to eat down · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person plural
widows’
χηρῶνchērōn
G5503
a widow (as lacking a husband) · noun — genitive plural feminine
houses
οἰκίαςoikias
G3614
properly · noun — accusative plural feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
for a shew
προφάσειprophasei
G4392
an outward showing · noun — dative singular feminine
make
προσεύχονται·proseuchontai
G4336
to pray to God · verb — present middle or passive deponent indicative, 3rd person plural
long
μακρὰmakra
G3117
long (in place (distant) or time (neuter plural)) · adjective — accusative plural neuter
prayers
προσεύχομαιproseúchomai
G4336
to pray to God
the same
οὗτοιhoutoi
G3778
the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — nominative plural masculine
shall receive
λήμψονταιlēmpsontai
G2983
while G138 (αἱρέομαι) is more violent · verb — future middle deponent indicative, 3rd person plural
greater
περισσόςperissós
G4053
superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality)
damnation
κρίμα.¶krima
G2917
a decision (the function or the effect · noun — accusative singular neuter
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
Mark 12:40 Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.
James 3:1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
Luke 12:1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began…
Luke 12:47-48 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes…
Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
Isaiah 10:2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they m…
Jeremiah 7:6-10 If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to y…
Ezekiel 33:31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Luke 20:39–end
The scribes were students in the law, and expositors of it to the people, men in reputation for wisdom and honour, but the generality of them were enemies to Christ and his gospel. Now here we have some of them attending him, and four things we have in these verses concerning them, which we had before: -
I. We have them here commending the reply which Christ made to the Sadducees concerning the resurrection: Certain of the scribes said, Master, thou hast well said, Luk 20:39. Christ had the testimony of his adversaries that he said well; and therefore the scribes were his enemies because he would not conform to the traditions of the elders, but yet when he vindicated the fundamental practic…
devour, &c.--taking advantage of their helpless condition and confiding character, to obtain possession of their property, while by their "long prayers" they made them believe they were raised far above "filthy lucre." So much "the greater damnation" awaits them. What a lifelike description of the Romish clergy, the true successors of "the scribes!"
Next: Luke Chapter 21
Adam Clarke on Luke 20:46
Beware of the scribes - Take heed that ye be not seduced by those who should show you the way of salvation. See on Mat 23:4-14 (note).
1. How it can be supposed that the ancient Jewish Church had no distinct notion of the resurrection of the dead is to me truly surprising. The justice of God, so peculiarly conspicuous under the old covenant, might have led the people to infer that there must be a resurrection of the dead, if even the passage to which our Lord refers had not made a part of their law. As the body makes a part of the man, justice requires that not only they who are martyrs for the testimony of God, but also all those who have devoted their lives to his service, and died in his…
Which devour widows' houses,.... As the characters of them, in the preceding verse, expose their pride, this shows their avarice; they were very voracious and cruel; they did not spare widows, but devoured their substance:
and for a show make long prayers; to cover their wickedness, pretending great devotion and religion;
the same shall receive greater damnation: than openly profane sinners; doing such wickedness under a cloak of religion, will aggravate their condemnation; See Gill on Matthew 23:14.
The Church Fathers
Thrusting themselves also into the possessions of widows, they grind down their poverty, not content to eat as it may be afforded them, but greedily devouring; using prayer also to an evil end, they thus expose themselves to a heavier condemnation; as it follows, These shall receive the greater damnation.
But they seek not only for praise from men, but money; for it follows, Who devour widows' houses, and for a show make long prayers. For pretending to be righteous and of great merit before God, they do not fail to receive large sums of money from the sick and those whose consciences are disturbed with their sins, as though they would be their protectors in the judgment. Or because they seek from men praise and money, they are punished with the greater damnation.
Those who devour the houses of widows, while feigning long prayers, will receive greater damnation. He did not simply say they will receive damnation, but added greater, to indicate that even those who stand praying in corners to be seen by men (Matthew VI) deserve damnation; but those who do these things more lengthily, as if acting more religiously, not only seeking praises from men but also money, will be punished with lengthier damnation. For there are those who, pretending to be righteous and of great merit before God, do not hesitate to take money from any weaklings troubled by the conscience of their sins, as if they would be their advocates in judgment for them. And while normally an outstretched hand assisting a poor person is helped by prayers, these people, primarily in their prayers, watch through the night to take a coin from the poor. To them, the curse of Judah is deservedly applicable: When he is judged, let him go out condemned, and let his prayer become a sin (Psalm CVIII). For he goes out condemned when he is judged, and his prayer turns into sin, who, now esteemed great among men, is found not only unable to intervene for others in the divine examination but not even able to avail by his own merits, and indeed those prayers by which he deceived the human judgment, he suffers punishment among crimes.
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
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).
John Calvin on Luke 20:41–end
Luke 20:41-44
Matthew
22:41-46
Mark 12:35-37
Luke 20:41-44
41. And when the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus asked them, 42. Saying, What think you of Christ? whose son is he? They say to him, David's. 43. He saith to them, How then doth David by the Spirit call him Lord, saying, 44. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I have made thy enemies thy footstool? [79] 45. If David then calleth him Lord, how is he his son? 46. And no man could make any reply to him; [80] nor did any man from that day venture to put any more questions to him.
35. And Jesus answering said, while he was teaching in the temple, How do the scribes say that Christ is the son of David? 36. For David h…
Yet they shamelessly cheat widows: This might mean exploiting widows’ property over which they were appointed guardians; it could also mean coercing widows to give money beyond their means. Widows were the most vulnerable members of society, and God had special concern for them. He would judge those who exploited them (Exod 22:22; Deut 10:18; 27:19).
