Woe to you lawyers! For you took away the key of knowledge. You didn’t enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered.”
Parallel Translations
-
Woe to you lawyers! For you took away the key of knowledge. You didn’t enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered.”
-
Wo be to you lawears: for ye have taken awaye the keye of knowledge ye entred not in youre selves and them that came in ye forbade.
-
Wo be to you, Lawyers: for ye haue taken away the key of knowledge: ye entred not in your selues, and them that came in, ye forbade.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Luke 11:52 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Matthew 23:13 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
- Malachi 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Yahweh of Armies.
- Acts 4:17-18 But so that this spreads no further among the people, let’s threaten them, that from now on they don’t speak to anyone in this name.” They called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
- Luke 11:45-46 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.” He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens.
- John 9:24-34 So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t also want to become his disciples, do you?” They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.” The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God, and does his will, he listens to him. Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” Then they threw him out.
- John 7:47-52 The Pharisees therefore answered them, “You aren’t also led astray, are you? Have any of the rulers believed in him, or of the Pharisees? But this multitude that doesn’t know the law is cursed.” Nicodemus (he who came to him by night, being one of them) said to them, “Does our law judge a man, unless it first hears from him personally and knows what he does?” They answered him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search, and see that no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”
- Luke 19:39-40 Some of the Pharisees from the multitude said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” He answered them, “I tell you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out.”
- Acts 5:40 They agreed with him. Summoning the apostles, they beat them and commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain You have hidden and taken away, so that it…
You have hidden and taken away, so that it cannot be found anywhere.
They have of long time chiefly hindered the people, from entering into the knowledge of God, which ought to be the doorkeepers of the Church.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 52 Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken…
52 Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.
Ver. 52. Woe unto you, lawyers] I see well, said father Latimer, that whosoever will be busy with Vae vobis, woe to you, he shall shortly after come coram nobis, face to face to us, as Christ did. (Acts and Mon.)
Read full note →
For ye have taken away the key of knowledge] By taking away the Scriptures, and all good means of knowledge; as do also the Jesuits to this day. At Dole, a university in Burgundy, they have not only debarred the people of the Protestant books, but especially also forbid them to talk of God, either in good sort or bad. In Italy they not only prohibit the books of the reformed writers, but also hide their own treatises, in which the tenet of the Protestants is recited, only to be confuted; so that you shall seldom there meet with Bellarmine’s works, or any of the like nature, to be sold.
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 Matthew saith, Mat 23:13, for ye shut up the…
Matthew saith, Mat 23:13, for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, &c. I take the sense of these words to be, You have taken away knowledge, which is the key by which men enter into the kingdom of God. Though knowledge itself be but a common gift, and men may have great measures of it, and yet perish for ever, 1Co 13:2, yet it is the foundation of all saving grace. How shall they believe in him of whom, they have not heard? Rom 10:14. So, how shall they obey a rule they do not know, or repent of those sins which they do not know to be so? So as those that are the hinderers of people’s coming to the knowledge of the will of God, are the vilest instruments upon earth in hindering men’s and women’s salvation. The papists are highly guilty of this, in keeping their laity from the Scriptures in a language intelligible to them. But how were the scribes guilty of this? The Jews were never hindered from reading or hearing of the law; it was read in their synagogues every sabbath day. But we must know that knowledge is highly advantaged by an interpretation of the mind and will of God. But how did the scribes take away this? They preached and interpreted the law of God.
Answer. They gave not the true sense of it, but so preached that people were scarce any whit the wiser, as to the knowledge of the law of God, only they made people understand their traditions and ceremonies: their doctrines were the traditions of men. Now they occupying the places of teachers, and no better discharging their work, instead of giving, took away knowledge from them, and proved blind leaders of the blind. Whoever they are that arrogate to themselves the office of teaching, and supplying the places of teachers, and either do not make preaching, and instruction of the people under their charge, their business, or who preach in styles and methods their people understand not, or who preach other things than what they prove to be the revealed will of God, fall deeply under the condemnation of this text. See Poole on "Mat 23:13".
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 Laying wait for him,.... To ensnare and entangle him,…
Laying 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:
Read full note →
that they might accuse him; either of heresy or sedition, to the Jewish sanhedrim, or the Roman governor.
Next: Luke Chapter 12
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Ye have taken away the key of knowledge -…
Ye have taken away the key of knowledge - Ye have obscured and destroyed the knowledge of the Messiah, which is the key of both the present and the future kingdom of heaven; the kingdom of grace and glory. Ye have not entered in - Into the present kingdom of heaven.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 52. Ye have taken away the key of…
Verse 52. Ye have taken away the key of knowledge] By your traditions ye have taken away the true method of interpreting the prophecies: ye have given a wrong meaning to those scriptures which speak of the kingdom of the Messiah, and the people are thereby hindered from entering into it. See Clarke on Mt 23:13.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Luk 11:52. Wo unto you, lawyers! for ye have…
Luk 11:52. Wo unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge — Ye have obscured and destroyed the true knowledge of the Messiah, which is the key both of the present and the future kingdom of heaven. Or, by your wrong interpretations of Scripture, you have filled the people with strong prejudices against the gospel, so that you not only reject it yourselves, but hinder others from receiving it. See on Mat 23:13.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Woe unto you, lawyers! - See the notes at…
Woe unto you, lawyers! - See the notes at Mat 23:13.
The key of knowledge - A key is made to open a lock or door. By their false interpretation of the Old Testament they had taken away the true key or method of understanding it. They had hindered the people from understanding it aright. “You endeavor to prevent the people also from understanding the Scriptures respecting the Messiah, and those who were coming to “me” ye hindered.” If there is any sin of special magnitude, it is that of keeping the people in ignorance; and few people are so guilty as they who by false instructions prevent them from coming to a knowledge of the truth, and embracing it as it is in Jesus.
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 You have taken away the key of knowledge. A…
You have taken away the key of knowledge. A comparison of a master that locks others out. As if Christ said: you pretend, as masters and teachers, to open and expound the law and the prophets; and by your false doctrine and interpretations, you neither observe the law, nor permit others to observe it. See Matthew xxiii. 13. (Witham) --- The key of knowledge is faith; for by faith we come to the knowledge of truth, according to that of Isaias, How shall they understand, if they have not believed? Cap. vii, (according to Septuagint) these doctors of the law took away the key of science, by not allowing the people to believe in Christ. (St. Cyril in St. Thomas Aquinas)
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 key of knowledge--not the key to open knowledge, but…
key of knowledge--not the key to open knowledge, but knowledge, the only key to open heaven. In Mat 23:13, they are accused of shutting heaven; here of taking away the key, which was worse. A right knowledge of God's Word is eternal life (Joh 17:3); but this they took away from the people, substituting for it their wretched traditions.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 52. ye have taken away the key of knowledge]…
52. ye have taken away the key of knowledge] A key was the regular symbol of the function of a scribe (Mat_13:52; Mat_16:19), which was to open the meaning of the Holy Books. The crime charged against them here is their selfish exclusiveness. They declared that only rich and well-born people could be scribes; and while they refused to teach the mass of the people, they at the same time called them ‘accursed’ for not knowing the law, and spoke about them in terms of the bitterest scorn and detestation. “Ye have caused many to stumble at the law,” Mal_2:8.
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 (52) Woe unto you, lawyers!—The “woe” in this case…
(52) Woe unto you, lawyers!—The “woe” in this case is uttered against those who were, by their very calling, the professed interpreters of the Law. Its form rests on the fact that each scribe or “doctor of the law,” in the full sense of the term, was symbolically admitted to his office by the delivery of a key. His work was to enter with that key into the treasure-chambers of the house of the interpreter, and to bring forth thence “things new and old” (Mat_13:52). The sin of the “lawyers” of that time, the “divines” as we should call them, was that they claimed a monopoly of the power to interpret, and yet did not exercise the power. Wearisome minuteness, a dishonest and demoralising casuistry, fantastic legends, these took the place of a free and reverential study of the meaning of the sacred Books. Those who “were entering in,” answer to the souls not far from the kingdom of God, waiting for the consolation of Israel, pressing as with eagerness to the spiritual meaning of Law and Prophet. Such, at one stage of his life, must have been the Evangelist himself. This, it will be noted, is the third occurrence of the word in St. Luke’s Gospel. (See Notes on Luk_8:16; Luk_11:33.) It is obvious that the passage, as a whole, throws light on the promise of the “keys” of the kingdom made to Peter. (See Note on Mat_16:19.)
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 Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away…
Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. The Talmud gives us the clue to the Master"s words of bitter reproach here. There were very many, in that restless age of inquiry, waiting for the consolation of Israel, who longed to enter into the real meaning of psalm and prophecy; but the scribe, the lawyer, and the doctor, with their strange and unreal interpretations, their wild and fantastic legends, their own often meaningless additions, effectually hindered all real study of the Divine oracles. The Talmud in the form we now possess it well represents the teaching of these schools so bitterly censured by the Lord.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Ye have taken away the key of knowledge
Luk_11:52
Ye have taken away the key of knowledge
Read full note →
The sin of perverting Scripture
The last woe pronounced by our Saviour against the Scribes and Pharisees, is for perverting the Holy Scriptures, and keeping the true sense and knowledge of them from the people: this St.
Luke here calls, the taking away the key of knowledge from men; alluding to a custom among the Jews, in admission of their doctors. Those that had authority given them to interpret the law and the prophets, were solemnly admitted into that office, by delivering to them a key and a table-book; so that by the key of knowledge is meant the interpretation and understanding of the Scriptures, and by taking away that key is signified--
1. That they arrogated to themselves the sole power of understanding and interpreting the Holy Scriptures.
2. That they kept the true knowledge of the Scriptures from the people, especially the prophecies which concern the kingdom and coming of the Messias; and so they hindered men from embracing our Saviours doctrine, who were otherwise well enough disposed for it.
Learn--
1. That the written Word is the key whereby an entrance into heaven is opened unto men.
2. That the use of this key, or the knowledge of the Word of God, is absolutely and indispensibly necessary in order to salvation.
3. That great is the guilt, and inexcusable the fault of those who deny the people the use of this key, and deprive them of the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, which alone can make them wise unto salvation.
4. That such as do so, shut the kingdom of heaven against men, endeavouring what in them lies to hinder their salvation. Men may miscarry with their knowledge, but they are sure to perish for lack of knowledge. (W. Burkitt.)
Hinderers
Some unpublished thoughts on Hinderers and Hindrances, written by Frances Ridley Havergal, were forwarded by her sister Maria V.
G. Havergal to the editor of The Sunday Magazine. We glean the following from the second paper, which appeared in the September, 1885, issue:--A letter from Ernest at last! And the sister eagerly gives her father the morning budget at the breakfast table. Her mother watches, for gloom gathers on the fathers face as he reads it. Silently the letter is given to the mother, and he passes through the open window to the pleasant terrace-walk beneath. The sister guesses in vain, What can Ernest have written? The father paced up and down, thinking of the position he himself had won, and which he had hoped would be a stepping-stone for his son to one far higher, in which his many gifts of mind and heart would shine with no common effulgence. He had hoped his son would carry out and develop many schemes of benevolence he had set on foot. But that mornings letter was as a mighty crucible, wherein the mans devotedness to Him who had given him that darling son was to be tested and analyzed. What was that letter?--College, Cambridge. DEAR FATHER,--Will you listen to your sons request for your consent, your blessing, your prayers? Father, there is a burning impulse within me, a new life-pulse seems beating in my soul, a still deep voice ever sounding in my ears, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Years ago that same voice called me, when I first heard stories about the heathen and their idols, and when standing by my mother I looked at the Church Missionary Societys green picture-book (Juvenile Instructor), of white men preaching to the heathen. Silently, but surely, has that call followed me. I have cried earnestly, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? and again the heavenly whisper comes, Go ye. Therefore, though never before breathed to any but God, this is no sudden thought, no unconsidered plan. Father, let me go, let me take the cup of living water to him that is ready to perish. I should like to tread the very footsteps of Him who came to seek and to save that which was lost, to search in His name for the other sheep, which are not of this fold. I know the hopes and the intentions which you have cherished for my future; but is not a missionarys joy a nobler gain, the missionarys crown a nobler ambition than any ether? And what if the time came when, among the multitude out of all nations and kindreds and tongues, I might be permitted to recognize some who first heard a Saviours name from my unworthy lips! My own dear mother! her heart will be with me in this; I know she lent me to the Lord. Dearest father, I believe Christ has called me; will you let me obey His voice? Your loving son, ERNEST. Reader, what would your answer have been? Would you have hindered? The father could not brook that the talents of his son, the pride of his ancestral hall, should go forth into the gloom and obscurity of distant shores. But who can tell how bitterly that question, Father, will you hinder me? returned to his mind when the bell tolled for the early death of that loved and devoted son!
Hindering
A young Savoyard, a poor little chimney-sweep, one day purchased a Testament, for which he paid ten sons (rather less than fivepence of English money), and set himself immediately to read it. Delighted to possess the Word of God, he, in his simplicity, ran to the priest to show him the good bargain he had made with his savings. The priest looked at the book, and told the young Savoyard that it came from the hands of heretics, and that it was a book forbidden to be read. The poor boy replied that everything he had read in the book told him about Christ; and beside, said he, it is so beautiful! You shall see how beautiful it is, said the priest, seizing it and casting it into the fire. The young Savoyard went away weeping. (W. Denton.)
Lamentable effect of hindering
Hume, the historian, received a religious education from his mother, but as he approached manhood confirmed infidelity succeeded. Maternal partlality, however, alarmed at first, came at length to look with less and less pain upon his declension, and filial love and reverence seemed to have been absorbed in the pride of philosophical scepticism; for Hume applied himself with unwearied, and, unhappily, with successful, efforts to sap the foundation of his mothers faith. Having succeeded, he went abroad, and as he was returning an express met him in London, with a letter from his mother informing him that she was in a deep decline. She said she found herself without any support in her distress; that he had taken away that only source of comfort upon which, in all eases of affliction, she used to rely; and that she now found her mind sinking into despair. She conjured him to hasten to her, or at least to send her a letter containing such consolations as philosophy could afford to a dying mortal. Hume was overwhelmed with anguish on receiving this letter, and hastened to Scotland, travelling day and night; but before he arrived his mother expired.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus finishes responding to the Jewish teacher.
Read full note →
you have taken away the key of knowledge ... hinder those who are entering
Jesus speaks about God's truth as if it were in a house that the teachers refuse to enter and will not let others have the key to enter either. This means the teachers do not truly know God, and they prevent others from knowing him as well. (See: Metaphor)
the key
This represents the means of access, as to a house or storage room.
you do not enter in yourselves
"you yourselves do not go in to get knowledge"
translationWords
woe
scribe
know
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 11:52 the key to knowledge: See Matt 16:19; 23:13.
11:52 the key to knowledge: See Matt 16:19; 23:13.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.