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Luke 11:38

But the Pharisee was surprised to see that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first bathed himself before dinner.

KJV

And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner.

Commentary

2 voices

Voices on this verse

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Hebraic traditional view

The dinner-table woes: cups, herbs, and proportion

The setting is a Pharisee's dinner table, and the host “marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner”: netilat yadayim, the ritual hand-pouring before bread (explained in this site's Mark 7 note). Jesus answers with the tradition's own vocabulary of vessels: “Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter.” The purity law genuinely distinguished a vessel's outside from its inside; the Mishnah's tractate on vessels opens a chapter with exactly that: “All vessels have different laws for their outer and inner sides” (Kelim 25:1). Jesus turns the technical distinction into a mirror: the inside of the person is the part that counts.

Luke's tithing woe is sharper than Matthew's, and knowing the law shows why: “ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs.” The Mishnah exempts rue from tithes (Sheviit 9:1 lists it first among the exempt plants). The Pharisees of the woe are tithing beyond what even their own tradition required, while “judgment and the love of God” go passed over. As in Matthew 23:23, Jesus affirms the scruple (“these ought ye to have done”) and indicts the inversion of weight.

Sources: Mishnah Kelim 25:1 (a vessel's outside and inside) · Mishnah Sheviit 9:1 (rue exempt from tithes)

Original language & word study

12 tagged words
OriginalTransliterationMeaningWord study
ho<the>G3588
δὲdeAndG1161
ΦαρισαῖοςPharisaiosthe PhariseeG5330
ἰδὼνidōnhaving seen [it]G1492
ἐθαύμασενethaumasenmarveledG2296
ὅτιhotithatG3754
οὐounotG3756
πρῶτονprōtonfirstG4413
ἐβαπτίσθηebaptisthēHe washedG907
πρὸprobeforeG4253
τοῦtoutheG3588
ἀρίστου.¶aristoudinner.G712

The walk

About Luke

The Return of the Prodigal Son — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)
The Return of the Prodigal Son — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)