSodom?
Approximate location. A “?” means it is not known for sure where it was.
  • Sodom ?

    Today: disputed; perhaps south or northeast of the Dead Sea

    A city of the Jordan plain; its site is not known for certain, perhaps near the Dead Sea.

    Its people were very wicked (Gen 13:13). God destroyed it with fire, and saved Lot (Gen 19:24-25).

    Genesis 19:24Genesis 13:13Genesis 18:20Matthew 10:15

The context

11‘Even the dust from your city that clung to our feet we wipe off against you; yet know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’

12 · This verse (above)

13Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have changed their minds long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

Read all of Luke 10

To study Luke 10 in a group

  1. 1. What it says

    What question does the expert in the law ask Jesus, and how does Jesus answer with the story of the Samaritan? (vv. 25-37)

  2. 2. What it means

    In the story, what do the priest, the Levite and the Samaritan each do on seeing the wounded man? How does Jesus change the question at the end? (vv. 31-36)

  3. 3. How I live it

    Jesus says, “Go and do likewise.” Who near you needs a concrete help today that you can actually give? (v. 37)

How to use it