When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner.
Parallel Translations
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When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner.
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When the Pharise sawe that he marveylled that he had not fyrst wesshed before dyner.
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And when the Pharise saw it, he marueiled that he had not first washed before dinner.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Luke 11:38 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Matthew 15:2-3 “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat bread.” He answered them, “Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?
- Mark 7:2-5 Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is unwashed, hands, they found fault. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews don’t eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders. They don’t eat when they come from the marketplace unless they bathe themselves, and there are many other things, which they have received to hold to: washings of cups, pitchers, bronze vessels, and couches.) The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why don’t your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands?”
- John 3:25 Therefore a dispute arose on the part of John’s disciples with some Jews about purification.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled…
38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner.
Ver. 38. That he had not washed] This the Pharisees deemed as great a sin as to commit fornication. (Godw. Antiq. Heb 49)
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Mat 15:2, the Pharisees quarrelled with the disciples upon…
Mat 15:2, the Pharisees quarrelled with the disciples upon this account; here this Pharisee is offended at Christ himself. Mark gives us the reason of it, Mar 7:3, For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. Concerning this tradition of theirs, and the ground of it,
See Poole on "Mat 15:2", See Poole on "Mar 7:3". We would all be infallible, and therefore cannot allow others to differ from us in a rite, which hath no foundation in God’s word, and wonder at those who cannot see with our eyes, nor practise according to our latitudes.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Ye fools, did not he that made that which…
Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without,.... That is, made clean that which is without, or the outside of the cup and platter;
make that which is within also? does not he make the inside clean likewise? whoever washes a cup or platter, but washes and makes clean the inside, as well as the outside? and so ye who are so very careful to have your cups and platters clean, should be as careful what you put in them, that they are clean also; not only that they are clean according to the law, in a ceremonial sense, but in a moral sense, that they are honestly and lawfully got. The word, rendered "made" and "make", answers to the Hebrew word which sometimes signifies to beautify and adorn, and to cleanse, and remove away filth, as by paring nails, and washing the feet; so in Deu 21:12 it is said of a captive woman that a man takes into his house for his wife, among other things, "she shall make her nails"; that is, "pare" them, as we render it, and remove the filth from them. Again, in Sa2 19:24 it is said of Mephibosheth, that from the day king David departed, he had not, "made his feet"; that is, as the Targum renders it, , "he had not washed his feet"; and so other Jewish interpreters understand it, either of his having not washed his feet, much less his whole body (w), or of not having pared his nails (x); and so the Vulgate Latin renders it, that he came to meet the king "with unwashen feet"; which may serve to illustrate and confirm the sense before given: though interpreters generally understand this of God, as the maker of the soul, as well as of the body; and therefore the purity of the former should be regarded, as well as that of the latter.
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(w) R. David Kimchi and Rabbenu Isaiah in loc. Vid Jarchi in ib. (x) R. Levi ben Gersom in ib.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 38. First washed] See Clarke on Mr 7:2-4.
Verse 38. First washed] See Clarke on Mr 7:2-4.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Saw it - Saw that he sat immediately down…
Saw it - Saw that he sat immediately down without washing.
Marvelled - Wondered. Was amazed. It was so unusual, and in his view so improper.
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Had not first washed - He wondered particularly, as he had been among a mixed multitude, and they esteemed the “touch” of such persons polluting. They never ate, therefore, without such washing. The origin of the custom of washing with so much formality “before” they partook of their meals was that they did not use, as we do, knives and forks, but used their hands only. Hence, as their hands would be often in a dish on the table, it was esteemed proper that they should be washed clean before eating. Nor was their impropriety in the thing itself, but the Pharisees made it a matter of ceremony; they placed no small part of their religion in such ceremonies; and it was right, therefore, that our Lord should take occasion to reprove them for it. Compare Mar 7:4.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Washed, &c. There was nothing ordained by the law…
Washed, &c. There was nothing ordained by the law concerning this washing of the hands, which the Pharisees observed before taking meat. Christ and his apostles washed their hands when they pleased, without looking for any mystery in such things, or making to themselves vain obligations in frivolous and indifferent things. They did not neglect what was ordained by the law in certain cases for purification; but beside that, they observed nothing more. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain DENUNCIATION OF THE PHARISEES. (Luke 11:37-54)
DENUNCIATION OF THE PHARISEES. (Luke 11:37-54)
marvelled, &c.--(See Mar 7:2-4).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 38. Washed—In the original, baptized. This is the same…
38. Washed—In the original, baptized. This is the same sort of washing as is mentioned Mar_7:3.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 38. he marvelled that he had not first washed]…
38. he marvelled that he had not first washed] Literally, “bathed.” No washing was necessary to eat a few dates or figs. At the chief meal of the day, where all dipped their hands into a common dish, it was a matter of cleanliness. But the duty of cleanliness had been turned by the Oral Law into a rigorous set of cumbersome and needless ablutions, each performed with certain elaborate methods and gesticulations (Mar_7:2-3) which had nothing to do with religion or even with the Levitical Law, but only with Pharisaic tradition and the Oral Law. In the Shulchan Aruk, a book of Jewish Ritual, no less than twenty-six prayers are given with which their washings are accompanied. But all this was not only devoid of divine sanction, but had become superstitious, tyrannous, and futile. The Pharisee ‘marvelled’ because he and his party tried to enforce the Oral Law on the people as even more sacred than the Written Law. The subject of ablutions was one which caused several of these disputes with Christ, Mat_15:19-20. The Rabbi Akhibha would have preferred to die of thirst rather than neglect his ablutions, and the Talmud thought that a demon—called Schibta— sat on unwashen hands. Our Lord astonished the conventionalism of these religious teachers and their followers by shewing that what truly defiles a man is that which cometh from within—from the heart.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (38) He marvelled that he had not first washed.—See…
(38) He marvelled that he had not first washed.—See Notes on Mat_15:2; Mar_7:3. Here the word “washed” (literally, though of course not in the technical sense, baptized) implies actual immersion, or, at least, a process that took in the whole body. Mar_7:4 shows that this was the Pharisaic standard of ceremonial purity.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He marvelled that he had not first washed before…
He marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner. An elaborate system of utter meaningless ablutions, each carried out with particular gestures, had been instituted by the rabbinical schools. All these senseless forms and ceremonies had been developed out of the original simple directions to secure cleanliness in the Levitical Law. It is probable that our Lord, intending to bring about this discussion. pointedly abstained from even the ordinary ablution on this occasion. The language of ver. 37 seems to point to his entering the house and at once sitting down at the table. The Talmud has many references to these practices. R. Akhibha, it proudly relates, died of thirst rather than pass over these preliminary washings. In the same compilation we read that it was currently supposed that a demon sat on hands unwashed.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 11:38 the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom: The…
11:38 the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom: The Pharisees had developed elaborate washing rituals to ensure ceremonial purity (see Mark 7:1-5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.