Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 11:42
But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
42. ye tithe mint and rue ] Deu 14:22. In the Talmud there are elaborate discussions whether in tithing the seeds of potherbs one ought also to tithe the stalk, &c.
pass over judgment and the love of God ] Because the love of God is best shewn by love to men, and the Pharisees were filled with immoral contempt for those whom they regarded as less learned or less attentive to scrupulosities than themselves. The Pharisees still exist as a party among Eastern Jews, and are called Perushim. So bad is their character that the bitterest term of reproach in Jerusalem is ‘You are a Porish!’ How little they have changed from their character, as Christ depicted it, may be seen from the testimony of a Jewish writer. “They proudly separate themselves from the rest of their co-religionists Fanatical, bigoted, intolerant, quarrelsome, and in truth irreligious, with them the outward observance of the ceremonial law is everything; the moral law little binding, morality itself of no importance ” (See Frankl., Jews in the East, ii. 27).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
See Mat 23:23.
Rue – This is a small garden plant, and is used as a medicine. It has a rosy flower, a bitter, penetrating taste, and a strong smell.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Luk 11:42
These ought ye to have done
Spurious holiness
Rabbi Shammai, the narrow-minded rival of Hillel, was so scrupulous that he nearly starved his little son on the Day of Atonement, and made a sort of booth of his daughter-in-laws bed that his little grandson, just born, might keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
Yet we are told that he was a luxurious and selfish man. It is easier to tithe mint than to live a holy life. (Canon Farrar.)
Neglecting the most important thing
A great French doctor was taking an English one round the wards of his hospital, all sorts of miseries going on before them, some dying, others longing for death-all ill. The Frenchman was wonderfully eloquent about all their diseases; you would have thought he saw through them, and knew all their secret wheels, like looking into a watch or into a glass bee-hive. He told his English friend what would be seen in such a case when the body was opened! He spent some time in this sort of work, and was coming out, full of glee, when the other doctor said, But, Dr you havent prescribed for these cases. Oh, neither I have! said he, with a grumph and a shrug; I quite forgot that; that being the one thing why these poor people were there, and why he was there too. (John Brown, M. D.)
Pardon desired for duties left undone
Dr. Samuel Johnson, in writing to his mother, says:–You have been the best mother, and I believe the best woman, in the world. I thank you for your indulgence to me, and I beg forgiveness for all I have done ill, and all that I have omitted to do well. So in the prayer he composed at the same time: Forgive me whatever I have done unkindly to my mother, and whatever I have omitted to do kindly.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 42. Ye tithe mint and rue] See Clarke on Mt 23:23.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
See Poole on “Mat 23:23“. There are two great notes of hypocrites:
1. To be more exact, in and zealous for the observation of rituals and the traditions of men, than in and for the observation of the moral law of God.
2. In matters of morality, to be more exact and strict in and for little things, than for things more grave and weighty.
There is no commandment of God so little as we may neglect, or despise, or disobey it; but yet there is a difference in duties, and we ought to have more regard to the greater than to the lesser.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
42. mint . . . rue, c.roundingon Le 27:30, which theyinterpreted rigidly. Our Lord purposely names the most triflingproducts of the earth, as examples of what they punctiliously exactedthe tenth of.
judgment and the love ofGodin Mt 23:25,”judgment, mercy, and faith.” The reference is toMic 6:6-8, whose thirdelement of all acceptable religion, “walking humbly with God,”comprehends both “love” and “faith.” (See on Mr12:29 Mr 12:32, 33). The sametendency to merge greater duties in less besets us still, but itis the characteristic of hypocrites.
these ought ye, c.Thereis no need for one set of duties to jostle out another but of thegreater, our Lord says, “Ye ought to have done“them; of the lesser, only “ye ought not to leave themundone.“
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But woe unto you Pharisees,…. Though these words, with several other passages in this chapter, are much alike with those in Matthew 23 yet it is clear that they were spoken at different times, these in the house of a Pharisee, and they in the temple at Jerusalem:
for ye tithe mint and rue; [See comments on Mt 23:23] the Persic version here reads, “mint and anise”, as there; and the Ethiopic version only “hyssop”:
and all manner of herbs; or “every herb”; that is, all sorts of herbs that grow in the garden, and were not common to all;
and pass over judgment, and the love of God: by “judgment” may be meant justice, or doing that which is right between man and man, both publicly and privately, which was greatly neglected by these extortioners and unjust men: and by “the love of God” may be intended, both love to God, which shows itself in the observance of the first table of the law, and love to the neighbour, which God requires, and regards the second table:
these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone;
[See comments on Mt 23:23].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Tithe (). Late verb for the more common . So in Mt 23:23. Take a tenth off (–). Rue (). Botanical term in late writers from , to make fast because of its thick leaves. Here Mt 23:23 has “anise.”
Every herb ( ). General term as in Mr 4:32. Matthew has “cummin.”
Pass by (). Present middle indicative of , common verb, to go by or beside. Mt 23:23 has “ye have left undone” (). Luke here has “love” (), not in Matthew.
Ought (). As in Matthew. Imperfect of a present obligation, not lived up to just like our “ought” (w, not paid). , as in Matthew, the second aorist active infinitive of . to leave off. Common verb. Luke does not have the remark about straining out the gnat and swallowing the camel (Mt 23:34). It is plain that the terrible exposure of the scribes and Pharisees in Mt 23 in the temple was simply the culmination of previous conflicts such as this one.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Ye tithe [] . Tithe is tenth. See on Mt 23:23.
Rue [] . Probably from phgnumi, to make fast; because of its thick, fleshy leaves. Matthew has anise. See on 23 23.
Herb [] . See on Mr 4:32. Wyc. has wort, originally the general term for a plant. Hence colewort, liverwort, and similar words. Compare the German wurz, root or herb.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But woe unto you, Pharisees!” (alla ouai humin tois Pharisaiois) “But woe be to you Pharisees,” or woe awaits you all, Mat 23:23.
2) “For ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs,” (hoti apodekatoute to heduosmon kai to peganon kai pan lachanon) “Because you all tithe the mint, the rue, and every herb,” pay tithe on these things, as commanded, Deu 14:22. The rue is a strong-scented herb plant that has heavy oil content, found plentifully in the world in southern Europe, Mat 23:23.
3) “And pass over judgment and the love of God:” (kai parerchesthe ten krisin kai ten agapen tou theou) “And you by-pass judgment and the love of God,” weightier matters? of the law, Mat 23:23; Mat 6:7-8, which involve justice and equity.
4) “These ought ye to have done,” (tauta de edei poiesai) “These things you all ought to have done,” in harmony with the law administration, Mat 23:23; 1Sa 15:22; Little duties are not to be despised or taken lightly, Isa 1:11-17; Jas 1:22.
5) “And not to leave the other undone.” (kakeina me pareina) “And not to bypass those,” judgment, love, and mercy, etc., Mat 23:23, not to commit sins of omission, Mic 6:8.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(42) Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint.See Note on Mat. 23:23. Here, again, we note minor variationsrue and all manner of herbs, for St. Matthews anise and cummin; judgment and the love of God, for the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faithsufficient to show independence.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
“But woe to you Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and pass over justice and the love of God, but these ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”
His first ‘woe’, but second criticism (His first was concerning ritual washing of both person and dishes), is that they are so concerned about the minutiae of tithing (setting aside one tenth of all they receive for the Temple and for the poor), even of items like mint which do not need to be tithed, that they ignore the need for behaving justly and revealing the love of God. It is right that they should tithe. But not that they should treat it as of such prime importance, in contrast with attitudes of the heart, that they see themselves as a result of it as being somehow superior to others. Far more important is it to be just and loving in their dealings with men and women. That is what will make them superior to others (although then they will not think so because they will be humble). They must give of themselves first. Then they may give of their goods.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
A threefold woe:
v. 42. But woe unto you, Pharisees! If or ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
v. 43. Woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues and greetings in the markets.
v. 44. Woe unto you. , scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them. The Lord proceeds to characterize Pharisaism by bringing out its most objectionable features. The Pharisees were very careful and scrupulous about paying the tithe of even the smallest vegetable in their gardens, of mint, and rue, and every herb, Num 28:21; Deu 14:23. But this punctilious care did not extend to the really important virtues in life, to judgment and the love of God. Many Pharisees belonged to the Sanhedrin, the highest ecclesiastical court of the Jews; others to the local court of seven, which was found in every town. There their judgments were often unjust, partial, one-sided. And as they passed by and omitted love and faithfulness toward their neighbor, so they denied love toward God. That is the way of the Pharisees of all times, that they are painstakingly anxious in the smallest, most inconsequential things, but forget virtue and conscience in the great and important things. It is well enough to be conscientious in the little things, it was true enough that they owed that; but they most emphatically should not have left the other undone. Faithfulness in small things, but above all in the important matters of life, is required of all. And even as the Pharisees thus had a false idea of the relation of values, they possessed inordinate ambition. To occupy the seat of the elders, the place of honor in the synagogues; to receive the respectful salutations of the people in the market-places, that was the height of their ambition. And finally, they were characterized by hypocrisy and false sanctity. They were like graves without the distinguishing mark of whitewash, by which a person would be warned not to become unclean in touching them. Thus people came into daily contact with the Pharisees, not recognizing their falseness and hypocrisy, and were contaminated. Such pride, false ambition, and hypocrisy is found in all self-righteous people.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Luk 11:42-43 . See on Mat 23:23 ; Mat 23:6 f. But woe unto you, ye have quite different maxims!
] ye leave out of consideration , as at Luk 15:29 , and frequently in Greek writers, Jdt 11:10 .
] ye place a high value thereupon. Comp. Joh 12:43 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
(42) But, woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue, and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgement, and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. (43) Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. (44) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them. (45) Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying, thou reproachest us also. (46) And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. (47) Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. (48) Truly ye bear witness, that ye allow the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. (49) Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: (50) That the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; (51) From the blood of Abel, unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. (52) Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye enter not in yourselves. And them that were entering in ye hindered.
I am inclined to think that though Luke hath recorded in this place those words of Christ, yet they were not spoken in the house of the Pharisee. For we do not read, that when this Pharisee desired Jesus to dine with him, that there were any others invited. And if not, how should such a company as it should seem of the Scribes and Pharisees have been so gathered, as for the Lord to preach to.
Moreover, Matthew hath related this discourse nearly in the same words as if delivered in the temple; so that unless our Lord preached it twice, once in the temple, and now again in the house of the Pharisee, it should rather seem, that Luke hath only recorded it in this place after the Pharisee’s dinner, and not as in the Pharisee’s house. But I pray the Reader to observe, that here, as upon all other doubtful occasions, I never speak decidedly. Let the sermon have been preached wherever it might have been, it is a solemn one indeed; and, coming from him who searcheth the heart, and trieth the reins, the contents of it are enough to make the ears of them that hear it to tingle with alarm at the awful state of such awful characters! See Mat 23:13 to the end.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
42 But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Ver. 42. But woe unto you ] Notwithstanding your tithing of potted herbs, wherein you think you take course that all things may be clean to you, Luk 11:41 . Or woe unto you, for that through covetousness you exact the utmost of your tithes, &c. So some sense this text.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
42. ] But woe unto you, for ye do not this, but make the most trifling payments, &c. The connexion, which is thus so close, is quite destroyed by the ironical interpretation of Luk 11:41 . See note on Mat 23:23 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 11:42-44 . To this criticism of the externalism of the Pharisees, the only thing strictly relevant to the situation as described, are appended three of Mt.’s “woes” directed against their will-worship in tithing (Mat 23:23 ), their love of prominence (Mat 23:6 , not formally put as a “woe”), and their hypocrisy (Mat 23:27 ). , rue, instead of Mt.’s , anise, here only in N.T. , every herb, general statement, instead of Mt.’s third sample, . . ., the love of God , instead of Mt.’s mercy and faith .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 11:42-44
42″But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 43Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places. 44Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”
Luk 11:42 “‘woe to you” This reflects an OT prophetic curse formula using a funeral dirge (cf. Luk 11:42-44; Luk 11:46; Luk 11:52; Mat 23:13-36).
“pay tithe on” See Special Topic following.
SPECIAL TOPIC: TITHING
“yet disregard justice and the love of God” It is extremely important that we do not let rituals or liturgical acts blind us to God’s will for His people, which is
1. love for God (cf. Deu 6:4-6; Luk 10:27)
2. justice towards humans (cf. Lev 19:18; Luk 10:27)
“but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others” They strained at a gnat and swallowed the camel (cf. Mat 23:24). Is tithing the spices of the kitchen more important, more spiritual, than how we live and love?
An early church heretic, Marcion (early second century in Rome), rejected the OT and only accepted a modified Gospel of Luke and certain letters of Paul as inspired. Since he rejected the OT, the phrase, “but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others” is omitted in codex Bezea (D), but included in most earlier Greek manuscripts and versions, so probably its omission in MS D was due to his influence.
Luk 11:43 “For you love the chief seats in the synagogues” These were places of prominence. The chief seats were on a semi-circular bench around a place where the Torah was kept, facing the congregation (cf. A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, vol. 2, p. 167). See parallel in Mat 23:1-12.
“and the respectful greetings in the market place” Apparently there were standard phrases and titles used by religious leaders for one another, spoken in public. This phrase, therefore, rebukes their pride in their positions in the synagogue and society. They loved being recognized and praised!
Luk 11:44 “‘For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it” Physical contact with the tomb made one ceremonially unclean (cf. Lev 21:1-4; Num 19:11-22) for one week (rabbinical interpretation), however, in this case the people would not realize it, therefore, the Jews white-washed the tombs in order to avoid this type of inadvertent ceremonial defilement (cf. Mat 23:27). Jesus accuses these self-righteous, legalistic leaders of being the real cause of spiritual defilement!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
ye tithe = ye tithe, or pay or take tithes. Greek. epode katoo. Occurs only here; Luk 18:12. Mat 23:23; and Heb 7:5.
all manner of herbs = every herb. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of the Genus), App-6, for all tithable herbs.
pass over = pass by, as in Mar 6:48.
judgment. A Hebraism = justice. App-177.
the love of God. Genitive of relation (App-17.), meaning the love required by God, as admitted by the lawyer (Luk 10:27).
ought ye to have done = it behoved you to do.
leave . . . undone = leave aside. But most of the texts read “pass by”, as in the preceding clause.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
42.] But woe unto you, for ye do not this,-but make the most trifling payments, &c. The connexion, which is thus so close, is quite destroyed by the ironical interpretation of Luk 11:41. See note on Mat 23:23.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 11:42. ) , a particle of transition; 2Co 7:11.- , judgment) which is in the understanding. True judgment dictates the assertion, that the love of God is the greatest of the commandments. [Comp. ch. Luk 12:57.]- , the love of God) which is in the will. [He saith, the love of GOD, and that of our neighbour for the sake of GOD.-V. g.] It is he who loves God, and he alone, that is endowed with a true judgment. See 1Co 8:3; 1Co 8:2. In Matthew [Luk 23:23, there is added to, Ye have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment], mercy and faith. In fact, along with love, is conjoined and implied that faith, of which Matthew makes mention. See 1Ti 1:5. Mercy [in the form of giving alms] is recommended in Luk 11:41.-[-, these things-and those things) The former of less consequence-the latter of more importance.-V. g.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
woe: Mat 23:13, Mat 23:23, Mat 23:27
for: Luk 18:12
and pass: Deu 10:12, Deu 10:13, 1Sa 15:22, Pro 21:3, Isa 1:10-17, Isa 58:2-6, Jer 7:2-10, Jer 7:21, Jer 7:22, Mic 6:8, Mal 1:6, Mal 2:17, Joh 5:42, Tit 2:11, Tit 2:12, 1Jo 4:20
and not: Lev 27:30-33, 2Ch 31:5-10, Neh 10:37, Ecc 7:18, Mal 3:8
Reciprocal: Deu 12:6 – tithes Jos 11:15 – he left nothing Psa 106:3 – keep Isa 1:13 – vain Isa 10:1 – Woe Jer 23:1 – Woe Eze 13:3 – Woe Zec 7:9 – saying Zec 11:17 – Woe Mal 2:9 – but Mat 5:19 – these Mat 11:21 – Woe Mat 22:36 – General Mar 12:28 – Which
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2
See the comments at Mat 23:23 for explanation of this verse.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Luk 11:42. For ye tithe, etc. Instead of really giving as our Lord enjoined, they had been in the habit of making trifling payments in over-exactness. See on Mat 23:23.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Our Saviour here denounces a woe against the Pharisees for their strict and scrupulous observing the lesser things of the law, as tithing mint and rue, while they were regardless of the principal and substantial duties which they owed both to God and man.
Learn hence, that although some duties are of greater moment and importance than others, yet a good man will omit none, but make conscience of all, both great and small, in obedience to the command of God. There is no duty so little as to be neglected, no command so small as to be disobeyed; but yet there is a difference in duties, and our first regard ought to be to the greater, then to the less. Christ does not condemn them for tithing mint and rue, but for passing over judgment and the love of God.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
WOES PRONOUNCED ON THE PHARISEES & THEOLOGIANS
Luk 11:42-54. But woe unto you Pharisees, because you tithe mint, anise, and every herb, and you pass by judgment and the love of God; it behooveth you to do these things, and not to leave the others undone. Here our Savior raised no objection against the payment of tithes on everything indiscriminately, but commends it, while He utters these withering woes against them because they neglect judgment, which includes their own conviction and justification, as well as all their dealings with others, involving the whole problem of not only personal pardon, but an upright life; then the agape i.e., the Divine love of God, which the Holy Ghost pours out in the heart (Rom 5:5), imparting the Divine nature, adoption. and sonship, involving a glorious regeneration–climaxed in the perfection of that love by entire sanctification. Woe unto you Pharisees, because you love the front seat in the synagogues and salutations in the forums. While Jesus condemns the brazen effrontery of these unsaved Church officers, I hope you will take no argument from it in favor of that false modesty which so often takes a back seat. Woe unto you, because you are like tombs, unseen, and people walking over them do not know. The tombs in that country are excavations in the rocks, or chambers built of stone, cavernous within, so that people walking over them would fall down among the dead mens bones–a very withering illustration of the traps and pitfalls superinduced by those hypocritical Church members. And a certain one of the theologians, responding, says to Him, Teacher, speaking these things, You indeed reproach us. Jesus was so personal, clear, and incisive, that He made His audience feel the force of His truth. And He said, Woe unto you theologians, because you bind intolerable burdens on the people, and you yourselves do not touch those burdens with one of your fingers. We need not go back to the Jewish Church to find this withering accusation lamentably verified. To our sorrow, we see it all around us–clergymen living like kings; home luxuries and worldly pleasures sending their families to perdition, and they laying burdens of heavy assessments on all their members, while they themselves can not even say, with the Pharisee, I give tithes of all that I possess. Good Lord, deliver us from the clerical oppression here specified!
Woe unto you, because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers slew them. Then are ye witnesses, and consent unto the works of your fathers, because they indeed slew them, and you build their tombs. Our Savior here turns the keen edge of His logic for the conviction of these guilty theologians and Pharisees, availing Himself of the homogeneity between the work of their fathers, who martyred the prophets, and that of themselves in building their beautiful, ornamental tombs as monuments of their love and admiration for them. History is still repeating itself. If Wesley, Knox, and Bunyan, honored as the founders of three great Protestant Churches respectively, were now on the earth, the very people who honor and eulogize them would close them out of their houses. The holiness evangelists, whose thunder and lightning the popular Churches can not stand, will all be honored by the same as soon as they die. Therefore the wisdom of God said, I will send you prophets and apostles, and some of them they will slay and persecute, in order that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the house; yea, I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. Zechariah here was the son of Jehoiada the priest, who had led the way in the coronation of Joash when only seven years old. So long as Jehoiada lived, Joash reigned in the fear of God, and led the people in the way of righteousness. But after the death of the holy priest, the king departed from God, and even committed the awful wickedness of slaying the son of his great benefactor. Here, Jesus affirms that the blood of all the martyrs slain from Abel down to that day will be required of that generation, illustrating the fact that God holds us responsible for our volition, and our attitude toward His cause, involving the conclusion that, if the heart is not right toward God, and in harmony with His administration, pursuant to our unholy sympathies, we actually participate in the condemnation of all our predecessors.
THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE
Luk 11:52. Woe unto you theologians, because you have taken away the key of knowledge. What is this key of knowledge? It is the light shining on Divine truth, which enables people to understand it. You yourselves did not enter in, and you prevented those who were entering in. This is a grave charge, involving immeasurable responsibility. If these theologians, high priests, scribes, and Pharisees, standing at the head of the Church in the responsible capacity of popular leaders, had received Jesus, pursuant to the preaching of John the Baptist, the rank and the of the Jewish Church would have pressed into the kingdom in solid columns, the revival wave, rolling over Judea and Galilee, sweeping the whole country like a tornado, getting the whole nation ready for the sanctifying baptism of Pentecost, after which an army of evangelists would have moved out into the Gentile world like cyclones of fire, fulfilling the Commission during that generation, and actually bringing on the millennium. The same is true this day. The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Jesus. If the preachers and ecclesiastical leaders would all receive Him, and His blood-washed and fire- baptized workers into the Churches, the people would follow them like sheep. Momentous is the responsibility of leadership, and terrible the havoc when the blind lead the blind. He, going forth from thence, the scribes and Pharisees began to be exceedingly angry, and to question Him concerning many things, laying in wait to catch something from His mouth. He had looked them in the face, and pronounced on them these withering woes, which should have convicted and brought them to repentance.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 42
Tithe mint, &c.; ye are very scrupulous in paying tithes on garden herbs of trifling value.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
11:42 {11} But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye {g} tithe mint and rue and {h} all manner of herbs, and pass over {i} judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
(11) It is the characteristic of hypocrites to stand firmly for little trifles and to let greater matters pass.
(g) You decide by God’s law that the tenth part is due to be paid.
(h) Of all types of herbs, some as Augustine expounds it in his Enchiridion to Laurence, chap. 99, where he shows in like manner how that place of Paul, (God “will have all men to be saved”), 1Ti 2:4 , is to be expounded after the same manner.
(i) That is to say, that which is right and reasonable to do, for this word “judgment” contains the commandments of the second table, and the other words, “the love of God”, contain the commandments of the first.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Three woes against the Pharisees 11:42-44
Jesus now specified two examples of the Pharisees’ spiritual myopia (Luk 11:42-43), and then He compared them to something similar that defiles (Luk 11:44). Emphasis on externals leads to error. When people "concentrate on the trivial they are apt to overlook the important." [Note: Morris, p. 204.] Jesus announced His condemnation with the use of "woe."
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Pharisees typically tithed scrupulously, even their garden herbs, two of which Jesus specified (cf. Lev 27:30-33; Deu 14:22-29; Deu 26:12-15). This was acceptable to Jesus, but they neglected giving more important things to God including justice and love. Normally the leaders of the synagogues occupied the front seats, so Jesus was criticizing the Pharisees’ love of position and glory. Respectful greetings in public places pandered to their pride too.