Luke 23:34

“And Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And dividing his garments, they cast lots.”

Luke 23:34 · direct translation from the Greek
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With the Greek beneath

34

Allusion · Psalms 22:18

Go to Psalms 22:18

The account of the dividing of the clothes uses three words of the psalm: “divide,” “clothes” and “lot.” The evangelist does not present it as a quotation; John 19:24 does.

They share words that are rare in the original, without a quotation.

  • διαμεριζόμενοιdiamerizomenoiG1266יְחַלְּקוּyejalkuH2505“divide”
  • ἱμάτιαhimatiaG2440בְגָדַvegadaH899“cloak, clothing”
  • κλήρουςklērousG2819גוֹרָלgoralH1486“lot, portion”

Luke 23:34, word by word

JesusἸησοῦςIēsous

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).

Where else “Iēsous” appears
was sayingἔλεγενelegen

say

To express something in words to others.

Where else “elegen” appears
“FatherΠάτερPater

Father

God, who gives life and cares for his own; the Father of Jesus.

Where else “Pater” appears
forgiveἄφεςaphes

forgive

To wipe away sins or debts, not exact them.

Where else “aphes” appears
knowοἴδασινoidasin

know

To hold a fact as certain, to be aware of it.

Where else “oidasin” appears
they are doingποιοῦσινpoiousin

do

To carry out an action or cause an effect.

Where else “poiousin” appears
dividingδιαμεριζόμενοιdiamerizomenoi

distribute

To share out among several.

Where else “diamerizomenoi” appears
garmentsἱμάτιαhimatia

clothes

Everything one has on.

Where else “himatia” appears
they castἔβαλονebalon

throw

To hurl something or someone away from oneself.

Where else “ebalon” appears
lotsκλήρουςklērous

lot

Small stones cast to decide something.

Where else “klērous” appears

Translation note· on the manuscripts

The words from “And Jesus was saying” to “what they are doing” are missing in several ancient manuscripts; the Greek text we follow puts them in double brackets. The dividing of the garments recalls Psalm 22:18.

Parallel passages

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

The crucifixion

Matthew 27:33-44Mark 15:22-32John 19:17-27

See them side by side

Luke 23:33-43

33And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. 34And Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And dividing his garments, they cast lots. 35And the people stood watching. And the rulers also were sneering, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if this man is the Messiah of God, the Chosen One!” 36And the soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38And there was also an inscription over him: “This is the King of the Jews.” 39And one of the criminals who were hanging there was blaspheming him, saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same condemnation? 41And we indeed are here justly, for we are receiving back what is due for what we did; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.” 43And he said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Matthew 27:33-44

33And coming to a place called Golgotha, which is called Place of a Skull, 34they gave him wine mixed with gall to drink; and after tasting it, he was not willing to drink it. 35And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots, 36and sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37And they put above his head the charge against him written: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38Then two robbers are crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 39And those who passed by were blaspheming him, shaking their heads 40and saying, “You who would destroy the sanctuary and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” 41In the same way the high priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, were saying, 42“Others he saved; himself he cannot save. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43He has trusted in God; let him rescue him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44And in the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also were insulting him.

Mark 15:22-32

22And they bring him to the place Golgotha, which is translated Place of a Skull. 23And they were offering him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24And they crucify him and divide his garments, casting lots for them, to see who would take what. 25Now it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26And the inscription of the charge against him was written above: “The King of the Jews.” 27And with him they crucify two robbers, one on the right and one on his left. 28And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “And he was counted among the lawless.” 29And those who passed by were insulting him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the sanctuary and build it in three days, 30save yourself by coming down from the cross!” 31Likewise the high priests also, mocking him to one another with the scribes, were saying, “Others he saved; himself he cannot save. 32Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe.” And those who were crucified with him were reviling him.

John 19:17-27

17and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to the place called the Place of the Skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha, 18where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the middle. 19And Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross; and there was written, “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.” 20So many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, in Greek. 21So the high priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that that man said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’” 22Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” 23So the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, a part for each soldier, and the tunic. Now the tunic was seamless, woven from the top throughout. 24So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but let us cast lots for it to see whose it will be,” so that the Scripture might be fulfilled that says, “They divided my garments among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things. 25Now standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26So Jesus, seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near, says to his mother, “Woman, look, your son.” 27Then he says to the disciple, “Look, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

The context

33And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.

34 · This verse (above)

35And the people stood watching. And the rulers also were sneering, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if this man is the Messiah of God, the Chosen One!”

Read all of Luke 23

To study Luke 23 in a group

  1. 1. What it says

    What does Pilate say about Jesus, what does the crowd demand, and whom do they release? (vv. 13-25)

  2. 2. What it means

    On the cross Jesus says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (v. 34). What does he say to one of the criminals? (vv. 39-43)

  3. 3. How I live it

    Jesus asked forgiveness for those who treated him badly (v. 34). Who has hurt you, and what good could you wish for that person today?

How to use it