XXIII. The Last Preaching Mission

91. Dining with the Pharisees

        ³⁷A Pharisee asked him to dine with him; so he went in and sat at table. ³⁸The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. ³⁹And the Lord said, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of extortion and wickedness.”
        ⁴⁵One of the lawyers^a answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you reproach us also.”
        ⁴⁶And he said, “Woe upon you lawyers also! for you load men with burdens grievous to bear, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them. ⁴⁷Woe upon you! for you build the tombs for the prophets whom your fathers killed. ⁴⁸So you are witnesses and consent to the deeds of your fathers; for you now plan to kill the prophet who comes in this day doing what the prophets did in their day. ⁵⁰The blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, ⁵¹may be required of this generation. ⁵²Woe upon you lawyers! for you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”
        ⁵³As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard, and to provoke him to speak of many things, ⁵⁴lying in wait for him, to catch him at something he might say.^b
        (Lk. 11:37–39, 45–48, 50–54)

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a   “One of the lawyers”—Evidently Jesus was invited to a meal given by a Pharisee, whose guests included a number of lawyers and Pharisees. These Pharisees, who strictly followed the practice of ceremonial washing, were shocked when Jesus did not engage in this Pharisaic practice.

b   “lying in wait for him, to catch him at something he might say.”—to be used to bring him to trial and judgment before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.

Lk. 11:37  A / While he was speaking a (RSV)
Lk. 11:39  said, “Now / said to him, "Now (RSV)
Lk. 11:46  Woe upon you (KJV) / Woe to you (RSV) • burdens grievous to (KJV) / burdens hard to (RSV) • yourselves will not lift one finger to help them. (NIV) / yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. (RSV)
Lk. 11:47  Woe upon you! (KJV) / Woe to you! (RSV)
Lk. 11:48  for you now plan to kill the prophet who comes in this day doing what the prophets did in their day. / for they killed them, and you build their tombs. (RSV)
Lk. 11:50  The / that the (RSV)
Lk. 11:51  may be (NIV) / will be (RSV)
Lk. 11:52  Woe upon you (KJV) / Woe to you (RSV)
Lk. 11:54  catch him at / catch at (RSV)   (166:1/1825–7)

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