Luke 11:54
in Luke 11waiting to catch Him in something He might say.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
laying wait for him, to catch something out of his mouth.
KJV
Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.
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This verse in Luke 11
Commentary
9 notes on this verseLaying wait for him,.... To ensnare and entangle him, watching his words, observing what he said, and laying hold thereon: and seeking to catch something out of his mouth; like beasts of prey, or hunters, that were watching for their prey; or lay ambush, diligently looking out, and greedily catching at every thing they thought for their purpose: that they might accuse him; either of heresy or sedition, to the Jewish sanhedrim, or the Roman governor.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Now this urging is taken to mean pressing upon Him, or threatening Him, or waxing furious against Him. But they began to interrupt His words in many ways, as it follows, And to force him to speak of many things.
The Medieval Church3 voices
"While He was still saying" these things, they, instead of acknowledging their own powerlessness, as if to refute His words, declared themselves to be wiser than Him and began to shut His mouth, that is, to question Him incessantly and to perplex Him. For difficulty …
And because it does not suffice for obstinate malice to revile the one it hates, but it also strives to contrive his destruction unto death, on this account he adds: Lying in wait for him and seeking to catch something from his mouth, that they …
For when several are questioning a man on different subjects, since he can not reply to all at once, foolish people think he is doubting. This also was part of their wicked design against Him; but they sought also in another way to control His power of speech, namely, by provoking Him to say something by which He might be condemned; whence it follows, Laying in wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him. Having first spoken of "forcing," Luke now says to catch or seize something from His mouth; at one time indeed they asked Him concerning the Law, that they might convict as a blasphemer Him who accused Moses; but at another time concerning Cæsar, that they might accuse Him as a traitor and rebel against the majesty of Cæsar.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Prayer is one of the great laws of natural religion. That man is a brute, is a monster, that never prays, that never gives glory to his Maker, nor feels his favour, nor owns his dependence upon him. One great design therefore of Christianity is to assist us in prayer, to enforce the duty upon us, to instruct us in it, and encourage us to expect advantage by it.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Laying wait for him - Or, rather, laying “snares” for him It means that they endeavored to entangle him in his talk; that they did as men do who catch birds - who lay snares, and deceive them, and take them unawares. That they might accuse him - Before the Sanhedrin, or great council of the nation, and thus secure his being put to death. From this we may learn: 1. That faithful reproofs must be expected to excite opposition and hatred.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1858)
The passage before us is an example of our Lord Jesus Christ's faithful dealing with the souls of men. We see Him without fear or favor rebuking the sins of the Jewish expounders of God's law. That false charity which calls it "unkind" to say that any one is in error, finds no encouragement in the language used by our Lord. He calls things by their right names. He knew that acute diseases need severe remedies.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1858)
proposed
The passage before us is an example of our Lord Jesus Christ's faithful dealing with the souls of men. We see Him without fear or favor rebuking the sins of the Jewish expounders of God's law. That false charity which calls it "unkind" to say that any one is in error, finds no encouragement in the language used by our Lord. He calls things by their right names. He knew that acute diseases need severe remedies. He would have us know that the truest friend to our souls, is not the man who is always "speaking smooth things," and agreeing with everything we say, but the man who tells us the most truth. We learn, firstly, from our Lord's words — how great is the sin of professing to teach others, what we do not practice ourselves. He says to the lawyers, "Woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them!" They required others to observe wearisome ceremonies in religion — which they themselves neglected. They had the impudence to lay yokes upon the consciences of other men — and yet to grant exemptions from these yokes for themselves. In a word, they had one set of measures and weights for their hearers — and another set for their own souls. The stern reproof which our Lord here administers, should come home with special power to certain classes in the church. It is a word in season to all Bible teachers. It is a word to all fathers and mothers. Above all, it is a word to all clergymen and ministers of religion. Let all such mark well our Lord's language in this passage. Let them beware of telling others to aim at a standard — which they do not aim at themselves. Such conduct, to say the least, is gross inconsistency. Perfection, no doubt, is unattainable in this world.
How the passage was read
On Luke 11:37-54On Luke 11:37-54
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.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Kelim 25:1 (a vessel's outside and inside) · Mishnah Sheviit 9:1 (rue exempt from tithes)
The words behind it
8 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἐνεδρεύοντες | enedreuontes | watching | G1748 → | |
| αὐτὸν | auton | Him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| θηρεῦσαί | thereusai | to catch | G2340 → | |
| τι | ti | in something | G5100 → | 528 times |
| ἐκ | ek | out of | G1537 → | 911 times |
| τοῦ | tou | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| στόματος | stomatos | mouth | G4750 → | 78 times |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | of Him | G846 → | 5565 times |
ἐνεδρεύοντεςwatching
enedreuontesG1748 →
αὐτὸνHim
autonG846 →5565 times
θηρεῦσαίto catch
thereusaiG2340 →
τιin something
tiG5100 →528 times
ἐκout of
ekG1537 →911 times
τοῦthe
touG3588 →19766 times
στόματοςmouth
stomatosG4750 →78 times
αὐτοῦof Him
autouG846 →5565 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 22:15Then the Pharisees went out and conspired to trap Jesus in His words.
it leads to
- Luke 20:20–26
So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 12:13–17
Later, they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to catch Jesus in His words.
- Luke 20:20–26
Through
Luke 20:20So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of…
it leads to
- Matthew 22:15–22
Then the Pharisees went out and conspired to trap Jesus in His words.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 27:2
They bound Him, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate the governor.
- Psalms 81:15
Those who hate the LORD would feign obedience, and their doom would last forever.
- Matthew 22:15–22
Through
Matthew 22:35One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question:
it leads to
- Luke 7:30
But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.
- Luke 7:30
Through
Mark 12:13Later, they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to catch Jesus in His words.
it leads to
Where this verse is studied
About Luke
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11; Cyril of Alexandria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Luke and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.