Luke 14:5

5 Then he said, "Is there anyone here who, if a child or animal fell down a well, wouldn't rush to pull him out immediately, not asking whether or not it was the Sabbath?"

Luke 14:5 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 14:5

And answered them, saying
Murmuring secretly at what he had done:

which of you shall have an ass, or an ox fallen into a pit, and
will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?
being just ready to be drowned there; and therefore it must be much more right and necessary to cure a man, a reasonable creature, just drowning with a dropsy, as this man was. The Syriac and Persic versions, instead of "an ass", read "a son", very wrongly: a like kind of reasoning is used by Christ, in (See Gill on Matthew 12:11), (See Gill on Luke 13:15).

Luke 14:5 In-Context

3 So Jesus asked the religion scholars and Pharisees present, "Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath? Yes or no?"
4 They were silent. So he took the man, healed him, and sent him on his way.
5 Then he said, "Is there anyone here who, if a child or animal fell down a well, wouldn't rush to pull him out immediately, not asking whether or not it was the Sabbath?"
6 They were stumped. There was nothing they could say to that.
7 He went on to tell a story to the guests around the table. Noticing how each had tried to elbow into the place of honor, he said,
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.