Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 11:38
And when the Pharisee saw [it,] he marveled that he had not first washed before dinner.
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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Saw it – Saw that he sat immediately down without washing.
Marvelled – Wondered. Was amazed. It was so unusual, and in his view so improper.
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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 38. First washed] See Clarke on Mr 7:2-4.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
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 Gods word, and wonder at those who cannot see with our eyes, nor practise according to our latitudes.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
38. marvelled, &c.(See Mr7:2-4).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when the Pharisee saw it,…. That Christ laid himself down on one of the couches and began to eat:
he marvelled; that so great a prophet as he was, and a man of so much religion and holiness, should show no regard to a common custom with them, and which was one of the traditions of their elders, and which they put upon a level with the commands of God. The Vulgate Latin version, and so Beza’s most ancient copy, and another exemplar, read, “he began to say, thinking” (or judging) “within himself”: he was “moved” at it, as the Persic version renders it; he was filled with astonishment and indignation,
that he had not first washed before dinner; especially since he had been in a crowd of people, Lu 11:29 for the Pharisees not only washed their hands, by immersing them up to the elbow before eating; but when they had been at market, or among any large number of people, or had reason to think they had, or feared they had touched any unclean person or thing, they immersed themselves all over in water: and which is the sense of the word , here used; [See comments on Mr 7:2],
[See comments on Mr 7:3] and
[See comments on Mr 7:4].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
That he had not first washed before dinner ( ). The verb is first aorist passive indicative of , to dip or to immerse. Here it is applied to the hands. It was the Jewish custom to dip the hands in water before eating and often between courses for ceremonial purification. In Galilee the Pharisees and scribes had sharply criticized the disciples for eating with unwashed hands (Mark 7:1-23; Matt 15:1-20) when Jesus had defended their liberty and had opposed making a necessity of such a custom (tradition) in opposition to the command of God. Apparently Jesus on this occasion had himself reclined at the breakfast (not dinner) without this ceremonial dipping of the hands in water. The Greek has “first before” ( ), a tautology not preserved in the translation.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled,” (ho de Pharisaios idon ethaumasen) “Then the Pharisee perceiving marvelled,” acted shocked or shook up, because of the empty, hypocritical tradition, Mar 7:3; and that Jesus did not ceremonially wash before reclining as a guest on this occasion.
2) “That he had not first washed before dinner.” (hoti ou proton ebaptisthe pro tou aristou) “That he did not first immerse (or wash thoroughly) before dinner,” before eating the brunch-meal, for He normally complied with the harmless ceremonial custom of washing, even though already clean, before sitting down or reclining for any meal, Mar 7:4-9. The elaborate and frivolous pre-meal ceremonial ablution tradition was not even based on the Levitical Law, but on so-called oral law, a mere hypocritical invention of the Pharisees and elders that obstructed the law of the Lord and perverted the way to Divine righteousness, cleanliness, or holiness, Mar 7:3-13; Rom 10:1-4.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(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.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
38. Washed In the original, baptized. This is the same sort of washing as is mentioned Mar 7:3.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Luk 11:38-39 . . . .] See on Mar 7:2 . [146] Luke does not say that the Pharisee expressed his surprise; Jesus recognises his thoughts immediately. Comp. Augustine. Schleiermacher, p. 180 f., directly contradicts the narrative when he places these sayings of Jesus after the meal , saying that they were first spoken outside the house . See, on the other hand, Strauss, I. p. 654, who, however, likewise takes objection to their supposed awkwardness (comp. Gfrrer, Heil. Sage , I. p. 243, de Wette, Ritschl, Holtzmann, Eichthal). This judgment applies an inappropriate standard to the special relation in which Jesus stood to the Pharisees, seeing that when confronting them He felt a higher destiny than the maintenance of the respect due to a host moving Him (comp. Luk 7:39 ff.); and hence the perception of the fitness of things which guided the tradition to connecting these sayings with a meal was not in itself erroneous, although, if we follow Mat 23 , we must conclude that this connection was first made at a later date. Apart from this, however, the connection is quite capable of being explained, not, perhaps, from the mention of cups and platters, but from the circumstance that Jesus several times when occasion offered, and possibly about that period when He was a guest in the houses of Pharisees, gave vent to His righteous moral indignation in His anti-Pharisaic sayings. Comp. Luk 14:1 ff.
] a silent contrast with a better : as it now stands with you, as far as things have gone with you, etc. Comp. Grotius, who brings into comparison: .
] does not belong to . . . (Kypke, Kuinoel, Paulus, Bleek, and others, following Beza’s suggestion), so that what is inside, the contents of the cup and platter , , Luk 11:41 , would be meant, which would agree with Mat 23:25 , but is opposed to the order of the words here. On the contrary, the outside of the cup, etc., is contrasted with the inward nature of the persons . Ye cleanse the former, but the latter is full of robbery and corruption (comp. on Rom 1:29 ). The concrete expression , as the object of endeavour, corresponds to the disposition of , which in Mar 7:22 , Rom 1:29 , is associated with .
Mat 23:25 has the saying in a more original form. The conception in Luke, although not in itself inappropriate (Weiss), shows traces of the influence of reflective interpretation, as is also evident from a comparison of Luk 11:40 with Mat 23:26 .
[146] Jesus had just come out of the crowd, nay, He had just expelled a demon, ver. 14. Hence they expected that He would first cleanse Himself by a bath before the morning meal (comp. on Mar 7:4 ).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
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)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
38. ] The expression of this wonder is not stated, but is probable. Our Lord would hardly have so suddenly begun, ., unless something had been said , to which by assent they were parties. See His proceeding when nothing was said , ch. Luk 7:39-40 .
. ] This use of the word shews that it did not imply necessarily immersion of the whole body; for it was only the hands which the Pharisees washed before meat.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 11:38 . : the cause of wonder was that Jesus did not wash ( ) before eating. We have here Lk.’s equivalent for the incident in Mat 15:1 ff., Mar 7:1 ff., omitted by him. But the secondary character of Lk.’s narrative appears from this, that the ensuing discourse does not, as in Mt. and Mk., keep to the point in hand neglect of ritual ablutions, but expatiates on Pharisaic vices generally.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
washed = performed His ablutions. App-115and App-136.
before. Greek. pro. App-104.
dinner. Greek. ariston. See note on “dine”, Luk 11:37.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
38.] The expression of this wonder is not stated, but is probable. Our Lord would hardly have so suddenly begun, ., unless something had been said, to which by assent they were parties. See His proceeding when nothing was said,-ch. Luk 7:39-40.
.] This use of the word shews that it did not imply necessarily immersion of the whole body;-for it was only the hands which the Pharisees washed before meat.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 11:38. , having seen) that He had lain down [sat down].
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
he marvelled: Mat 15:2, Mat 15:3, Mar 7:2-5, Joh 3:25
Reciprocal: Deu 23:11 – wash himself Ecc 10:13 – beginning Mat 15:11 – that which goeth Mat 15:20 – but Mar 7:4 – except Heb 6:2 – the doctrine
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
9
The Pharisee was surprised that Jesus did not wash before coming to the table. This does not refer to ordinary cleanliness, but to a ritual the Jews had that was a mere formality. Jesus knew the mind of the Pharisee and accused him and his class of hypocrisy in the exercise of their formalities.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And when the Pharisee saw it; he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner.
[That he had not first washed before dinner.] Had the Pharisee himself washed before dinner; in that sense wherein washed signifies the washing of the whole body? It is hardly credible, when there was neither need, nor was it the custom, to wash the whole body before meat, but the hands only. This we have spoken largelier upon elsewhere [Matthew_15; Mark_7]; from whence it will be necessary for us to repeat these things; that there is a washing of the hands; and there is a dipping of the hands. This clause we are upon refers to this latter. The Pharisee wonders that Christ had not washed his hands; nay, that he had not dipped them all over in the water when he was newly come from the people that were gathered thick together.
Of how great esteem this washing their hands before meat was amongst them, besides what I have alleged elsewhere, take this one instance more: “It is storied of R. Akibah, that he was bound in prison, and R. Joshua ministered unto him as his reader. He daily brought him water by measure. One day the keeper of the prison met him, and said unto him, ‘Thou hast too much water today.’ He poured out half, and gave him half. When he came to R. Akibah, he told him the whole matter. R. Akibah saith unto him, ‘Give me some water to wash my hands’: the other saith unto him, ‘There is not enough for thee to drink; and how then shouldest thou have any to wash thine hands?’ To whom he, ‘What shall I do in a matter wherein there is the guilt of death? It is better I should die [that is, by thirst] than that I should transgress the mind of my colleagues'”: who had thus prescribed about washing of hands.
And a little after; Samuel saith, “At that time wherein Solomon instituted the ‘Erubhin’ and washing of the hands; there came forth ‘Bath Kol;’ and said, ‘My son, if thy heart be wise, even mine shall rejoice.’ ” Observe here, (at least if you will believe it) that Solomon was the first author of this washing of hands. “Whosoever blesseth immediately after the washing of hands, Satan doth not accuse him for that time of his repast.”
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Luk 11:38. Washed, lit, baptized. The washing referred to was therefore a ceremonial one, not simply an act of cleanliness. In this ceremony the Pharisees washed their hands, not their whole body.