ESTUDIO DEL VERSÍCULO
Luke 7:36-50 — The Sinful Woman Forgiven
A sinful woman anoints Jesus' feet in a Pharisee's house; Jesus answers Simon's judgment with a parable and declares her sins forgiven and her faith her salvation.
Escritura
- 36.Uno de los fariseos rogó a Jesús que comiese con él. Y habiendo entrado en casa del fariseo, se sentó a la mesa.And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he entered into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat.
- 37.Entonces una mujer de la ciudad, que era pecadora, al saber que Jesús estaba a la mesa en casa del fariseo, trajo un frasco de alabastro con perfume;And behold, a woman who was in the city, a sinner; and when she knew that he was sitting at meat in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster cruse of ointment,
- 38.y estando detrás de él a sus pies, llorando, comenzó a regar con lágrimas sus pies, y los enjugaba con sus cabellos; y besaba sus pies, y los ungía con el perfume.and standing behind at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
- 39.Cuando vio esto el fariseo que le había convidado, dijo para sí: Este, si fuera profeta, conocería quién y qué clase de mujer es la que le toca, que es pecadora.Now when the Pharisee that had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, that she is a sinner.
- 40.Entonces respondiendo Jesús, le dijo: Simón, una cosa tengo que decirte. Y él le dijo: Di, Maestro.And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Teacher, say on.
- 41.Un acreedor tenía dos deudores: el uno le debía quinientos denarios, y el otro cincuenta;A certain lender had two debtors: the one owed five hundred shillings, and the other fifty.
- 42.y no teniendo ellos con qué pagar, perdonó a ambos. Di, pues, ¿cuál de ellos le amará más? When they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him most?
- 43.Respondiendo Simón, dijo: Pienso que aquel a quien perdonó más. Y él le dijo: Rectamente has juzgado.Simon answered and said, He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
- 44.Y vuelto a la mujer, dijo a Simón: ¿Ves esta mujer? Entré en tu casa, y no me diste agua para mis pies; mas ésta ha regado mis pies con lágrimas, y los ha enjugado con sus cabellos.And turning to the woman, he said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath wetted my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair.
- 45.No me diste beso; mas ésta, desde que entré, no ha cesado de besar mis pies.Thou gavest me no kiss: but she, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
- 46.No ungiste mi cabeza con aceite; mas ésta ha ungido con perfume mis pies.My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but she hath anointed my feet with ointment.
- 47.Por lo cual te digo que sus muchos pecados le son perdonados, porque amó mucho; mas aquel a quien se le perdona poco, poco ama.Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
- 48.Y a ella le dijo: Tus pecados te son perdonados.And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
- 49.Y los que estaban juntamente sentados a la mesa, comenzaron a decir entre sí: ¿Quién es éste, que también perdona pecados?And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that even forgiveth sins?
- 50.Pero él dijo a la mujer: Tu fe te ha salvado, vé en paz.And he said unto the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
Qué significa este pasaje
The passage centers on a contrast between two responses to Jesus in the same room. A Pharisee named Simon hosts a meal and quietly evaluates Jesus; meanwhile, a woman identified only as a sinner enters uninvited, weeps at Jesus's feet, wipes them with her hair, kisses them, and anoints them with costly ointment. The narrator marks the contrast: Simon offers no customary hospitality (no water, no kiss, no oil), while the unnamed woman supplies all three with her tears, hair, and ointment. The reading is that recognition of one's need precedes costly devotion, while self-sufficiency produces coldness even toward a guest in one's own house.
In response to Simon's unspoken objection that a true prophet would shun a known sinner, Jesus tells the parable of two debtors, one owing five hundred denarii and another fifty. Both are canceled by the same lender; the one forgiven more will love more. Simon concedes the obvious answer. Jesus then applies the parable by listing the three courtesies Simon withheld alongside the three acts the woman performed, implicitly granting Simon's judgment that she is a sinner but reframing her acts as love that issues from forgiveness rather than virtue. The saying in verse 47 is best read as cause and effect: the awareness that her many sins are forgiven produces her abundant love, not the other way around.
The unit closes with two declarations that provoke different reactions. To the woman Jesus says, 'Thy sins are forgiven' (v. 48) and, after the dinner guests murmur about who can forgive sins, 'Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace' (v. 50). The phrase 'saved thee' widens the meaning of forgiveness beyond legal acquittal to whole-person restoration, echoing Luke's larger interest in salvation as physical, social, and spiritual wholeness.
Contexto
Luke 7 immediately precedes the dinner with two episodes that frame it. The raising of the widow's son at Nain (7:11-17) demonstrates Jesus' authority over death and elicits the crowd's confession that 'God hath visited his people.' The following exchange with John the Baptist's disciples (7:18-35) ends with the proverb that 'wisdom is justified of all her children,' followed by the charge that the Pharisees and lawyers 'rejected for themselves the counsel of God' (7:30). The dinner scene then dramatizes that division in miniature: the religious host receives Jesus without customary welcome, while a socially disqualified woman lavishes devotion on him.
Within the chapter, the unit also sits between the centurion whose faith Jesus commends (7:1-10) and the women who travel with Jesus in 8:1-3. Both neighbors of the pericope reinforce the theme that status before God is inverted in Jesus' presence: a Gentile officer outranks Israel in faith, a known sinner outranks the host in love, and grateful disciples will follow him on the road.
Preguntas frecuentes
Does verse 47 mean the woman's love earned her forgiveness?
No. The grammar and the parable that precedes it point the other direction: the one forgiven more loves more. The woman's costly acts are presented as the fruit of her awareness that her many sins are forgiven, not the price paid to secure it.
Why does Jesus forgive the woman's sins when only God can forgive?
The guests' reaction in verse 49 ('Who is this that even forgiveth sins?') shows that Jesus' declaration is treated as a claim to a divine prerogative. Luke pairs the question with the earlier witness that Jesus has authority over life and death at Nain, presenting the forgiveness here as part of that same identity rather than as a casual pronouncement.
Why is the woman called 'a sinner'?
The narrator's label and Simon's interior monologue both identify her by reputation in the city. Luke does not specify the nature of her sin or her occupation; the label functions in the scene to mark her social disqualification, which is precisely what makes her unrestrained devotion to Jesus contrast with the respectable host's restraint.