| Geneva Study Bible There {1} were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood {a} Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. (1) We must not rejoice at the just punishment of others, but rather we should be instructed by it to repent. (a) Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea almost ten years, and about the fourth year of his government, which might be about the fifteenth year of Tiberius' reign, Christ finished the work of our redemption by his death. People's New Testament 13:1 Christ Still Teaching SUMMARY OF LUKE 13: The Galileans Slain by Pilate. Those on Whom the Tower of Siloam Fell. The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree. The Suffering Woman Healed in the Synagogue. Parable of the Mustard Seed. Parable of the Leaven. Entering in at the Strait Gate. The Warning about Herod. The Woe of Jerusalem. Some that told him of the Galileans, etc. The incident referred to is not mentioned elsewhere. Tumults at the temple and bloody interference by the Romans were common. On this occasion, no doubt, many had been slain in the temple courts, and from what follows it is evident that those who brought the word thought it a judgment. Wesley's Notes 13:1 The Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices - Some of the followers of Judas Gaulonites. They absolutely refused to own the Roman authority. Pilate surrounded and slew them, while they were worshipping in the temple, at a public feast. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary CHAPTER 13 Lu 13:1-9. The Lesson, "REPENT OR Perish," Suggested by Two Recent Incidents, and Illustrated by the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree. 1-3. Galileans-possibly the followers of Judas of Galilee, who, some twenty years before this, taught that Jews should not pay tribute to the Romans, and of whom we learn, from Ac 5:37, that he drew after him a multitude of followers, who on his being slain were all dispersed. About this time that party would be at its height, and if Pilate caused this detachment of them to be waylaid and put to death as they were offering their sacrifices at one of the festivals, that would be "mingling their blood with their sacrifices" [Grotius, Webster and Wilkinson, but doubted by De Wette, Meyer, Alford, &c.]. News of this being brought to our Lord, to draw out His views of such, and whether it was not a judgment of Heaven, He simply points them to the practical view of the matter: "These men are not signal examples of divine vengeance, as ye suppose; but every impenitent sinner-ye yourselves, except ye repent-shall be like monuments of the judgment of Heaven, and in a more awful sense." The reference here to the impending destruction of Jerusalem is far from exhausting our Lord's weighty words; they manifestly point to a "perdition" of a more awful kind-future, personal, remediless. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 13:1-5 Mention was made to Christ of the death of some Galileans. This tragical story is briefly related here, and is not met with in any historians. In Christ's reply he spoke of another event, which, like it, gave an instance of people taken away by sudden death. Towers, that are built for safety, often prove to be men's destruction. He cautioned his hearers not to blame great sufferers, as if they were therefore to be accounted great sinners. As no place or employment can secure from the stroke of death, we should consider the sudden removals of others as warnings to ourselves. On these accounts Christ founded a call to repentance. The same Jesus that bids us repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, bids us repent, for otherwise we shall perish. | 
