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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT ESA WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
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Luke 11 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47 V49 V51 V53
OET (OET-LV) But woe to_you_all the Farisaios_party, because you_all_are_tithing the mint, and the rue, and every garden_plant, and you_all_are_passing_by the justice and the love of_ the _god.
And these things it_was_fitting to_do, and_those things to_ not _neglect.
OET (OET-RV) “But you Pharisees won’t end well, because you give a tenth of your herbs and vegetables, yet you all ignore giving justice and loving God, both of which need to be done and cannot be ignored.
In this section, a Pharisee invited Jesus to his house for a meal. The Pharisee was surprised that Jesus did not ritually wash his hands before he ate. Jesus then criticized the Pharisees because they carefully observed outward rituals but neglected true devotion to God. He specifically warned the Pharisees about three ways in which they displeased God. He then directed three additional warnings to the teachers of the law.
Some other headings for this section are:
Jesus’ Criticism of the Religious Leaders
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 23:1–36 and Mark 12:38–40.
In this paragraph, Jesus said that God was not pleased with how the Pharisees were behaving. He also said that God would punish them.
It may be more natural in some languages to reorder the clauses of 11:42a–c. See the General Comment on 11:42a–c at the end of 11:42c for an example.
Woe to you Pharisees!
¶ “But unfortunately, it will be bad/terrible for you(plur) Pharisees,
¶ Jesus continued, “How sad/awful! God will severely punish you(plur) Pharisees.
In Greek, this paragraph begins with a conjunction. Some versions, such as the RSV, translate it as “But.” In this context, it probably has two functions:
It introduces a contrast between the actual situation of the Pharisees (11:42b–c) and what they ought to have done (11:41a–b). Another way to introduce this contrast is to say:
But unfortunately, it will be bad…
It introduces a new thought. Another way to introduce this new thought is to say:
Jesus continued, “How awful…”
The BSB, like some other English versions, does not explicitly connect this paragraph with the preceding verse.
Woe to you Pharisees!: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as Woe to you expresses Jesus’ sorrow. This sorrow was due to the terrible things that would happen to the Pharisees. It implies that God would punish them. Some other ways to translate this exclamation are:
How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! (NLT96)
How horrible it will be for you Pharisees! (GW)
How sad/awful! God will punish you Pharisees severely.
If you have an idiom to express this idea, you may use it here.
The word Woe also occurs in 10:13a.
You pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb,
because you(plur) carefully give to God a tenth of even your mint herbs, your rue herbs, and your other garden plants,
because although you(plur) are careful to tithe the small plants that you harvest for flavoring food and every other plant that grows in your gardens,
You take even your tiny herbs/leaves and your vegetables and divide them into ten parts and give one part to God,
This verse part begins with a Greek conjunction that introduces the reason for Jesus’ exclamation of woe in 11:42a. Many English versions translate this conjunction as “for” or “because.” The BSB and some other English versions do not translate this conjunction. In some languages it may be natural to introduce this reason without using an explicit conjunction.
You pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb: God was not angry because the Pharisees gave a tenth of these herbs, but because they did not do other, more important things. In some languages it may be helpful to make this clear by supplying a word such as “although.” For example:
because, although you give to God a tenth of your mint…
This clause contains implied information. It is implied that the Pharisees were very strict in tithing even unimportant things such as herbs used to season food. In some languages, it may be helpful to make this information explicit. Making this explicit may avoid the wrong implication that the Pharisees tithed garden herbs but not other things, such as grain or animals. For example:
you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens (NLT)
You pay tithes: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as You pay tithes can also be translated this way:
you tithe (ESV)
The Old Testament laws required the Jewish people to give to God a tenth of whatever they gained from their animals, grain crops, and garden fruits.
Some other ways to translate this are:
give God one of/from every ten
If you have ten…, you take one and give it to God
give God his part
mint, rue: The words mint and rue here refer to small plants. The leaves and stems of mint were used as an herb to season food. The leaves of the rue plant were used to give a bitter flavor to food. People also used it in medicines.
Some other ways to translate mint and rue are:
Use a more generic word or descriptive phrase. For example:
small plants that you harvest for seasoning/flavoring food
seasoning/spice herbs
Substitute another kind of herb.
and every herb: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as and every herb refers in general to plants or vegetables that grew in gardens. People ate some of these for regular food. Others, like mint and rue, were small plants that people used to season or flavor their food.
Some ways to translate this phrase are:
any other kind of vegetable
every other plant in your garden (NCV)
but you disregard justice and the love of God.
but you(plur) do not act in a just way or love God.
you(plur) do not treat other people justly/fairly and you(plur) do not love God.
but you(plur) neglect what is more important, such as doing what is fair/right to others and loving God.
but: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as but here introduces a contrast. The Pharisees were doing one thing and not doing something else that was more important.
you disregard justice and the love of God: The terms justice and the love of God were examples of activities that were more important than tithing tiny plants. In some languages, it may be helpful to make the implied basis of the contrast explicit. For example:
you disregard things that are more important, such as justice and the love of God
you disregard justice: The word justice refers to acting justly or fairly toward other people. Some other ways to translate the clause you disregard justice are:
you fail to be fair to others (NCV)
you do not do what is right/fair to other people
you treat others unfairly
you disregard…the love of God: The phrase you disregard…the love of God means “you fail…to love God.” The Pharisees did not love God as they should have. Another way to translate this is:
you don’t love God (CEV)
love: The word love means that a person values and reverences God with gratitude and affection.
This same word occurs in 10:27a–b.
In some languages, following the sentence structure of the BSB may cause readers to think that God was punishing people because they were tithing their herbs. It may be clearer to reorder the verse in order to state first why God was going to punish the Pharisees. For example:
42aHow terrible for you Pharisees 42cbecause you neglect justice and the love of God, 42beven though you give God a tenth of your mint, rue, and other garden plants.
Another way to reorder 11:42a–c is to put the phrase “Woe to you” at the end, as follows:
42bYou Pharisees give God a tenth of your mint, rue, and all kinds of other garden herbs, 42cbut you neglect justice and the love of God. 42aWoe to you!
You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.
You(plur) should have been fair to others and loved God, as well as given a tenth of your things to God.
You(plur) should have been careful to do these more important things, as well as continuing to give a tenth to God.
You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former: The Greek of this part literally says “You ought to have done these without neglecting the others.” Most commentators interpret the word “these” to refer to acting justly and loving God. They interpret the phrase “the others” to refer to giving God a tenth. In many languages it will be clearer to make these references explicit. For example:
You should be fair and kind to others and still give a tenth to God. (CEV)
Some other ways to translate this are:
It would be better if you were careful to do these more important things while you continued to give the tithe.
It is good if you give the tithe, but you should not forget to do the other things I have just mentioned.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἀποδεκατοῦτε τὸ ἡδύοσμον, καὶ τὸ πήγανον, καὶ πᾶν λάχανον
˱you_all˲_˓are˒_tithing (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἀλλά οὐαί ὑμῖν τοῖς Φαρισαίοις ὅτι ἀποδεκατοῦτε τό ἡδύοσμον καί τό πήγανον καί παν λάχανον καί παρέρχεσθε τήν κρίσιν καί τήν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ ταῦτα Δέ ἔδει ποιῆσαι κἀκεῖνα μή παρεῖναι)
The implication is that the Pharisees are counting the leaves on their garden herbs and giving a tenth of those to God, and that by doing that, they are going to almost absurd extremes in pursuing that devotional practice. Alternate translation: [you are so extreme that you give every tenth leaf from your mint and rue and other garden plants to God]
Note 2 topic: translate-unknown
τὸ ἡδύοσμον, καὶ τὸ πήγανον
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἀλλά οὐαί ὑμῖν τοῖς Φαρισαίοις ὅτι ἀποδεκατοῦτε τό ἡδύοσμον καί τό πήγανον καί παν λάχανον καί παρέρχεσθε τήν κρίσιν καί τήν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ ταῦτα Δέ ἔδει ποιῆσαι κἀκεῖνα μή παρεῖναι)
These are the names of herbs. People put just a little bit of their leaves into their food to give it flavor. If your readers would not know what mint and rue are, you could use the name of herbs that they would know.
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / hyperbole
πᾶν λάχανον
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἀλλά οὐαί ὑμῖν τοῖς Φαρισαίοις ὅτι ἀποδεκατοῦτε τό ἡδύοσμον καί τό πήγανον καί παν λάχανον καί παρέρχεσθε τήν κρίσιν καί τήν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ ταῦτα Δέ ἔδει ποιῆσαι κἀκεῖνα μή παρεῖναι)
This does not mean every herb that exists, but every herb that the Pharisees were growing in their gardens. Alternate translation: [every other herb in your gardens]
τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἀλλά οὐαί ὑμῖν τοῖς Φαρισαίοις ὅτι ἀποδεκατοῦτε τό ἡδύοσμον καί τό πήγανον καί παν λάχανον καί παρέρχεσθε τήν κρίσιν καί τήν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ ταῦτα Δέ ἔδει ποιῆσαι κἀκεῖνα μή παρεῖναι)
Alternate translation: [to make sure that people are treated fairly and compassionately, as God would want]
ταῦτα & κἀκεῖνα
these_‹things› & and_those_‹things›
By these, Jesus means the justice and the love of God. By those, he means devotional practices such as tithing. Your language may have its own way of expressing distinctions like this. Alternate translation: [the latter and the former]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / doublenegatives
κἀκεῖνα μὴ παρεῖναι
and_those_‹things› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἀλλά οὐαί ὑμῖν τοῖς Φαρισαίοις ὅτι ἀποδεκατοῦτε τό ἡδύοσμον καί τό πήγανον καί παν λάχανον καί παρέρχεσθε τήν κρίσιν καί τήν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ ταῦτα Δέ ἔδει ποιῆσαι κἀκεῖνα μή παρεῖναι)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate this double negative, which consists of a negative particle and a negative verb, as a positive statement. Alternate translation: [while making sure to express your devotion to God as well]
OET (OET-LV) But woe to_you_all the Farisaios_party, because you_all_are_tithing the mint, and the rue, and every garden_plant, and you_all_are_passing_by the justice and the love of_ the _god.
And these things it_was_fitting to_do, and_those things to_ not _neglect.
OET (OET-RV) “But you Pharisees won’t end well, because you give a tenth of your herbs and vegetables, yet you all ignore giving justice and loving God, both of which need to be done and cannot be ignored.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.