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Luke 11:41

But give as alms the things that are within you, and you will see that everything is clean for you.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

But give for alms those things which are within; and behold, all things are clean unto you.

KJV

But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.

Commentary

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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

11 tagged words
OriginalTransliterationMeaningWord study
πλὴνplēnBut [of]G4133
τὰtathe [things]G3588
ἐνόνταenontabeing withinG1751
δότεdotedo giveG1325
ἐλεημοσύνην,eleēmosunēnalms,G1654
καὶkaiandG2532
ἰδοὺidoubeholdG2400
πάνταpantaall thingsG3956
καθαρὰkatharacleanG2513
ὑμῖνhuminto youG4771
ἐστιν.¶estinare.G1510

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)