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Luke 11:42

Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

But woe unto you Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and every herb, and pass over justice and the love of God: but these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

KJV

But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

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

31 tagged words
OriginalTransliterationMeaningWord study
Ἀλλ᾽All᾽ButG235
οὐαὶouaiwoeG3759
ὑμῖνhuminto youG4771
τοῖςtois<the>G3588
Φαρισαίοις,PharisaioisPharisees,G5330
ὅτιhotiforG3754
ἀποδεκατοῦτεapodekatouteyou pay tithes ofG586
τὸto<the>G3588
ἡδύοσμονhēduosmonmintG2238
καὶkaiandG2532
τὸto<the>G3588
πήγανονpēganonrueG4076
καὶkaiandG2532
πᾶνpaneveryG3956
λάχανονlachanonherbG3001
καὶkaiandG2532
παρέρχεσθεparerchestheyou pass byG3928
τὴνtēntheG3588
κρίσινkrisinjusticeG2920
καὶkaiandG2532
τὴνtēntheG3588
ἀγάπηνagapēnloveG26
τοῦtou<the>G3588
θεοῦ·theouof God;G2316
ταῦταtautaThese thingsG3778
δὲdealsoG1161
ἔδειedeiit was necessary for [you]G1163
ποιῆσαι,poiēsaito do,G4160
κἀκεῖναkakeinaand thoseG2532G1565
μὴnotG3361
παρεῖναι.¶pareinaito neglect.G3918

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)