Lukas 7:30

7:30 However, the Pharisees ¹  and the experts in religious law ²  rejected God’s purpose ³  for themselves, because they had not been baptized ⁴  by John. ⁵ ) ⁶ 

Lukas 11:39-44

11:39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean ⁷  the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. ⁸  11:40 You fools! ⁹  Didn’t the one who made the outside make the inside as well? ¹⁰  11:41 But give from your heart to those in need, ¹¹  and ¹²  then everything will be clean for you. ¹³ 

11:42 “But woe to you Pharisees! ¹⁴  You give a tenth ¹⁵  of your mint, ¹⁶  rue, ¹⁷  and every herb, yet you neglect justice ¹⁸  and love for God! But you should have done these things without neglecting the others. ¹⁹  11:43 Woe to you Pharisees! You love the best seats ²⁰  in the synagogues ²¹  and elaborate greetings ²²  in the marketplaces! 11:44 Woe to you! ²³  You are like unmarked graves, and people ²⁴  walk over them without realizing it!” ²⁵ 

Lukas 16:14

More Warnings about the Pharisees

16:14 The Pharisees ²⁶  (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed ²⁷  him.

Lukas 18:11

18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ²⁸  ‘God, I thank ²⁹  you that I am not like other people: ³⁰  extortionists, ³¹  unrighteous people, ³²  adulterers – or even like this tax collector. ³³ 

[7:30]  ¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[7:30]  ² tn That is, the experts in the interpretation of the Mosaic law (see also Luke 5:17, although the Greek term is not identical there, and Luke 10:25, where it is the same).

[7:30]  ³ tn Or “plan.”

[7:30]  ⁴ tn The participle βαπτισθέντες (baptisqente") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle; it could also be translated as means (“for themselves, by not having been baptized”). This is similar to the translation found in the NRSV.

[7:30]  ⁵ tn Grk “by him”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:30]  ⁶ sn Luke 7:29-30 forms something of an aside by the author. To indicate this, they have been placed in parentheses.

[11:39]  ⁷ sn The allusion to washing (clean the outside of the cup) shows Jesus knew what they were thinking and deliberately set up a contrast that charged them with hypocrisy and majoring on minors.

[11:39]  ⁸ tn Or “and evil.”

[11:40]  ⁹ sn You fools is a rebuke which in the OT refers to someone who is blind to God (Ps 14:1, 53:1; 92:6; Prov 6:12).

[11:40]  ¹⁰ tn The question includes a Greek particle, οὐ (ou), that expects a positive reply. God, the maker of both, is concerned for what is both inside and outside.

[11:41]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Give the things inside as alms.” Three different approaches have been taken to the syntax and meaning of this phrase: (1) τὰ ἐνόντα (ta enonta, “the things inside”) is an accusative of respect (“give alms with respect to the things inside”); (2) τὰ ἐνόντα is an adverbial accusative (“give alms inwardly,” i.e., from the heart); (3) the word translated “alms” represents a mistranslation of the original Aramaic term “cleanse,” so the statement urges the hearers to “cleanse the things inside.” According to D. L. Bock (Luke [BECNT], 2:1115) the latter meaning is unlikely because the present verse is independent of Matt 23:26, not parallel to it, and makes good sense as it stands.

[11:41]  sn In Jewish culture giving alms to the poor was a very important religious observance; it was meant to be an act of mercy, kindness, and love (D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 2:1114). The implication from the text is that the Pharisees gave alms, but without any of the spiritual concern which should have motivated those generous actions. Here Jesus commands the Pharisees to give from within themselves to those in need instead of just giving of their possessions. In so doing they would show true inner purity acceptable to God. This is in keeping with the author’s social concerns elsewhere in the Gospel (cf., e.g., 1:52-53, 4:18-19, 6:20-21, 14:13).

[11:41]  ¹² tn Grk “and behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this clause has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[11:41]  ¹³ sn The expression everything will be clean for you refers to the agreement that should exist between the overt practice of one’s religious duties, such as almsgiving, and the inner condition of one’s heart, including true love for God and the poor; one is not only to wash the outside of the cup and plate, but the inside as well, since as Jesus said, God created the inside too. Religious duties are not to be performed hypocritically, i.e., for the applause and esteem of people, but rather they are to be done out of a deep love for God and a sensitivity to and concern for the needs of others. Then, everything will be clean, both hearts and lives.

[11:42]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[11:42]  ¹⁶ sn These small herbs were tithed with great care (Mishnah, m. Demai 2:1).

[11:42]  ¹⁷ 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]  sn Rue was an evergreen herb used for seasoning.

[11:42]  ¹⁸ sn Justice was a major theme of OT ethics (Mic 6:8; Zech 7:8-10).

[11:42]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “those”; but this has been translated as “the others” to clarify which are meant.

[11:43]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:15.

[11:43]  ²² tn Grk “and the greetings.”

[11:43]  sn The later Jewish summary of oral tradition, the Talmud, notes elaborate greetings for rabbis. The rebuke here is for pride.

[11:44]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Grk “men.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females.

[11:44]  ²⁵ 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.

[16:14]  ²⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[16:14]  ²⁷ tn A figurative extension of the literal meaning “to turn one’s nose up at someone”; here “ridicule, sneer at, show contempt for” (L&N 33.409).

[18:11]  ²⁸ tn Or “stood by himself and prayed like this.” The prepositional phrase πρὸς ἑαυτόν (pros eauton, “to/about himself”) could go with either the aorist participle σταθείς (staqeis, “stood”) or with the imperfect verb προσηύχετο (proshuceto, “he prayed”). If taken with the participle, then the meaning would seem at first glance to be: “stood ‘by himself’,” or “stood ‘alone’.” Now it is true that πρός can mean “by” or “with” when used with intransitive verbs such as ἵστημι ({isthmi, “I stand”; cf. BDAG 874 s.v. πρός 2.a), but πρὸς ἑαυτόν together never means “by himself” or “alone” in biblical Greek. On the other hand, if πρὸς ἑαυτόν is taken with the verb, then two different nuances emerge, both of which highlight in different ways the principal point Jesus seems to be making about the arrogance of this religious leader: (1) “prayed to himself,” but not necessarily silently, or (2) “prayed about himself,” with the connotation that he prayed out loud, for all to hear. Since his prayer is really a review of his moral résumé, directed both at advertising his own righteousness and exposing the perversion of the tax collector, whom he actually mentions in his prayer, the latter option seems preferable. If this is the case, then the Pharisee’s mention of God is really nothing more than a formality.

[18:11]  ²⁹ sn The Pharisee’s prayer started out as a thanksgiving psalm to God, but the praise ended up not being about God.

[18:11]  ³⁰ tn Here the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is used as a generic and can refer to both men and women (NASB, NRSV, “people”; NLT, “everyone else”; NAB, “the rest of humanity”).

[18:11]  ³¹ tn Or “swindlers” (BDAG 134 s.v. ἅρπαξ 2); see also Isa 10:2; Josephus, J. W. 6.3.4 [6.203].

[18:11]  ³² sn A general category for “sinners” (1 Cor 6:9; Lev 19:3).

[18:11]  ³³ sn Note what the Pharisee assumes about the righteousness of this tax collector by grouping him with extortionists, unrighteous people, and adulterers.