Luke 19:1–10
He invites himself to the house of Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, and everything changes
Study it word by word1And he entered and was passing through Jericho.
2And look, there was a man called by name Zacchaeus; and he was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
3And he was trying to see who Jesus was, and he could not because of the crowd, for he was small in stature.
4And running ahead he climbed up into a sycamore-fig tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way.
5And when he came to the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
6And he hurried and came down and welcomed him rejoicing.
7And when they saw it, all began grumbling, saying, “He has gone in to be the guest of a sinful man.”
8But Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I give to the poor; and if I have extorted anything from anyone by false accusation, I pay back four times as much.”
9And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.
10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
In its context
…
11And as they were listening to these things, he went on and told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and they thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.
12So he said, “A certain man of noble birth went to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return.
Its words in the original
- εἰσελθὼνeiselthōn· enter, go in
Enter, go in, come in.
- διήρχετοdiērcheto· pass through
Pass through, go through, travel through.
- ἸεριχώIerichō· Jericho
Jericho, a city near the Jordan, on the road from Galilee to Jerusalem.
- ἀνὴρanēr· man, husband
Man, adult male; with a possessive, "husband".
- ὀνόματιonomati· name
Name. In the Bible, a name stands for the person himself.
- καλούμενοςkaloumenos· call
Call; name; invite.
- ΖακχαῖοςZakchaios· Zacchaeus
Zacchaeus, chief tax collector of Jericho.
- ἦνēn· be
Be, exist.
- ἀρχιτελώνηςarchitelōnēs· chief tax collector
Chief tax collector, in charge of other tax collectors.
- πλούσιοςplousios· rich
Rich; a rich person.
- ἐζήτειezētei· seek
Look for, seek; try to.
- ἰδεῖνidein· see
See, look; notice.
- ἸησοῦνIēsoun· Jesus
Jesus, the Greek form of the Hebrew Yehoshua (Joshua), which means "YHWH saves". It is the name the angel told Joseph to give him (Matthew 1:21).
- ἠδύνατοēdynato· can, be able
Can, be able.
- ὄχλουochlou· crowd
Crowd, throng; the people.
- ἡλικίᾳhēlikiai· age, stature
Stature; also age, length of life.
- μικρὸςmikros· small, little
Small, little.
- προδραμὼνprodramōn· run ahead
Run ahead, outrun.
- ἔμπροσθενemprosthen· before, in front of
In front of, before.
- ἀνέβηanebē· go up
Go up, come up, ascend.
- συκομορέανsykomorean· sycamore-fig
Sycamore-fig: a large fig tree with a thick trunk and low branches.
- ἤμελλενēmellen· be about to
Be about to, be going to do something.
- ἦλθενēlthen· come, go
Come, arrive; go.
- τόπονtopon· place
Place.
- ἀναβλέψαςanablepsas· look up, see again
Regain sight; also look up.
- εἶπενeipen· say
Say, speak; in the passive, "be called".
- σπεύσαςspeusas· hurry
Hurry, hasten; also eagerly desire, hasten something on.
- κατάβηθιkatabēthi· go down, come down
Go down, come down, descend.
- σήμερονsēmeron· today
Today.
- οἴκῳoikōi· house
House; also household, family.
- δεῖdei· bind, tie
Bind, tie.
- μεῖναιmeinai· remain
Stay, remain.
- ὑπεδέξατοhypedexato· welcome as a guest
Welcome as a guest, receive under one's roof.
- χαίρωνchairōn· rejoice
Rejoice, be glad. As a greeting, "hail!" or "greetings!".
- διεγόγγυζονdiegongyzon· grumble
Grumble, complain among themselves.
- ἁμαρτωλῷhamartōlōi· sinner
Sinner; in the Pharisees' mouth, someone who did not keep the law.
- καταλῦσαιkatalysai· tear down, destroy
Tear down, destroy; do away with a law. It can also mean to stop for the night, to lodge.
- σταθεὶςstatheis· stand, set
Stand, stand still, stop; also set, establish.
- κύριονkyrion· Lord, lord
Lord, master, owner. Said of God, the Lord; in Old Testament quotations it stands for the name YHWH.
- ἡμίσιάhēmisia· half
Half.
- ὑπαρχόντωνhyparchontōn· be, exist
Be, exist, be present; "what one has", one's possessions.
- πτωχοῖςptōchois· poor
Poor, having nothing and depending on others. "Poor in spirit": someone who knows he is needy before God.
- δίδωμιdidōmi· give
Give.
- ἐσυκοφάντησαesykophantēsa· extort
Extort: take money by false accusation or by force.
- ἀποδίδωμιapodidōmi· give back, pay
Pay, give back, give what is owed.
- τετραπλοῦνtetraploun· four times
Four times as much, fourfold.
- σωτηρίαsōtēria· salvation
Salvation.
- ἐγένετοegeneto· become, happen
Become, happen, come about; be born.
- καθότιkathoti· because, as
Because, since; also according as.
- υἱὸςhuios· son, Son
Son. Also descendant: "son of David" means one of King David's family, and is a title of the promised Messiah.
- ἈβραάμAbraam· Abraham
Abraham, the father of the people of Israel, to whom God promised to bless all the families of the earth through his offspring.
- ἀνθρώπουanthrōpou· human being, man
Human being, person, man (without distinguishing male or female).
- σῶσαιsōsai· save
Save, rescue from danger or death; also heal from an illness.
- ἀπολωλόςapolōlos· destroy, perish
Destroy, cause to perish; in the middle voice, perish, be lost.