Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY

Luke 23:34

New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
- 34 But Jesus was saying: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Furthermore, they cast lots to distribute his garments.+

Luke 23:34

The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures
- 34 [[ὁ [[The δὲ but Ἰησοῦς Jesus ἔλεγεν was saying Πάτερ, Father, ἄφες let go off αὐτοῖς, to them, οὐ not γὰρ for οἴδασιν they have known τί what ποιοῦσιν.]] they are doing.]] Διαμεριζόμενοι Distributing δὲ but τὰ the ἱμάτια outer garments αὐτοῦ of him ἔβαλον they cast κλῆρον. lot.

Luke 23:34

New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References
- 34 [[But Jesus was saying: “Father, forgive+ them, for they do not know what they are doing.”]]* Furthermore, to distribute his garments, they cast lots.+

Luke 23:34

The Bible in Living English
- 34 * [But Jesus said “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”] And to divide up his clothes they threw lots;

Luke 23:34

American Standard Version
- 34 And Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And parting his garments among them, they cast lots.

Luke 23:34

The Emphasized Bible
- 34 [[But Jesus was saying—Father! forgive them; For they know not what they do.]] And when they were parting his garments they cast lots.

Luke 23:34

King James Version
- 34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

Luke Study Notes—Chapter 23

New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition)
- 23:34
  
  forgive them: The context does not say for whom Jesus made this request, but he likely had in mind the crowd who called for his execution, some of whom repented a short time later. (Ac 2:36-38; 3:14, 15) Also, the Roman soldiers who nailed Jesus to the stake did not know or realize the gravity of what they were doing, being ignorant of who he really was. On the other hand, he would not have asked his Father to forgive the chief priests, who were responsible for his death. They knew exactly what they were doing when they conspired to kill Jesus. They handed him over because of envy. (Mt 27:18; Mr 15:10; Joh 11:45-53) Also, it is unlikely that he was asking his Father to forgive the criminals who were executed alongside him, since neither of them was responsible for his death.
  
  . . . doing: The first part of this verse is not included in certain ancient manuscripts. However, because these words are found in other early authoritative manuscripts, they are included in the New World Translation and numerous other Bible translations.