Albert Barnes Commentary Luke 13

There were present. This means some people who were present and had heard His discourse recorded in the previous chapter. There was probably a pause in His discourse when they mentioned what Pilate had done to the Galileans.

At that season. This refers to that time—the time mentioned in the last chapter. It is not easy to determine at what period of our Lord's ministry this occurred.

Some that told Him. This was doubtless an event of recent occurrence. Jesus, it is probable, had not heard of it before. Why they told Him about it can only be a matter of conjecture. It might have been from a desire to get Him to express an opinion regarding the conduct of Pilate, and thus to involve Him in difficulty with the reigning powers of Judea. It might also have been as a mere matter of news.

However, from the answer of Jesus, it would appear that they supposed the Galileans deserved it, and that they meant to pass judgment on the character of those men—something they were exceedingly fond of doing. The answer of Jesus is a reproof of their habit of hastily judging the character of others.

Galileans. These were people who lived in Galilee. (See Barnes on Matthew 2:22).

They were not under the jurisdiction of Pilate, but of Herod. The Galileans, in the time of Christ, were very wicked.

Whose blood Pilate had mingled. This means that while they were sacrificing at Jerusalem, Pilate came suddenly upon them and killed them, and their blood was mingled with the blood of the animals they were slaughtering for sacrifice. It does not mean that Pilate offered their blood in sacrifice, but only that he killed them as they were sacrificing. This event is not mentioned by Josephus, and nothing more is known about it than what is recorded here.

We learn, however, from Josephus that the Galileans were very wicked and that they were very prone to quarrels and seditions. It also appears that Pilate and Herod had a quarrel with each other (Luke 23:12), and it is not improbable that Pilate might have felt a particular enmity toward the subjects of Herod. It is likely that the Galileans incited a tumult in the temple, and Pilate took the opportunity to come suddenly upon them and show his opposition to them and Herod by killing them.

Pilate. The Roman governor of Judea. (See Barnes on Matthew 27:2).

Suppose ye, etc. From this answer, it would appear that they supposed that the fact that these men had been killed in this manner proved that they were very great sinners.

I tell you, Nay. Jesus assured them that it was not right to draw such a conclusion about these men. The fact that men come to a sudden and violent death is not proof that they are especially wicked.

Except ye repent. Unless you forsake your sins and turn to God. Jesus took the opportunity, contrary to their expectation, to make a practical use of that fact and to warn them of their own danger.

He never allowed a suitable opportunity to pass without warning the wicked and urging them to forsake their wicked ways. The subject of religion was always present to his mind. He introduced it easily, freely, and fully. In this, he showed his love for the souls of men, and in this, he set us an example that we should follow in his steps.

Ye shall all likewise perish. You shall all be destroyed in a similar manner. Here he was referring, no doubt, to the calamities that were coming upon them, when thousands of the people perished. Perhaps there was never any rebuke more delicate and yet more severe than this. They came to him believing that these men who had perished were especially wicked. He did not tell them that they were as bad as the Galileans but left them to infer it, for if they did not repent, they must soon also be destroyed. This was remarkably fulfilled. Many of the Jews were killed in the temple; many while offering sacrifice; thousands perished in a way very similar to the Galileans (Compare to Matthew 24:1 and following).

From this account of the Galileans we may learn:

1. That people are very prone to infer, when any great calamity happens to others, that they are especially guilty. See the Book of Job and the reasonings of his three "friends."
2. That such a conclusion, in the way in which it is usually drawn, is erroneous. If we see a man bloated, haggard, and poor, who is habitually intoxicated, we may openly infer that he is guilty and that God hates his sin and punishes it. So we may infer from the effects of licentiousness. But we should not infer this when a man's house is burned down, or when his children die, or when he suffers a loss of health; nor should we infer it concerning nations that are afflicted with famine, plague, or the ravages of war; nor should we infer it when a man is killed by lightning or perishes in the explosion of a steamboat. Those who perish in this way may be far more virtuous than many who live.
3. This is not a world of retribution. Good and evil are mingled; the good and the bad suffer, and all are exposed here to calamity.
4. There is another world—a future state—a world where the good will be happy and the wicked punished. There, all that is irregular on earth will be regulated; all that appears unequal will be made equal; all that is chaotic will be reduced to order.
5. When people are disposed to speak about the great guilt of others and the calamities that come upon them, they should inquire about themselves. What is their character? What is their condition? It may be that they are in just as much danger of perishing as those whom they regard as so wicked.
6. WE MUST REPENT. We must ALL repent, or we will perish. No matter what happens to others, we are sinners; we are to die; we will be lost unless we repent. Let us, then, think of ourselves rather than of others; and when we hear of any significant calamity happening to others, let us remember that there is calamity in another world as well as here, and that while our fellow sinners are exposed to trials here, we may be exposed to more dreadful woes there. Woe there is eternal; here, a calamity like that produced by a falling tower is soon over.

Or those eighteen. Jesus himself adds another similar case to warn them — a case which had probably occurred not long before, and which it is likely they judged in the same manner.

Upon whom the tower in Siloam fell. The name Siloah or Siloam is found only three times in the Bible as applied to water — once in Isaiah 8:6, who speaks of it as running water; once as a pool near the king's garden, in Nehemiah 3:15; and once as a pool, in the account of the Saviour's healing the man born blind, in John 9:7-11.

Josephus frequently mentions the fountain of Siloam as situated at the mouth of the Valley of Tyropoeon, or the Valley of Cheesemongers, where the fountain, long identified as that particular one, is still found. It is on the south side of Mount Moriah, and between that mountain and the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

The water currently flows out of a small artificial basin under the cliff and is received into a large reservoir 53 feet long by 18 feet wide. The small upper basin or fountain, excavated in the rock, is merely the entrance, or rather the termination, of a long and narrow subterranean passage beyond, through which the water comes from the Fountain of the Virgin.

For what purpose the tower referred to here was erected is not known; nor is it known at what time the event referred to here occurred. It is probable that it was not far from the time when the Saviour used the illustration, for the manner in which he refers to it implies that it was fresh in the recollection of those to whom he spoke.

I tell you, Nay. It is improper to suppose that those on whom heavy judgments fall in this world are the worst of men. This is not a world of retribution. Often the most wicked are permitted to prosper here, and their punishment is reserved for another world, while the righteous are called to suffer much and appear to be under the severe displeasure of God (Psalms 73:1 and following).

This only we know: that the wicked will not always escape, that God is just, and that none who suffer, here or hereafter, suffer more than they deserve. In the future world, all that seems to be unequal here will be made equal and plain.

This parable. See Barnes' notes on Matthew 13:3.

Vineyard. A place where vines were planted. It was not common to plant fig-trees in them, but our Lord represents it as having been sometimes done.