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Luke 11:46

“Woe to you as well, experts in the law!” He replied. “You weigh men down with heavy burdens, but you yourselves will not lift a finger to lighten their load.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And he said, Woe unto you lawyers also! for ye load men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.

KJV

And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.

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

24 tagged words
OriginalTransliterationMeaningWord study
Ho<the>G3588
δὲdeAndG1161
εἶπεν·eipenHe said;G2036
καὶkaiAlsoG2532
ὑμῖνhuminto youG4771
τοῖςtois<the>G3588
νομικοῖςnomikoislawyersG3544
οὐαί,ouaiwoe!G3759
ὅτιhotiForG3754
φορτίζετεphortizeteyou burdenG5412
τοὺςtoustheG3588
ἀνθρώπουςanthrōpousmenG444
φορτίαphortia[with] burdensG5413
δυσβάστακταdusbastaktaheavy to bearG1419
καὶkaiandG2532
αὐτοὶautoiyourselvesG846
ἑνὶheniwith oneG1520
τῶνtōnof theG3588
δακτύλωνdaktulōnfingersG1147
ὑμῶνhumōnof youG4771
οὐounotG3756
προσψαύετεprospsauetedo touchG4379
τοῖςtoistheG3588
φορτίοις.¶phortioisburdens.G5413

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)