Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 11:41
But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.
41. give alms ] See Luk 12:33, Luk 16:14; Mat 6:3. Almsgiving is only mentioned as one typical form of Charity, which was in that state of society preeminently necessary. Indeed ‘alms’ is the same word as eleemosune, which involves the idea of Mercy. The general lesson that God does not care for ceremonies, in themselves, and only cares for them at all when they are accompanied by sincere goodness is again and again taught in Scripture. 1Sa 15:22 j Isa 58:6-8; Mic 6:8; Dan 4:27; Jas 4:8.
of such things as you have ] Perhaps, “ as for that which is within you, give alms.” But the entire meaning of the clause is much disputed. Some explain it, Give as alms ‘ the contents’ of cup and platter, and then they will be all clean without washing. ‘It is Love which purifies, not lustrations.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Alms – Charity. Benefactions to the poor.
Such things as ye have – Your property; though it has been gained unjustly: though you have lived by rapine, and have amassed wealth in an improper manner, yet, since you have it, it is your duty to make the best of it and do good. By giving to the poor, you may show your repentance for your crimes in amassing money in this manner. You may show that you disapprove of your former course of life, and are disposed henceforward to live honestly. If this be the meaning of this passage, then it shows what is the duty of those who have by unjust gains become wealthy, and who are then converted to God. It may not be possible for them in every case to make exact restitution to those whom they have injured; thousands of instances of wrong they may have forgotten; many persons whom they have injured may have died; but still they may show, by giving to others, that they do not think their gains acquired honestly, and that they truly repent. They may devote their property to God; distribute it to the poor; or give it to send the gospel to the heathen world. Thus may they show that they disapprove of their former conduct; and thus may be seen one great principle of Gods government – that good finally comes out of evil.
And behold … – Doing this will show that you are a true penitent, and the remainder of your property you will enjoy with a feeling that you have done your duty, and no longer be smitten with the consciousness of hoarding unjust gains. The object of the Saviour here seems to have been to bring the Pharisee to repentance. Repentance consists in sorrow for sin, and in forsaking it. This he endeavored to produce by showing him:
- The evil and hypocrisy of his conduct; and,
- By exhorting him to forsake his sins, and to show this by doing good.
Thus doing, he would evince that the mind was clean as well the body; the inside as well as the outside.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Luk 11:41
Give alms of such things as ye have
Christian charity
In the Revised Version the translation is–Give for alms those things that are within, and this preserves the point of the saying, which is obscured in the rendering of the Authorized Version.
Our Lord had been invited to dinner by a certain Pharisee, and had sat down to meat without the customary ritual ablutions. In the eyes of His host He sat there defiled by His refusal of the outward cleansing; and it was to teach the lesson that purity must be born within the soul and cannot come to it from without, that He spoke these words.
I. In ONE SENSE THIS PRECEPT MAKES CHARITY EASIER RATHER THAN MORE DIFFICULT. We do not all possess the things which are without–money, influence, rank, and the patronage they bring with them; and if Christ had made charity to consist in the bestowal of such things He would have made charity an impossible virtue to a large number of His disciples. But when Christ enlarges His definition of charity, when He says almsgiving does not only consist in giving money or giving anything that is external, but in giving the things that are within, He certainly seems to open this royal road to all who choose to enter it, for lives there the man so poor as to be unable to give a tear, a look, a kindly word, a touch of brotherly sympathy to his fellow-man?
II. Yet it needs hut a moments thought to discover that INSTEAD OF THIS COMMAND MAKING ALMSGIVING EASIER, IT REALLY MAKES IT MORE
DIFFICULT. For which is the easier, to give what you may have in your purse to the poor, or to give yourself; to bestow the coin that is hardly missed, or to bestow your thought, sympathy, personal interest on some sad case of misfortune and suffering?
1. Among the things that are within, we may certainly count the manner in which charity is bestowed. As John Morley remarks, It is not enough to do good; one must do it in a good way. There is more real value, both to God and man, in a little gift given in a good way, given with willingness, with cheerfulness, with gratitude for the privilege of giving, than in a great gift flung out from a stony heart, like honey out of the rock.
2. But manner is not everything. Sympathy is more than manner; and of all the inner sources of wealth which confer value on our alms, sympathy is the chief. It is one thing to give a sovereign to a a poor widow overwhelmed with trouble; it is another thing to give ourselves, our time, our sympathy, to help to lift her to a happier life, and to make her feel there is one heart that cares for her. A little while ago a poor lost girl lay dying on some filthy straw in a London slum. I know not whether any relief had been sent from the great houses near by, but if it had been given it had not touched her heart or brought hope to that darkened life. One day a Christian lady heard of the dying girl, heard the sad story of her life, and mounting the rickety stairs that led to her miserable room, found her out. She went to her side. Her first act was to stoop down and kiss her. That womanly act–that Christlike act, rather let me say, the pure touching and loving the impure–brought a flood of cleansing tears to that girls face; that act saved a lost soul. It was giving for alms of the things that were within.
3. Once again, in illustration of the inner wealth which we are to bestow on others, there is our personal service in the relief of suffering, or the increase of human joy, or the saving of the lost. Neither the manner of almsgiving nor the sympathy of the heart is enough. We must do good as well as be good. From the service of God, as expressed in the service of man, there is no exemption. You may pay a substitute to take your place in the conscriptions of earth; in the war of God against sin and suffering and ignorance, there is no vicarious service. Christ gave Himself for us; and He asks us to give ourselves to Him and to His service on earth. The Church of Christ will never save the world until, following its Divine Lord, it goes out into the dark places of the earth to seek and to save that which is lost. There is no Christian charity worth the name without sacrifice. Its lowest form is the sacrifice of money; its highest is the sacrifice of ourselves–the giving without murmuring or grudging our best for the service of God in the service of man.
4. I cannot omit from the things that are within, the inner life of Christ which He has imparted to the soul, the gospel of His redeeming love, which has made us what we are. Christ expects you to speak for Him, to be a gospel to those who know Him not. There is a preaching more eloquent than any sermon from the pulpit, and that is the message spoken, not by the minister, but by each individual Christian in his own life in the fitting season. (G. S. Barrett, B. A.)
The value of alms-giving
Instead of such things as ye have, the words ought rather to be rendered, give alms of that which is within the cup and platter, i.e., of their contents: give food and refreshment to those who need it, and behold all things are clean unto you. This is one of those very many places which assign to alms-giving (of course if practised for the approval of God, and not for vainglory) an almost expiatory value (see Luk 16:9; Act 10:4; Mat 25:34-35; 1Ti 6:17-18). Godet paraphrases it well: Do you wish, then, that these meats and these wines should not be defiled, and should not defile you? Do not think that it is enough for you carefully to wash your hands before eating; there is a surer means: let some poor man partake of them. (M. F. Sadler.)
Offertorial gifts
When we read this verse in connection with those that immediately precede it, the meaning of it appears to become clear and unquestionable. The Pharisees, in whose company our blessed Lord was sitting at meat, had remarked upon His not first washing before the dinner; for they themselves, and all the Jews, by their example, except they washed their hands often (or to the elbow) ate not, holding the tradition of the elders (Mar 7:3). Ye fools, do ye then hope to deceive God by cleansing the outside, while your reward hearts are thus full of all extortion and greediness? Nay, rather purify the inside; change ravening into mercy, and stinginess and grudging into almsgiving; and, behold, every part, both the inside and the outside, will become clean unto you. The praise of almsgiving, then, which is contained in this passage, seems to be that when it is duly done, it is better in the sight of God than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices; that it has a more cleansing efficacy than any ceremonial worship; that it is an inward cleanness, and as such is acceptable to God beyond any outward punctiliousness or exactness of service. I am led to select this topic of Christian instruction, my brethren, in addressing you today, in order to make a few observations on the benefits of the sacred offertory of the Holy Communion.
1. Let it be observed then, first, that the holy offertorial gift is a gift of peace. If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy Mat 5:23-24). How shall any one, then, who is unkind, or quarrelsome, or unforgiving, be able to offer the sacramental gift? Be it ever so small, it is the token and symbol of peace. Think, then, my brethren, whether, even in this respect only, the offertorial gift have not a very strong and important reference to your own lives and habits. Think whether there be not many ways in which you are tempted to infringe the law of Christian charity and courtesy towards one another; whether mutual kindness and considerateness, in great and small things, in matters of all sorts, in deeds, in words, in nicknames, in insults, in injury of feelings or property; whether such minute considerateness and kindly courtesy, be not a duty of which you greatly need to be sometimes reminded. And think again whether you are not apt sometimes, in treating those whom God has placed in a lower rank than yourselves in life, to offend against the same law.
2. Secondly, the offertorial gift is to be regarded as the first-fruit of alms. Whatever a man may give in alms between communion and communion is to be considered as all offered to God in the offering of this the first-fruits. Thus the little gift of the communion is, in fact, greater, even in amount, than it seems; for it represents all that a man Christianly gives for similar pious and charitable uses till his next communion. It is as the libation, sanctifying all the feast. As Christian alms then, the offertorial gift may be of most various and unconceived effects. Who knows what sorrows it may alleviate, what pains it may soothe, what wants it may supply? Who knows again how many thanksgivings it may awaken, how many prayers for blessings on the giver, what hearts it may touch to repentance? Who knows what consequences, never to be known on earth, but surely to be declared in the Judgment, a little gift with Gods good blessing on it may produce beyond our power to trace or think? how it may bring glory to God from men on earth and from rejoicing angels in the highest heavens? Thus then, in the second place, I would urge you to prize the offertorial gift as opening to you the privilege of sacred alms-giving. But I have hitherto spoken only of the outward aspects of the offertorial gift. It is to the inward ones, if I may so express myself, that the text of St. Luke particularly refers, and to which I rather desire to direct your attention. Consider, then, how many ways there are in which men need that money, in its various uses, should be sanctified to them. You know in what remarkable terms the Holy Scriptures constantly speak of money: how they seem to identify it in a very particular way with evil and the powers of evil; how our Lord calls it by the name of the unrighteous mammon, and telling His disciples that they cannot serve God and mammon, seems to put the false god of money for the evil spirit; and to say that he and his dominion are so separate and distinct from God and His kingdom, that whosoever is subject to the one cannot possibly be subject to the other also. What, then, I desire to set before you is this: that you, too, in your present state of life are beginning to be tried in respect of money; that the false god of money, the unholy mammon, solicits you in various ways, as well as those whose pecuniary trials are larger and more notorious; that you have many such dangers even now, which you must learn to escape in these early days of springing Christian strength, and that the secret of your strength and safety is to be found in your communion offerings. There, while you dedicate the little first-fruits, you must intend to sanctify the whole. There, while you directly consecrate a little, you must resolve that there shall be none unconsecrated; that Christian devotion and duty shall accompany you even in the most distant and secular uses to which the rest may be applied; that the manner of spending the rest shall be appropriate to this beginning.
3. Consider, then, how entirely inconsistent with the offering of communion gifts is all incurring of debt. How can any person venture to approach the altar of God with what he pretends to be a gift, while, in fact, the very piece of money which he offers belongs of right to another, and is not his own? Let no one, then, think that he shall honour God by making an offering at the altar of that which he owes. It is, according to the expressive idiom of the Latin, another mans money; and little indeed can we think that God will be glorified, or that blessing will follow on the gift, which is rather an additional sin than a manner of sanctifying our other actions. And let all remember that to offer at the Holy Communion is, in fact, to forswear and abandon the practice of incurring debts.
2. Think, again, of wastefulness and luxury, and consider whether you are not commonly tempted to spend money, often very hardly spared by those who supply it to you, in self-indulgence of the most wanton and needless kinds.
3. Again, how impossible it should be for one who offers a gift at Gods holy altar to be dishonest, whether that dishonesty be shown in the coarser and more unquestionable ways of theft or cheating, or in the less obvious, but not less guilty devices, whereby advantage is often unfairly taken, and some enriched to their neighbours loss!
4. And again, as connected with the last topic, consider whether it be possible for those who desire to make their offertorial gift in true earnestness and devotion, to endeavour to gain money in gambling or betting of any kind. And who that ever saw the gambling passion strongly exhibited in any person can doubt of what manner of spirit such a man is while the passion is on him–the Spirit of God, or the spirit of mammon?
5. And, lastly, let me ask you whether it be possible for one who brings his offering to the altar, and desires thereby to make all his other pecuniary dealings clean unto him, to purchase any things that are themselves unlawful, whether they be unlawful by the universal law of God, or unlawful by the laws to which they are now subject, and which they must obey, as they hope to please God in the state of life to which He has called them? Plainly, it is not possible. It would be an attempt to give God a little and Satan much. These, then, are some of the ways in which the Holy Communion offering ought to be of benefit to you in these years: so true is it that if we would act up to all the precepts and directions of the Church we should find that they bear in many unexpected ways upon our lives, and cannot be neglected without much and heavy loss. The offertory gives the sacred Church rule of spending money; and there is no part of the subject, however remote or secular, to which the rule thence derived will not apply. (Bishop Moberly.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 41. Give alms of such things as ye have] Meaning either what was within the dishes spoken of before; or what was within their houses or power: or what they had at hand, for so is used by the purest Greek writers. Cease from rapine: far from spoiling the poor by wicked exactions, rather give them alms of every thing you possess; and when a part of every thing you have is sincerely consecrated to God for the use of the poor, then all that remains will be clean unto you; you will have the blessing of God in your basket and store, and every thing will be sanctified to you. These verses are very difficult, and are variously translated and interpreted by critics and divines. I have given what I believe to be our Lord’s meaning, in the preceding paraphrase. For a description of the rapine, &c., of the Pharisees, See Clarke on Mt 23:25.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
. The word being a word not ordinarily used in a sense which will fit this place, hath made a great abounding in their own senses amongst interpreters; some translating it, Give such things as are within for alms; others, such things as you have; others, such things as are necessary; others, such things as ye are able, as if were to be understood before , according to what you have. Others, what things remain, after the serving your own necessities, and a just restitution to those whom you have wronged. Others think it is but a connexion of our Saviours speech, and the sense is, Moreover there is but one thing to be done, Give alms, &c., as if it were I do not see but our own translation is as good as any, and seems to be understood in the Greek. According to what you have, which is truly and justly your own, not theirs whom you have wronged, nor your creditors, nor your families, for their necessities; give alms of all that.
And, behold, all things are clean unto you. Not, your souls are clean; though that must first be, yet our Saviour is not here directing that, or the means and methods for it; but all things are clean to you, you may lawfully and without guilt use them: Unto the pure all things are pure; but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, Tit 1:15. Our Saviours words are a plain exhortation to repentance, that lieth in the change of our minds; and that inward change of our minds must be evidenced by the change of our actions, and particularly by a restitution in case of wrong done to any. The Pharisees were a covetous, rapacious generation, full of extortion, devouring widows houses, &c. Their repentance was to be evidenced by contrary works; those were works of justice and mercy. God calleth to the Israelites for the first, Isa 1:16,17. Christ calls to the Pharisees for the latter. Such works of mercy as might evidence their hearts to be truly changed: and then, saith our Saviour, all things will be clean to you, which otherwise will not be with all your traditional superstitious washings. And needs it must be so, for no soul can repent truly without the influence and assistance of Divine grace, which God giveth not, but to those souls which are washed with the blood of Christ. So that before a soul can produce the fruits of true repentance, it must be justified by faith, and sanctified by the Spirit of holiness. Or if we understand it only of that repentance which an unjustified soul may have, yet even that may so far profit, as to have our outward things so blessed to us, that we may use them without any pollution or guilt, and have them outwardly blest to us.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
41. give alms . . . and . . . all .. . cleana principle of immense value. As the greed of thesehypocrites was one of the most prominent features of their character(Luk 16:14; Mat 23:14),our Lord bids them exemplify the opposite character, and then theiroutside, ruled by this, would be beautiful in the eye of God,and their meals would be eaten with clean hands, though never sofouled with the business of this worky world. (See Ec9:7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But rather give alms of such things as ye have,…. The phrase , is variously rendered, and so furnishes out various senses: the Syriac version renders it, “give that which is”, which is yours; or “which is given to you”, as the Persic version, and agrees with ours, “such things as ye have”; and which carries in it but a very odd sense; for none can give of that which they have not. The Vulgate Latin version reads, “that which is over and above”; superfluous substance, and which may be easily spared without hurting a man, or his family: others, “as much as you can”: according to a man’s ability, and as God has prospered him in the world. The Ethiopic version renders it, “that which is necessary”; which the necessities of the poor call for, and is right and proper to give them: and the Arabic version, very foreign from the sense of the phrase, reads, “before every thing”; above all things give alms. But the true sense of it is contained in the literal version of it, “things that are within”; that is, that are within the cup and the platter; give meat and drink to the poor, your platters and cups are full of, gotten by injustice and oppression. Some read it not imperatively, “give”, but indicatively, “ye do give”: you oppress and defraud men, devour widows’ houses, and fill your own with the spoils of others; and then give out of your cups and platters drink to the thirsty, and meat to the hungry, to make atonement for your avarice and extortion:
and behold all things are clean unto you; that is, according to their own opinion, who fancied that alms deeds justified them in the sight of God, cleansed them from their sins, delivered them from hell, and gave them a title to eternal life; [See comments on Mt 6:1] for it can never be thought to be our Lord’s meaning in earnest, that either their persons, or what they had, should be pure and clean unto them, by giving a part of their ill-gotten goods to the poor; but he speaks their sense, in an ironic way. From this opinion of theirs it is, that the Hebrew word, , which signifies “to be clean”, is used by them for giving alms: so it is said y, that
“R. Jonathan and Resh Lekish went down to bathe themselves in the baths of Tiberias; and a certain poor man met them, and said unto them, , “give me alms”; they said unto him, when we come back we will , “give thee alms”:”
and so the Mahometans call alms by the same name, because they imagine that they cleanse their other substance from pollution, and their souls from avarice.
y Vajikra Rabba, Sect. 34. fol. 174. 2. Vid. fol. 173. 3, 4. & 174. 4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Such things as ye have [ ] . Only here in New Testament. Commentators differ as to the meaning, but generally reject that of the A. V. Rev., those things which are within. The meaning is, give alms of the contents of the cups and platters. Jesus is insisting upon inward righteousness as against pharisaic externalism, and says : “Your virtue consists in washing the outside, and making a respectable appearance. Cultivate rather the loving, brotherly spirit of inward righteousness, which will prompt you to give of the food which the vessels contain (that which is within) to your suffering brother.” ” Do you think it is enough to wash your hands before eating? There is a surer means. Let some poor man partake of your meats and wines ” (Godet). So Bengel, Meyer, Alford. Compare Mt 9:13; Hos 6:6. Wyc., That thing that is over (i. e., remaining in the dishes) give ye alms. 9
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But rather give alms of such things as ye have;” (plen ta enonta dote eleemosunen) “Nevertheless you all give alms of the things you have,” or hold within your possession, not of what you have not, 2Co 8:12. Alms are charitable donations or gifts to a needy person or cause, and they were commanded by the Law, though ceremonial family washings were not, Mt 61; Luk 12:33; Act 10:2.
2) “And, behold, all things are clean unto you.” (kai isou panta kathara humin) “And behold all things as clean to you,” that is you consider yourselves to be clean within, solely because of your ceremonial deeds, Rom 10:2-4. They considered themselves righteous and “despised others,” Luk 18:9.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
41. But out of what you have, give alms. Christ, according to his custom, withdraws the Pharisees from ceremonies to charity, declaring that it is not water, but liberality, (285) that cleanses both men and food. By these words he does not disparage the grace of God, or reject the ceremonies of the Law as vain and useless; but addresses his discourse to those who feel confident that God will be amused by mere signs. “It is the lawful use alone,” he says, “that sanctifies food. But food is rightly and properly used by those who supply from their abundance the necessities of the poor. It would therefore be better to give alms out of what you have, than to be careful about washing hands and cups, and to neglect the poor.”
The inference which the Papists draw from these words, that alms are satisfactions, by which we are cleansed from our sins, is too absurd to require a lengthened refutation. Christ does not here inform us by what price we must purchase the forgiveness of sins, but says that those persons eat their bread with cleanness, who bestow a part of it on the poor. I understand the words, τὰ ἐνόντα, to mean “the present supply,” (286) and not, as Erasmus and the old translator render them, “what remains over.” (287)
The reproofs which immediately follow may be reserved, with greater propriety, for another occasion. I do not think it probable that Christ, while sitting at table, indulged in this continuous strain of invective against scribes and Pharisees, but that Luke has introduced here what was spoken at another time; for the Evangelists, as we have frequently mentioned, paid little attention to the order of dates.
(285) “ Mais que c’est une prompte affection de faire bien a ceux qui sont en necessite;” — “but that it is an active disposition to do good to those who are in want.”
(286) “ Les presentes choses, comme aussi ie l’ay traduit au texte;” — “the present things, as also I have translated it in the text.”
(287) It seems quite as natural to suppose, with other interpreters, that τὰ ἐνόντα answers to τὸ ἔσωθεν in Luk 11:39 Πλὴν ( κατὰ) τὰ ἐνόντα will thus be equivalent to πλὴν ( κατὰ) τὸ ἔσωθεν ( τοῦ ποτηρίου) δότε ἐλεημοσύνην , but as to what is within the cup give alms out of it. The next, clause commences with καὶ, followed by an ellipsis of ( κατὰ), τὸ ἔξωθεν ( τοῦ ποτηρίου) μὴ μεριμνήσητε, and give yourselves no concern about what is outside of the cup; for, lo, all things are clean to you. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(41) But rather give alms of such things as ye have.This, too, is peculiar to St. Luke. In the underlying principle of its teaching it sweeps away the whole fabric of the law of ceremonial purity, as the words of St. Mat. 15:10-20 had, on different grounds, done before. The distinction between the two phases of the truth is that here greater stress is laid on the active purifying power of the love of which alms, if not given for the sake of mans praise, is the natural expression. That which defiles is selfishness; that which purifies is the unselfishness of love.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
41. Give alms This we hold with Stier, and against Alford, to be ironical. Give alms, forsooth, and that is to make compensation for your extortions a purification of all your guilt! Our Lord casts no slur upon alms-giving, but upon using our alms-giving as a cover for sin.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“But give for alms those things which are within, and behold, all things are clean to you.”
For the important lesson that they need to learn is that if they are clean on the inside everything will be clean to them. If they allow the light to shine within, all will be right. The outward giving of charitable gifts is good, but what is more important is the action of giving from a clean heart, of giving from oneself, then the externals will be clean as well. So it is not the outward actions and the outward giving that reveal cleanness (Luk 11:39), it is the thoughts of the heart and the true giving of themselves.
Some see it as meaning ‘give for alms those things which are within your dish’, in other words give to the poor, but Jesus was hardly likely to say that giving to charity would make all clean. More was required than that, the response of a true heart.
Three Woes On The Pharisees.
The three woes which now follow are an attack on outward forms, forms on which they laid great stress, and in which they even went beyond what was necessary, while at the same time ignoring compassion and mercy, and the real needs of men and women. He is saying that doing something which professes cleanliness and God-likeness is of no use unless it comes from the heart. These three failures are additional to the failure already mentioned. The threefoldness of the woes stresses the completeness of the woe.
The word translated ‘woe’ can also mean ‘alas’. But we must be careful about watering down Jesus’ words. While His heart was certainly grieved at their situation, there is no doubt that His words also carried within them an element of judgment. He was not just negatively concerned, He was positively concerned. If they were not careful they would indeed face the final Judgment under condemnation. They would be brought into testing.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 11:41. But, &c. But rather give alms of such things as you are able. Or, in proportion to your substance. Doddridge. We are not to imagine, that alms-giving was particularly mentioned by Christ in his exhortation to the Pharisees, because it is of greater value and necessity than the other virtues and graces. He recommended it to that sect, because they were generally remarkable for their covetousness and extortion; vices which must be repented of, by making restitution to those who have been injured by them; and when these cannot be known or found, the compensation must be made to the poor, as having the next right, because what is given to them is lent tothe Lord. But the Pharisees were of an incorrigibly stubborn disposition, which no instruction, whether mild or persuasive, could influence; wherefore our Lord, on this occasion, wisely treated them with a kind of wholesome severity; denouncing most dreadful woes against them, for being so zealous in the ceremonial institutions of religion, while they utterly neglected the precepts of morality. see on Matth
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luk 11:41 . A prescription how they are to effect the true purification. is verumtamen (see on Luk 6:24 ): Still , in order to set aside this foolish incongruity, give that which is therein (the contents of your cups and platters) as alms, and behold everything is pure unto you this loving activity will then make your entire ceremonial purifications superfluous for you. All that you now believe you are compelled to subordinate to your customs of washings (the context gives this as the reference of the ) will stand to you (to your consciousness) in the relation of purity. On the idea, comp. Hos 6:6 (Mat 9:13 ; Mat 12:7 ). has the emphasis: yet what is in them , etc. Moreover, it is of itself obvious, according to the meaning of Jesus, that He sets this value not on the external work of love in itself, but on the disposition evinced thereby. Comp. Luk 16:9 . The more unnecessary was the view which regarded the passage as ironical (Erasmus, Lightfoot, and others, including Kuinoel, Schleiermacher, Neander, Bornemann), and according to which Jesus repeats the peculiar maxim of the Pharisees for attaining righteousness by works: “Attamen date modo stipem pauperibus, tunc ex vestra opinione parum solliciti esse potestis de victu injuste comparato, tunc vobis omnia pura sunt,” Kuinoel. Irony would come in only if in the text were expressed, not date , but datis . Moreover, the Pharisees would not have said , but . Besides, notwithstanding the Old Testament praise of this virtue (Pro 16:6 ; Dan 4:24 ; Eccles. 3:30, 29:12; Tob 4:10 ; Tob 12:9 , and elsewhere), and notwithstanding the Rabbinical “Eleemosyna aequipollet omnibus virtutibus” ( Bava bathra , f. 9. 1), charitableness (apart from ostentatious almsgiving, Mat 6:2 ) was so far from being the strong side of the Pharisees (Mat 23:13-14 ; Mar 7:11 ) that Jesus had sufficient reason to inculcate on them that virtue instead of their worthless washings.
] that which is therein . It might also mean, not: quod superest , i.e. (Vulgate), but perhaps: that which is at hand , that which ye have (Theophylact: ; Euthymius Zigabenus: ; Luther: Of that which is there ), or which is possible (Grotius, Morus), to justify which would have to be understood; but the connection requires the reference to the cups and platters.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
41 But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.
Ver. 41. But rather give alms ] So Daniel counsels Nebuchadnezzar,Dan 4:27Dan 4:27 . Ralph, Bishop of Chichester, A. D. 1070, drawing towards his end, delivered unto the poor with his own hands whatsoever he had in the world (I inquire not with what intention), leaving himself scarcely clothes to cover him. Alexander V, Bishop of Rome, was liberal to the poor (saith the historian), that he left nothing for himself, so that he would merrily say that he was a rich bishop, a poor cardinal, and a beggarly pope.
Of such things as ye have ] Gr. As are within, , either within the platter (send morsels to the hungry) or within your hearts; for riches get within their owners many times, and do more possess them than are possessed by them;
” difficile est opibus non tradere mentem. “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
41. ] Here again I am compelled entirely to differ from Stier, who, with Erasmus, Lightfoot, Kuinoel, Schleiermacher, &c., understands this as ironical ‘ but ye give alms of their contents, and behold, all things are clean (in your estimation) to you .’ But (1) this is inconsistent with the imperative . (2) It would require , for the Pharisees did not give in this sense. (3) It would be altogether irrelevant to the matter in hand, which was reproof to the Pharisees for their care about outward cleanliness, when the inside was left unclean . (4) It would be inconsistent with the emphatic position of , which are thus pointed out as the true material , out of which to give alms. It would be altogether contrary to our Lord’s usual habit of speaking about giving alms, to make Him cast a slur on it, as this would do: see Mar 10:21 ; ch. Luk 12:33 , where the expression is very similar to this.
The command is a rebuke for their covetousness (see ch. Luk 16:14 ), which follows in close connexion with and , Luk 11:39 . The are the contents of the vessel , which vessel (Luk 11:39 : see note above) is : = therefore, in its meaning, the of ch. Luk 12:33 , and the answers to the of that verse, the result of which is the : and such persons being , to them, as , ( Tit 1:15 ).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 11:41 . , rather (instead of devoting such attention to the outside). , etc., give, as alms, the things within the dishes . Others render as if the phrase were . .: according to your ability (Pricaeus, Grotius, etc.).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
But rather, &c. = Nevertheless [ye say] “give alms”, &c. This was the great meritorious work. supposed to cleanse or make amends for everything.
such things as ye have = the things that are within. Greek. ta enonta. Occurs only here in N.T.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
41.] Here again I am compelled entirely to differ from Stier, who, with Erasmus, Lightfoot, Kuinoel, Schleiermacher, &c., understands this as ironical-but ye give alms of their contents, and behold, all things are clean (in your estimation) to you. But (1) this is inconsistent with the imperative . (2) It would require , for the Pharisees did not give in this sense. (3) It would be altogether irrelevant to the matter in hand, which was reproof to the Pharisees for their care about outward cleanliness, when the inside was left unclean. (4) It would be inconsistent with the emphatic position of , which are thus pointed out as the true material, out of which to give alms. It would be altogether contrary to our Lords usual habit of speaking about giving alms, to make Him cast a slur on it, as this would do: see Mar 10:21; ch. Luk 12:33, where the expression is very similar to this.
The command is a rebuke for their covetousness (see ch. Luk 16:14), which follows in close connexion with and , Luk 11:39. The are the contents of the vessel, which vessel (Luk 11:39 : see note above) is : = therefore, in its meaning, the of ch. Luk 12:33,-and the answers to the of that verse, the result of which is the : and such persons being ,-to them, as , (Tit 1:15).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 11:41. ) Although the exterior thing has been made by Him by whom the interior has been made: nevertheless in the case of man, who has contracted uncleanness, the footing on which the exterior stands, which does not in itself defile, is different from that on which the interior stands, which is in the greatest degree in need of purification.- ) An anonymous writer in Suidas (V. ) says: , a sacrifice brought of the animals which were there, and which he had; as is observed by Pricus, whom see on this passage. Therefore are not , but articles of food and drink which are in the vessels. Supply .-, give) The more usual expression is , to do alms: but in this place give, used (as in ch. Luk 12:33) in antithesis to rapaciousness [ravening: Give is antithetic to rapaciously snatch, implied in ], Luk 11:39.- , and behold) He does not say, and then, but and behold; and presently after, not shall be [in consequence], but are. Therefore He does not say, that it is by giving alms in particular that cleanness or purity is to be gained for ones food and drink; but that purity exists in the creature of God in itself (that is, in the food and drink regarded per se in itself): that all that is effected by the alms when given, not by the washing of hands, is that the stain is wiped away, which the Pharisees had contracted by their rapacity.[112]- ) all things, which are in the cup and the dish, are clean unto you. For God hath made all these things: Luk 11:40. None of these things defileth a man: Mat 15:11.
[112] i.e. Having been guilty of rapacity, and having found pardon through repentance and faith, the only outward amends which one can make to his neighbour, as a fruit of faith and a pledge of sanctification, is, besides restoration of what has been wrongfully taken, almsgiving.-ED. and TRANSL.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
rather: Luk 12:33, Luk 14:12-14, Luk 16:9, Luk 18:22, Luk 19:8, Deu 15:8-10, Job 13:16-20, Psa 41:1, Psa 112:9, Pro 14:31, Pro 19:17, Ecc 11:1, Ecc 11:2, Isa 58:7-11, Dan 4:27, Mat 5:42, Mat 6:1-4, Mat 25:34-40, Mat 26:11, Act 9:36-39, Act 10:31, Act 10:32, Act 11:29, Act 24:17, 2Co 8:7-9, 2Co 8:12, 2Co 9:6-15, Eph 4:28, Heb 6:10, Heb 13:16, Jam 1:27, Jam 2:14-16, 1Jo 3:16, 1Jo 3:17
of such things as ye have: or, as you are able
all: Act 10:15, Rom 14:14-18, 1Ti 4:4, 1Ti 4:5, Tit 1:15
Reciprocal: Lev 7:19 – General Lev 23:22 – General Deu 14:29 – that the Lord 1Sa 25:8 – a good day Neh 8:10 – send Est 9:19 – gladness Est 9:22 – sending portions Job 31:17 – have Pro 16:6 – mercy Ecc 3:12 – but Ecc 9:7 – for Jer 22:15 – eat Eze 18:16 – but hath Zec 14:20 – shall there Mat 6:2 – when Mat 25:35 – I was an Luk 3:11 – He that hath two Luk 6:30 – Give Luk 12:17 – shall Luk 14:13 – call Act 2:46 – did 1Co 10:31 – ye eat
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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If we are helpful toward others with our good things of life, we will be edifying the inner man and will need have no fears of harm from imaginary defilement.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.
[But rather give alms of such things as ye have.] This seems ironically spoken, and in derision to the opinion they had concerning alms.
1. As to the version of the word of such things; may we not suppose it signifies not only, that which is over and above; as the Vulgar, but also all that you have; as Beza: or not only something that may have respect to the riches of this world, but something also that may have respect to the doctrines and tenets of the Pharisees. As if the meaning was this, “‘Those things which are amongst you,’ i.e. Which obtain commonly amongst you, are to this purpose, ‘Give but alms, and all things are clean unto you.'”…
II. However, that which is over and above; or that which you have; (for I will not be very tenacious in this) yet it is hardly probable that our Saviour utters this as his own, but rather as the words and opinion of the Pharisees. Nor do I think that he speaks these things directly, or by way of directions to them; but that he cites their tenets in mere scoff and displeasure. For indeed, this principle was the spawn of their own schools, that giving of alms had a value in it that served for atonement, justification, salvation, every thing. Hence that common term that reached so comprehensively, righteousness. And hence is it that, in those numberless places in the Holy Scriptures, where the praises of justice and righteousness are celebrated, and all the blessings of it pronounced, they apply it all to the giving of alms. Take on instance for all: “Rabh Asai saith, Alms is equivalent to all the other commandments.” “R. Judah saith, Giving of alms is a great thing; for it hastens our redemption. It is written, righteousness; [i.e., giving of alms], delivers from death. Almsgiving, delivereth from sudden death, and from the judgment of hell. R. Meir saith, If any wicked man should make this objection, that if your God love the poor, why doth he not feed them? do thou make this answer; it is, that we by them might be delivered from the judgment of hell.”
I fear, indeed, that the Greek interpreters have a touch of this, when they so oftentimes render justice by giving of alms. So that the reader may judge whether our Saviour either would teach, that rapine, injustice, and unrighteousness might be cleansed by giving of alms; or that he would give them any counsel of this nature, when he knew they were sufficiently tinctured with this kind of doctrine already.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Luk 11:41. But rather, etc. Thus they should turn toward true purity. Not that this giving of alms constituted holiness, but to give those things which are within (the cup and platter) was a far better purification than their ceremonial washings of the outside. The precept receives point from the covetousness of the Pharisees.Some take the verse as ironical: But ye give alms, etc., and behold all things are clean to you (in your estimation). This is open to serious objections. The explanation: which ye can (E. V: such things as ye have) is possible, but not favored by the context.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
As if Christ had said, the way to purify your meats, and drinks, and estates, from all pollution cleaving to them, and to have them sanctified blessings to you, is (in conjunction with other graces) by doing works of mercy, and by liberal alms-giving according to your ability.
Learn, that charity and alms-giving according to our ability and opportunity, is a special means to sanctify our estates to us, and to cause us wholly and comfortably to enjoy whatever we do possess: Give alms of such things as ye have; and behold, all things are clean unto you.
As if Christ had said, your temporal enjoyments are unclean, that is, unlawful to be used by you, until you have sanctified them by some act of charity, which will procure a blessing upon your substance.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
11:41 But rather give alms {f} of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.
(f) That is, according to your ability: as one would say, instead of your extortion which hindered you so that you could not eat cleanly, use charity, and in accordance with your ability be good to the poor, and in this way will that which is within the platter be sanctified even though the platter is unwashed.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jesus’ point was that giving to the poor would demonstrate that the person had cleansed himself inwardly and adequately. He may have been continuing the metaphor and speaking of a dish or vessel, which the NIV has supplied, but He was thinking of a person. He may have meant that the Pharisees should give food as an act of charity, but the giving of what was theirs was the important thing.