Discovery BoxLuke 11:38 
Context11:38 The 1 Pharisee was astonished when he saw that Jesus 2 did not first wash his hands 3 before the meal.
Luke 11:53-54
Context11:53 When he went out from there, the experts in the law 4 and the Pharisees began to oppose him bitterly, 5 and to ask him hostile questions 6 about many things, 11:54 plotting against 7 him, to catch 8 him in something he might say.
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 tn Or “the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.
5 tn Or “terribly.”
6 tn For this term see L&N 33.183.
7 tn Grk “lying in ambush against,” but this is a figurative extension of that meaning.
8 tn This term was often used in a hunting context (BDAG 455 s.v. θηρεύω; L&N 27.30). Later examples of this appear in Luke 20.
