What Does Luke 13:3 Mean?
No, I say to you. But unless you turn, you will all likewise perish.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.THE KEY
Here, repentance is a turn that changes the course toward perishing.
THE MEANING
This warning speaks to you now: the fate you see in others can also meet you if your course remains unchanged. “Repent” names a turn, not regret that leaves the direction intact. Perishing is real, and the verse holds open the possibility of turning.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The people who suffered must have been worse than I am, so their fate tells me nothing about my own.
THE ROOT
μετανοῆτε
metanoēte
GROWS FROM
μετανοέω
metanoeō
To reconsider or change one’s mind; here, to turn.
English “repent” can sound like feeling sorry, but this word calls for a change of direction. The verse sets that turn against a course that ends in perishing.
ALSO GROWS
metanoia: turning; a changed mind
μετάνοια
This related noun names the same change of orientation called for here.
noeō: perceive, consider
νοέω
The verb’s word family connects turning with a changed way of perceiving.
ἀπολεῖσθε
apoleisthe
GROWS FROM
ἀπόλλυμι
apollymi
To destroy, lose, or perish.
“perish” in this verse is apoleisthe. The word carries both the force of destruction and the sense of being lost. That makes the warning about more than an abstract end: it names a life reaching loss.
ALSO GROWS
apōleia: destruction, loss
ἀπώλεια
This related noun makes the destructive force of perishing explicit.
apolōlōs: lost
ἀπολωλώς
This form from the same verb family describes the son who is lost and then found in Luke 15:24.
THE PATTERN
The call to turn warns where an unchanged course leads and holds open a different direction.
Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each according to his ways, says the Lord LORD. Turn, and turn yourselves from all your rebellions; so crookedness shall not be your stumbling block.Turn around, then, and turn back, so that your shortcomings may be wiped away, and the times of breathing again may come from the face of the LORD.The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some hold slowness; but is slow to heat toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should make room for turning.THE THREAD
For this son of mine was dead, and is living again; he had lost his way, and is found." And they began to be glad.The word translated “perish” in Luke 13:3 comes from the same Greek verb family as “was lost” here. The story holds loss and return together: what is lost can be found.
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