Luke 13:23
New International Version
Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them,

New Living Translation
Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” He replied,

English Standard Version
And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them,

Berean Standard Bible
“Lord,” someone asked Him, “will only a few people be saved?” Jesus answered,

Berean Literal Bible
And someone said to Him, "Lord, if those being saved are few?" And He said to them,

King James Bible
Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,

New King James Version
Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them,

New American Standard Bible
And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them,

NASB 1995
And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them,

NASB 1977
And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them,

Legacy Standard Bible
And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them,

Amplified Bible
And someone asked Him, “Lord, will only a few be saved [from the penalties of the last judgment]?” And He said to them,

Christian Standard Bible
“Lord,” someone asked him, “are only a few people going to be saved? ” He said to them,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Lord,” someone asked Him, “are there few being saved?” He said to them,

American Standard Version
And one said unto him, Lord, are they few that are saved? And he said unto them,

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But a man asked him if there are few who have life.

Contemporary English Version
Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" Jesus answered:

Douay-Rheims Bible
And a certain man said to him: Lord, are they few that are saved? But he said to them:

English Revised Version
And one said unto him, Lord, are they few that be saved? And he said unto them,

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Someone asked him, "Sir, are only a few people going to be saved?" He answered,

Good News Translation
Someone asked him, "Sir, will just a few people be saved?" Jesus answered them,

International Standard Version
Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He told them,

Literal Standard Version
and a certain one said to Him, “Lord, are those saved few?” And He said to them,

Majority Standard Bible
“Lord,” someone asked Him, “will only a few people be saved?” Jesus answered,

New American Bible
Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them,

NET Bible
Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few be saved?" So he said to them,

New Revised Standard Version
Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” He said to them,

New Heart English Bible
One said to him, "Lord, are they few who are saved?" He said to them,

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said one to him, Lord, are there few that are saved? And he said to them,

Weymouth New Testament
when some one asked Him, "Sir, are there but few who are to be saved?"

World English Bible
One said to him, “Lord, are they few who are saved?” He said to them,

Young's Literal Translation
and a certain one said to him, 'Sir, are those saved few?' and he said unto them,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Narrow Door
22Then Jesus traveled throughout the towns and villages, teaching as He made His way toward Jerusalem. 23“Lord,” someone asked Him, “will only a few people be saved?” Jesus answered, 24“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.…

Cross References
Luke 13:22
Then Jesus traveled throughout the towns and villages, teaching as He made His way toward Jerusalem.

Luke 13:24
"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.


Treasury of Scripture

Then said one to him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said to them,

are.

Matthew 7:14
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Matthew 19:25
When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?

Matthew 20:16
So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

And.

Luke 12:13-15
And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me…

Luke 21:7,8
And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? …

Matthew 24:3-5
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? …

Jump to Previous
Few Salvation Saved Sir Small Someone
Jump to Next
Few Salvation Saved Sir Small Someone
Luke 13
1. Jesus preaches repentance upon the punishment of the Galilaeans and others.
6. The fruitless fig tree may not stand.
10. He heals the crooked woman;
18. shows the powerful working of the word, by the parable of the grain of mustard seed,
20. and of leaven;
22. exhorts to enter in at the strait gate;
31. and reproves Herod and Jerusalem.














(23) Are there few that be saved?--More accurately, that are being saved, or, that are in the way of salvation. The Greek participle is present, not perfect, and this sense should be borne in mind both here and in 2Corinthians 2:15Acts 2:47, where the English version gives, with a singular infelicity, "such as should be saved."

We are left to conjecture to what class the questioner belonged, and what feelings prompted the question. Was he thinking of salvation in the higher Christian sense of the term, or of safety from that destruction of which Christ had spoken as coming on the impenitent people? In the mind of the questioner the two things may have been blended together, but the answer clearly points to the former, and we have sufficient evidence that such questions were agitating men's minds in the apocryphal Revelation known as the Second Book of Esdras. This book is probably (in part, at least, certainly, see 2 Esdras 8:28-29), post-Christian, and has been assigned to the time of Nero, or Domitian, or Trajan; but it reflects with a wonderful fulness the fevered, anxious thoughts that were working among both Jews and Gentiles, and among those none is so prominent as that "many are created, but few shall be saved" (2 Esdras 8:1; 2 Esdras 8:3; 2 Esdras 8:55). Among the strange cabbalistic fancies of the Rabbis, one was an attempt to fix the number of the saved by the numerical value of the letters of this or that text that prophesied of the Kingdom of Heaven. Assuming the question to be of this nature, its form indicates that it was a speculative inquiry. A man anxious and in earnest would have asked, "What must I do to be saved?" And, being a speculative question, our Lord put it aside, gave no direct answer, and sought to force the man back on the thought of what was needed that he himself might take his place in that company. . . .

Verses 23-30. - Jesus replies to the question of "Are there few that be saved?" Verse 23. - Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? The immediate circumstance which called out this question is not recorded, but the general tone of the Master's later teaching, especially on the subject of his kingdom of the future, had disturbed the vision of many in Israel, who loved to dwell on the exclusion of all save the chosen race from the glories of the world to come. The words of the Second Book of Esdras, written perhaps forty or fifty years after this time, well reflect this selfish spirit of harsh exclusiveness, peculiarly a characteristic of the Jew in the days of our Lord. "The Most High hath made this world for many, but the world to come for few" (2 Esdr. 8:1). "There be many more of them which perish, than of them which shall be saved: like as a wave is greater than a drop" (2 Esdr. 9:15, 16). Other passages breathing a similar spirit might be quoted. What relics we possess of Jewish literature of this period all reflect the same stern, jealous, exclusive spirit. The questioner here either hoped to get from the popular Master some statement which might be construed into an approval of this national spirit of hatred of everything that was not Jewish, or, if Jesus chose to combat these selfish hopes, the Master's words might then be quoted to the people as unpatriotic.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
“Lord,”
Κύριε (Kyrie)
Noun - Vocative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2962: Lord, master, sir; the Lord. From kuros; supreme in authority, i.e. controller; by implication, Master.

someone
τις (tis)
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5100: Any one, some one, a certain one or thing. An enclitic indefinite pronoun; some or any person or object.

asked
Εἶπεν (Eipen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2036: Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say.

Him,
αὐτῷ (autō)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

“[will]
εἰ (ei)
Conjunction
Strong's 1487: If. A primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc.

only a few
ὀλίγοι (oligoi)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3641: Puny; especially neuter somewhat.

[people]
οἱ (hoi)
Article - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

be saved?”
σῳζόμενοι (sōzomenoi)
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 4982: To save, heal, preserve, rescue. From a primary sos; to save, i.e. Deliver or protect.

[Jesus] answered,
εἶπεν (eipen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2036: Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say.


Links
Luke 13:23 NIV
Luke 13:23 NLT
Luke 13:23 ESV
Luke 13:23 NASB
Luke 13:23 KJV

Luke 13:23 BibleApps.com
Luke 13:23 Biblia Paralela
Luke 13:23 Chinese Bible
Luke 13:23 French Bible
Luke 13:23 Catholic Bible

NT Gospels: Luke 13:23 One said to him Lord are they (Luke Lu Lk)
Luke 13:22
Top of Page
Top of Page