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Luke 11:53

As Jesus went on from there, the scribes and Pharisees began to oppose Him bitterly and to ply Him with questions about many things,

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And when he was come out from thence, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press upon him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things;

KJV

And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things:

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

16 tagged words
OriginalTransliterationMeaningWord study
ΚἀκεῖθενKakeithenAnd from thereG2532G1564
ἐξελθόντοςexelthontoswhen was expressingG1831
αὐτοῦautouHeG846
ἤρξαντοērxanto[then] beganG757
οἱhoitheG3588
γραμματεῖςgrammateisscribesG1122
καὶkaiandG2532
οἱhoitheG3588
ΦαρισαῖοιPharisaioiPhariseesG5330
δεινῶςdeinōsurgentlyG1171
ἐνέχεινenecheinto press upon [Him]G1758
καὶkaiandG2532
ἀποστοματίζεινapostomatizeinto make speakG653
αὐτὸνautonHimG846
περὶperiaboutG4012
πλειόνωνpleionōnmany thingsG4119

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)