Luke 11:39 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Luke 11:39
And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Titus 1:15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is def…
Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continu…
Proverbs 30:12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Luke 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among…
Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Matthew 23:25-26 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of ex…
John 12:6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Luke 11:37–end
Christ here says many of those things to a Pharisee and his guests, in a private conversation at table, which he afterwards said in a public discourse in the temple (Mt. 23); for what he said in public and private was of a piece. He would not say that in a corner which he durst not repeat and stand to in the great congregation; nor would he give those reproofs to any sort of sinners in general which he durst not apply to them in particular as he met with them; for he was, and is, the faithful Witness. Here is,
I. Christ's going to dine with a Pharisee that very civilly invited him to his house (Luk 11:37); As he spoke, even while he was speaking, a certain Pharisee interrupted him with a req…
cup and platter--remarkable example of our Lord's way of drawing the most striking illustrations of great truths from the most familiar objects and incidents of life.
ravening--rapacity.
Adam Clarke on Luke 11:39
Ye - make clean the outside - See on Mat 23:25 (note).
John Gill on Luke 11:39
And the Lord said unto him,.... Jesus, as the Syriac and Persic versions read; the Lord Jesus, as the Ethiopic.
Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup, and the platter; being very tenacious of the traditions of the elders, concerning the washing of cups and pots, which had been of late years brought in among them, and therefore the word "now" is used; See Gill on Matthew 23:25 and See Gill on Mark 7:4,
but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness: meaning either their souls, which were full of all manner of sin, the cleansing and purity of which they had no concern about, whilst they were very strict and curious in washing their bodies, their cups and platters; or…
He therefore said: "You wash the outside of the cup," that is, the flesh, "but you do not cleanse your inside part," that is, the soul; adding: "Did not He that made the outside," that is, the flesh, "also make the inward part," that is to say, the soul?-by which assertion He expressly declared that to the same God belongs the cleansing of a man's external and internal nature, both alike being in the power of Him who prefers mercy not only to man's washing, but even to sacrifice.
Now our Lord might also have used other words to admonish the foolish Pharisee, but he seizes the opportunity and framed his reproof from the things that were ready before him. At the hour, namely, of meals He takes for His example the cup and the platter, pointing out that it became the sincere servants of God to be washed and clean, not only from bodily impurity, but also from that which lies concealed within the power of the soul, just as any of the vessels which are used for the table ought to be free from all inward defilement.
Now mark that our bodies are signified by the mention of earthly and fragile things, which when let fall a short distance are broken to pieces, and those things which the mind meditates within, it easily expresses through the senses and actions of the body, just as those things which the cup contains within make a glitter without. Hence also hereafter, by the word cup doubtless the passion of the body is spoken of. You perceive then, that not the outside of the cup and platter defiles us, but the inner parts. For he said, But your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Pharisees — Separatists (Heb. persahin, from parash, “to separate”). They were probably the successors of the Assideans (i.e., the “pious”), a party that originated in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes in revolt…
Ablution · Traditional forms of, not observed by Jesus — Traditional forms of, not observed by Jesus
Bigotry · .Of not conforming to the traditions — .Of not conforming to the traditions
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Hypocrites · Described as: Seeking only outward purity — Described as: Seeking only outward purity
Pharisees · .By Jesus — .By Jesus
Satire · Of Jesus against hypocrites — Of Jesus against hypocrites
Self-Righteousness · .Pharisees — .Pharisees
Teachers · .Admonition against — .Admonition against
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Luke 11:37-41
Luke 11:37-41
Luke 11:37-41
37. And while he was speaking, a certain Pharisee requested him to dine with him; and he entered and sat down at table. 38. And when the Pharisee saw it, he wondered that he had not first washed before dinner. 39. And the Lord said to him, Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate; and what is within you is full of cruelty and wickedness. 40. Fools, did not he who made what is without make also what is within? 41. But out of what you have [284] give alms; and, lo, all things are clean to you.
This narrative agrees in some respects, but not entirely, with the doctrine laid down by Matthew, (10:1-20,) that Christ, in order to correct the s…
The Pharisees had meticulous rules for ceremonially cleaning cups and utensils for religious purity. Jesus accused them of cleaning only the outside of the cup (following external rules) but leaving the inside . . . filthy (keeping unrighteousness in their hearts).
