Section 11:20–24

Jesus spoke against people who did not repent

In this section, Jesus rebuked the Jews of certain towns. They had heard him preach and had seen him do miracles, but still they refused to repent and believe in him. Jesus stated that many Gentiles were more likely to trust him than the Jews were. As a result, God will judge these Jews more harshly than he will judge the Gentiles. Jesus said these things because he hoped that some of them would be shamed into repenting and believing him.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus warns the Jews of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum
-or-
Judgment for the Unbelievers (New Living Translation (2004))

Paragraph 11:20–24

11:20a

Then: This verse is the beginning of a new story/section. The events in this section probably happened immediately after the events in the preceding section. The Greek text introduces this story with the conjunction normally translated as Then.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

Immediately after that
-or-
After that

In some languages, a time word or phrase is not necessary. Introduce this story in a natural way in your language.

Jesus began to denounce: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as denounce means “say that someone/something is evil” or “say that someone has done something wrong.” The people of these cities saw Jesus’ miracles, but they did not repent. So he reprimanded them.

Here are some other ways to translate this verb:

rebuke
-or-
criticized (New Century Version)
-or-
scold

the cities: The phrase the cities is a figure of speech. It refers to the people of the cities. For example:

The people in the towns (Good News Translation)

This phrase refers to either towns or cities. They are larger and more important than villages, which is a different Greek word. The Jewish towns of Galilee most likely had less than three thousand people in each town. Do not use a word that refers only to large, modern cities of today.

11:20b

in which most of His miracles had been performed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as miracles can also be translated as “mighty works” (as in the English Standard Version). These are unusual events which can only be explained as a special action by God.

Here is another way to translate this clause:

in which he had done many of his miracles (NET Bible)

11:20c

they did not repent: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as repent refers in a general way to changing one’s mind. In this context, it refers to changing one’s mind about sin and God. It means to stop sinning and begin to obey God.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

they hadn’t turned from their sins and turned to God (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
the people refused to turn to God (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
the people did not change their lives and stop sinning (New Century Version)

-or-

they did not leave/abandon the ways of sin and follow the ways of God

This word also occurs in 3:2a and 4:17b. You should translate it here as you did there.

General Comment on 11:20a–c

It may be clearer in your translation to have the clause with “denounce” near the words he used to denounce them (in 11:21–24). For example:

bThe people of the cities where Jesus had done most of his miracles cdid not repent, aso he began to denounce them ⌊saying⌋:

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