Luke 22:10
in Luke 22He answered, “When you enter the city, a man carrying a jug of water will meet you. Follow him to the house he enters,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house whereinto he goeth.
KJV
And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in.
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This verse in Luke 22
Commentary
17 notes on this verseFirst observe the greatness of His divine power. He is talking with His disciples, yet knows what will happen in another place. Next behold His condescension, in that He chooses not the person of the rich or powerful, but seeks after the poor, and prefers a mean inn to the spacious palaces of nobles. Now the Lord was not ignorant of the name of the man whose mystery He knew, and that he would meet the disciples, but he is mentioned without a name, that he may be counted as ignoble.
This site's exposition
the day of Unleavened Bread
on Luke 22:7-10
On the day of Unleavened Bread Jesus sent Peter and John to prepare the Passover. Asked where, He gives a sign: a man carrying a jug of water will meet them. Carrying water was ordinarily women's work in that culture, so the man would be easy to spot.
This site's exposition
a man carrying a jug of water
Ambrose finds two things in the sign. Jesus knows what will happen in another place, and he chooses a humble house over the palaces of nobles. Ambrose also notes that the man is left unnamed, and the sign kept the place from Judas until the meal.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
(in Matt. 26:18.) But I think that the man who meets the disciples as they enter into the city, carrying a pitcher of water, was some servant of a master of a house, carrying water in an earthen vessel either for washing or for drinking. And this I think is Moses conveying the spiritual doctrine in fleshly histories. But they who follow him not, do not celebrate the Passover with Jesus.
Nor will it be incongruous to interpret figuratively the fact that, when the Lord was about to celebrate the last Passover, He said to the disciples who were sent to make preparation, "Ye will meet a man bearing water." He points out the place for celebrating the Passover by the sign of water.
"But why," some one perchance may say, "did He not plainly mention the man to those whom He sent? For He did not say, Having gone to such and such a person, whoever it might be, there prepare for us at his house the passover: but simply gave them a sign—a man bearing a pitcher of water." To this then what do we reply? That lo! already Judas the traitor had promised the Jews to deliver Him to them, and was continuing in His company watching for an opportunity; and while still making profession of the love that was the duty of a disciple, he had admitted Satan into his heart, and was travailing with the crime of murder against our common Saviour Christ. He gives a sign therefore, to prevent him from learning who the man was, and running to tell those who had hired him. "For there shall meet you, He says, a man carrying a pitcher of water." Or even perchance He so speaks signifying something mystical and necessary thereby. For whither the waters enter, even those of holy baptism, there lodges Christ. How, or in what manner? In that they free us from all impurity, and we are washed by them from the stains of sin, that we may also become a holy temple of God, and partakers of His divine nature, by participation of the Holy Spirit. In order therefore that Christ may rest and lodge in us, let us receive the saving waters, confessing moreover the faith that justifies the wicked, and raises us aloft so as for us to be accounted "an upper room." For those in whom Christ dwells by faith have a mind raised aloft, unwilling to creep upon the dust, and refusing, so to speak, to be set upon the earth, and everywhere seeking that which is exalted in virtue.
(Hom. 81. in Matt.) But as they knew not to whom they were sent, He gave them a sign, as Samuel to Saul, as it follows, And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. (1 Sam. 10:3.)
The Medieval Church1 voice
Spiritually, however, by the city is understood the Church, which is a firm city: Psalm: "Its foundations are in the holy mountains"; and after: "Glorious things are said of you, O city of God"; and again: "Who will lead me into the fortified city"? A …
9 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church5 voices
Third, regarding the suitability of the place to be found, he adds: But they said: Where do you wish us to prepare? as if in a suitable place, because it is said in Deuteronomy 16: "You shall immolate the Passover in the place which the …
And he said to them: Behold, when you enter the city, a man carrying a water jar will meet you. Follow him into the house he enters. It is indeed a sign of foreknowledge from divinity that, while speaking with his disciples, he knows what …
They prepare the Passover in that house, whither the pitcher of water is carried, for the time is at hand in which to the keepers of the true Passover, the typical blood is taken away from the lintel, and the baptism of the lifegiving fountain is consecrated to take away sin.
He sends them to an unknown man in order to show that He accepts His sufferings voluntarily. For if He had not wished to suffer, then, having inclined the mind of this unknown man to receive them (Himself and the disciples), He could also have …
Now on the same fifth day He sends two of His disciples to prepare the Passover, namely, Peter and John, the one in truth as loving, the other as loved. In all things showing, that even to the end of His life He opposed not the law. And He sends them to a strange house; for He and His disciples had no house, else would He have kept the Passover in one of them. So it is added, And they said, Where will thou that we prepare? He sends them for this reason to an unknown man: to show them that He voluntarily underwent His Passion, since He who so swayed the mind of one unknown to Him, that He should receive them, was able to deal with the Jews just as He wished. But some say that He gave not the name of the man, lest the traitor knowing his name might open the house to the Pharisees, and they should have come and taken Him before that the supper was eaten, and He had delivered the spiritual mysteries to His disciples. But He directs them by particular signs to a certain house; whence it follows, And ye shall say to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, &c. And he will show you an upper room, &c. By the day of unleavened bread, we must understand that conversation which is wholly in the light of the Spirit, having lost all trace of the old corruption of Adam's first transgression. And living in this conversation, it becomes us to rejoice in the mysteries of Christ. Now these mysteries Peter and John prepare, that is, action and contemplation, fervid zeal and peaceful meekness. And these preparers a certain man meets, because in what we have just mentioned, lies the condition of man who was created after the image of God. And he carries a pitcher of water, which signifies the grace of the Holy Spirit. But the pitcher is humbleness of heart; for He giveth grace to the humble, who know themselves to be but earth and dust.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): they must follow a man bearing a pitcher of water, and he must be their guide to the house. Christ could have described the house to them; probably it was a house they knew, and he might have said no more than, Go to such a one's house, or to a house in such a street, with such a sign, &c.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And he said unto them, behold,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1858)
proposed
The chapter which opens with these verses, begins Luke's account of our Lord's sufferings and death. No part of the Gospels is so important as this. The death of Christ — was the life of the world. No part of our Lord's history is so fully given by all the gospel writers as this. Only two of them describe the circumstances of Christ's birth. All four dwell minutely on Christ's death. And of all the four, no one supplies us with such full and interesting details as Luke.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1858)
proposed
The chapter which opens with these verses, begins Luke's account of our Lord's sufferings and death. No part of the Gospels is so important as this. The death of Christ — was the life of the world. No part of our Lord's history is so fully given by all the gospel writers as this. Only two of them describe the circumstances of Christ's birth. All four dwell minutely on Christ's death. And of all the four, no one supplies us with such full and interesting details as Luke. We see, firstly, in these verses — that high offices in the church do not preserve the holders of them from great blindness and sin. We read that "the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill Jesus." The first step in putting Christ to death, was taken by the religious teachers of the Jewish nation. The very men who ought to have welcomed the Messiah — were the men who conspired to kill Him. The very teachers who ought to have rejoiced at the appearing of the Lamb of God — had the chief hand in slaying Him. They sat in Moses' seat. They claimed to be "guides of the blind," and "lights of those who were in darkness." (Romans 2:19.) They belonged to the tribe of Levi. They were, most of them — in direct succession and descent from Aaron. Yet they were the very men who crucified the Lord of glory! With all their boasted knowledge — they were far more ignorant than the few Galilean fishermen who followed Christ. Let us beware of attaching an excessive importance to Christian ministers because of their office. Ordination and religious office confer no exemption from error. The greatest heresies have been sown, and the greatest practical abuses have been introduced into the church — by ordained men! Respect is undoubtedly due to high official position. Order and discipline ought not to be forgotten.
How the passage was read
On Luke 22:1-23On Luke 22:1-23
The cups on the table
Luke alone records TWO cups (22:17, 22:20), and the detail is at home in the feast: the Passover meal was ordered around four cups of wine, a structure already fixed in the Mishnah, the first written code of Jewish oral law (Pesachim 10:1). Passover (Pesach) is the spring feast remembering the exodus; its meal, the seder (“order”), moved through blessing, story, and psalm with a cup at each station. Jesus takes the feast's own furniture, and at the cup after supper says the words that made it new: “this cup... is the new covenant in my blood.”
The seder as Jewish families keep it today descends from the same order, reshaped after the Temple fell in AD 70; the lamb on the table then is matzah and remembrance now.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Pesachim 10:1 (the four cups) · The Lord's Supper (this site's study)
The words behind it
24 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δὲ | de | And | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| εἶπεν | eipen | He said | G2036 → | 925 times |
| αὐτοῖς· | autois | to them; | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἰδοὺ | idou | Behold | G2400 → | 200 times |
| εἰσελθόντων | eiselthonton | when are entering | G1525 → | 194 times |
| ὑμῶν | humon | you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πόλιν | polin | city | G4172 → | 163 times |
| συναντήσει | sunantesei | will meet | G4876 → | |
| ὑμῖν | humin | you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ἄνθρωπος | anthropos | a man | G444 → | 549 times |
| κεράμιον | keramion | a pitcher | G2765 → | |
| ὕδατος | hudatos | of water | G5204 → | 76 times |
| βαστάζων. | bastazon | carrying. | G941 → | 27 times |
| ἀκολουθήσατε | akolouthesate | do follow | G190 → | 90 times |
| αὐτῷ | auto | him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| οἰκίαν | oikian | house | G3614 → | 93 times |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| ἣν | hen | which | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| εἰσπορεύεται· | eisporeuetai | he enters; | G1531 → | 18 times |
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
δὲAnd
deG1161 →2765 times
εἶπενHe said
eipenG2036 →925 times
αὐτοῖς·to them;
autoisG846 →5565 times
ἰδοὺBehold
idouG2400 →200 times
εἰσελθόντωνwhen are entering
eiselthontonG1525 →194 times
ὑμῶνyou
humonG4771 →2973 times
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
πόλινcity
polinG4172 →163 times
συναντήσειwill meet
sunanteseiG4876 →
ὑμῖνyou
huminG4771 →2973 times
ἄνθρωποςa man
anthroposG444 →549 times
κεράμιονa pitcher
keramionG2765 →
ὕδατοςof water
hudatosG5204 →76 times
βαστάζων.carrying.
bastazonG941 →27 times
ἀκολουθήσατεdo follow
akolouthesateG190 →90 times
αὐτῷhim
autoG846 →5565 times
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
οἰκίανhouse
oikianG3614 →93 times
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
ἣνwhich
henG3739 →1405 times
εἰσπορεύεται·he enters;
eisporeuetaiG1531 →18 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
John 16:4But I have told you these things so that when their hour comes, you will remember that I told you about them. I did not tell you these things from the beginning, because I…
it leads to
- John 14:29
And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe.
- Mark 13:23
So be on your guard; I have told you everything in advance.
- John 13:19
I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it comes to pass, you will believe that I am He.
- John 17:12–13
While I was with them, I protected and preserved them by Your name, the name You gave Me. Not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture…
- Matthew 9:15
Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
- John 14:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies25
On this verse
On this chapter
- The Covenants
- Forgiving Yourself: What Scripture Says
- Gethsemane (The Garden Called the Oil Press)
- Hospitality
- Jesus on Discipleship
- Jesus on the Kingdom
Show the next 6 titles
About Luke

This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Ambrose of Milan, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede, On the Gospel of Luke; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bonaventure, Commentary on Luke, Chapter 22; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 141; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Tertullian, On Baptism; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Luke and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.
