Luke 11:38-40

11:38 The 1  Pharisee was astonished when he saw that Jesus 2  did not first wash his hands 3  before the meal. 11:39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean 4  the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 5  11:40 You fools! 6  Didn’t the one who made the outside make the inside as well? 7 

1 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

2 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

3 tn The words “his hands” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied for clarity.

sn Washing before meals was a cultural practice that was described in the OT, but not prescribed there (Gen 18:4; Judg 19:21). It was apparently related to concern about contracting ceremonial uncleanness (Lev 11:31-38; t. Demai 2.11-12).

4 sn The allusion to washing (clean the outside of the cup) shows Jesus knew what they were thinking and deliberately set up a contrast that charged them with hypocrisy and majoring on minors.

5 tn Or “and evil.”

6 sn You fools is a rebuke which in the OT refers to someone who is blind to God (Ps 14:1, 53:1; 92:6; Prov 6:12).

7 tn The question includes a Greek particle, οὐ (ou), that expects a positive reply. God, the maker of both, is concerned for what is both inside and outside.