Luke 11:42-54

11:42 “But woe to you Pharisees! ¹  You give a tenth ²  of your mint, ³  rue, ⁴  and every herb, yet you neglect justice ⁵  and love for God! But you should have done these things without neglecting the others. ⁶  11:43 Woe to you Pharisees! You love the best seats ⁷  in the synagogues ⁸  and elaborate greetings ⁹  in the marketplaces! 11:44 Woe to you! ¹⁰  You are like unmarked graves, and people ¹¹  walk over them without realizing it!” ¹² 

11:45 One of the experts in religious law ¹³  answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things you insult ¹⁴  us too.” 11:46 But Jesus ¹⁵  replied, ¹⁶  “Woe to you experts in religious law as well! ¹⁷  You load people ¹⁸  down with burdens difficult to bear, yet you yourselves refuse to touch ¹⁹  the burdens with even one of your fingers! 11:47 Woe to you! You build ²⁰  the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors ²¹  killed. 11:48 So you testify that you approve of ²²  the deeds of your ancestors, ²³  because they killed the prophets ²⁴  and you build their ²⁵  tombs! ²⁶  11:49 For this reason also the wisdom ²⁷  of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 11:50 so that this generation may be held accountable ²⁸  for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning ²⁹  of the world, ³⁰  11:51 from the blood of Abel ³¹  to the blood of Zechariah, ³²  who was killed ³³  between the altar and the sanctuary. ³⁴  Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against ³⁵  this generation. 11:52 Woe to you experts in religious law! You have taken away ³⁶  the key to knowledge! You did not go in yourselves, and you hindered ³⁷  those who were going in.”

11:53 When he went out from there, the experts in the law ³⁸  and the Pharisees began to oppose him bitterly, ³⁹  and to ask him hostile questions ⁴⁰  about many things, 11:54 plotting against ⁴¹  him, to catch ⁴²  him in something he might say.

[11:42]  ¹ tn Grk “Woe to you…because you…” The causal particle ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so to the end of this chapter).

[11:42]  ² tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[11:42]  ³ sn These small herbs were tithed with great care (Mishnah, m. Demai 2:1).

[11:42]  ⁴ tn Grk “and rue.” Καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[11:42]  ⁵ sn Justice was a major theme of OT ethics (Mic 6:8; Zech 7:8-10).

[11:42]  ⁶ tn Grk “those”; but this has been translated as “the others” to clarify which are meant.

[11:43]  ⁷ tn Or “seats of honor.” The term here is plural and is not a reference only to the lead “seat of Moses” in the synagogue, but includes the front seats near the ark.

[11:43]  ⁸ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:15.

[11:43]  ⁹ tn Grk “and the greetings.”

[11:44]  ¹⁰ tc Most mss (A [D] W Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï it) have “experts in the law and Pharisees, hypocrites” after “you,” but this looks like an assimilation to the parallel in Matt 23:25, 27, 29. The shorter reading has earlier attestation from a variety of reliable mss (Ì^45,75 א B C L ˹ 33 1241 2542 lat sa).

[11:44]  ¹¹ tn Grk “men.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females.

[11:44]  ¹² sn In Judaism to come into contact with the dead or what is associated with them, even without knowing it, makes one unclean (Num 19:11-22; Lev 21:1-3; Mishnah, m. Demai 2:3). To Pharisees, who would have been so sensitive about contracting ceremonial uncleanness, it would have been quite a stinging rebuke to be told they caused it.

[11:45]  ¹³ sn That is, an expert in the interpretation of the Mosaic law. They worked closely with the Pharisees.

[11:45]  ¹⁴ tn For this term, see Matt 22;6; Luke 18:32; Acts 14:5; 1 Thess 2:2.

[11:46]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:46]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “said.”

[11:46]  ¹⁷ tn Here “as well” is used to translate καί (kai) at the beginning of the statement.

[11:46]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “men.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females.

[11:46]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “you yourselves do not touch.” This could mean one of two things: (1) Either they make others do what they themselves do not (through various technical exceptions) or (2) they make no effort to help the others fulfill what they are required to do. Considering the care these religious figures are said to have given to the law, the second option is more likely (see L&N 18.11).

[11:47]  ²⁰ sn The effect of what the experts in the law were doing was to deny the message of the prophets and thus honor their death by supporting those who had sought their removal. The charge that this is what previous generations did shows the problem is chronic. As T. W. Manson said, the charge here is “The only prophet you honor is a dead prophet!” (The Sayings of Jesus, 101).

[11:47]  ²¹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[11:48]  ²² tn Grk “you are witnesses and approve of.”

[11:48]  ²³ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[11:48]  ²⁴ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the prophets) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:48]  ²⁵ tn “Their,” i.e., the prophets.

[11:48]  ²⁶ tc The majority of mss list a specific object (“their tombs”), filling out the sentence (although there are two different words for “tombs” among the mss, as well as different word orders: αὐτῶν τὰ μνημεῖα (autwn ta mnhmeia; found in A C W Θ Ψ 33 Ï) and τοὺς τάφους αὐτῶν (tou" tafou" autwn; found in Ë^1,[13] 2542 pc). This suggests that early copyists had no term in front of them but felt the verb needed an object. But since a wide distribution of early Alexandrian and Western mss lack these words (Ì⁷⁵ א B D L 579 1241 it sa), it is likely that they were not part of the original text of Luke. Nevertheless, the words “their tombs” are inserted in the translation because of requirements of English style.

[11:49]  ²⁷ sn The expression the wisdom of God is a personification of an attribute of God that refers to his wise will.

[11:50]  ²⁸ tn Or “that this generation may be charged with”; or “the blood of all the prophets… may be required from this generation.” This is a warning of judgment. These people are responsible for the shedding of prophetic blood.

[11:50]  ²⁹ tn Or “foundation.” However, this does not suggest a time to the modern reader.

[11:50]  ³⁰ tn The order of the clauses in this complicated sentence has been rearranged to simplify it for the modern reader.

[11:51]  ³¹ sn Gen 4:10 indicates that Abel’s blood cried out for justice.

[11:51]  ³² sn It is not clear which Zechariah is meant here. It is probably the person mentioned in 2 Chr 24:20-25.

[11:51]  ³³ tn Or “who perished.”

[11:51]  ³⁴ tn Or “and the temple”; Grk “and the house,” but in this context a reference to the house of God as a place of sanctuary.

[11:51]  ³⁵ tn Or “required from.”

[11:52]  ³⁶ sn You have taken away the key to knowledge is another stinging rebuke. They had done the opposite of what they were trying to do.

[11:52]  ³⁷ tn Or “you tried to prevent.”

[11:53]  ³⁸ tn Or “the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[11:53]  ³⁹ tn Or “terribly.”

[11:53]  ⁴⁰ tn For this term see L&N 33.183.

[11:54]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “lying in ambush against,” but this is a figurative extension of that meaning.

[11:54]  ⁴² tn This term was often used in a hunting context (BDAG 455 s.v. θηρεύω; L&N 27.30). Later examples of this appear in Luke 20.