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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 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
Luke C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24
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) Woe to_you_all, because you_all_are as the the unseen tombs, and the people walking over they_have_ not _known it.
OET (OET-RV) You all won’t end well, because you’re like unmarked graves that people walk all over without even realising—the people simply don’t know that you’re dead inside.”
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.
Woe to you!
It will be bad/terrible for you(plur),
How sad/awful! God will severely punish you(plur) Pharisees,
Woe to you!: There is a textual issue here. Following “to you” some Greek manuscripts add “scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.” This longer text is found in Matthew 23:13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29. The KJV follows this longer text. It is recommended that you not include these words. The earliest manuscripts and the majority of English versions do not include them here. If a major language version in your area includes these words, you may want to put them in a footnote. For example: “Following ‘to you’ some Greek manuscripts add the words, ‘scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.’” For more information, see Swanson, p. 217; TRT, p. 246; and Blight 2007a, pp. 535–37. Woe to you is the same phrase that was used in 11:43a. Jesus was still referring to the Pharisees. Consider if you need to make the Pharisees explicit here.
For you are like unmarked graves,
because you(plur) are like graves that have not been marked,
because you(plur) are like hidden/unseen burial places that contain rottenness/corpses.
because you(plur) have unseen filthiness/rottenness in your minds/hearts. You are just like graves that are hidden in a field.
For: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as For is the same conjunction as in 11:42b and 11:43b, where the BSB did not translate it. This conjunction introduces another reason why God was going to punish the Pharisees. Some English versions do not translate this conjunction. In some languages it may be natural to introduce this reason without using an explicit conjunction.
you are like unmarked graves: The clause you are like unmarked graves is a figure of speech called a simile. In this simile, Jesus compared the Pharisees to unmarked graves.
Unmarked graves looked like ordinary ground on the outside, so people did not realize that they contained rotting bodies inside. In the same way, the Pharisees appeared to be righteous and religious in their outward behavior. People did not suspect that their unseen inner thoughts and motives were full of evil.
In some languages it will be necessary to make one or more of the points of comparison explicit. For example:
because you have unseen/hidden filthiness/rottenness inside you like an unmarked grave
because you are like hidden graves that contain rotting/contaminating corpses
unmarked graves: The Greek expression that the BSB translates as unmarked graves refers to graves that were not evident or identifiable as graves. Generally, tombs or graves were painted white so that people knew where they were located. Jesus was referring to places that had not been marked in this way. They looked normal on the outside, but inside they contained dead bodies. Their location was not hidden from view, but it was not obvious that corpses were buried there. Some other ways to translate this expression are:
graves with no marker
graves that people cannot distinguish
which men walk over without even noticing.”
which people can step on and not even know that they have become unclean/defiled.”
Anyone can accidentally walk over such a grave and become unclean. He does not realize what is inside/underneath.”
If a person walks over the surface of a grave like this, he will not know that there is something rotten/filthy inside that has caused him to be unclean.”
which men walk over without even noticing: Sometimes, people walked across or stepped on such graves and did not realize that there were dead people underneath. When they did this, they became ceremonially unclean without knowing it.
The Pharisees were like these graves because they caused other people to become morally unclean. The ordinary people admired them and were influenced by them. But without realizing it, they learned evil ways of thinking and acting from the Pharisees.
men: The Greek word that the BSB translates as men here refers to people in general.
noticing: There is more than one implied object of noticing. The word can refer to:
noticing that the graves contain rotting bodies
noticing that they have become defiled/unclean
You may need to make some of this implied information explicit in a footnote or in your translation. For example:
which people can step on and become unclean without knowing it
If a person walks over the surface of a grave like this, he will not know that there is something rotten/filthy inside that has made him unclean.
A suggested footnote is:
A Jewish person who touched a grave became ceremonially/ritually unclean for seven days. See Numbers 19:16.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / simile
ἐστὲ ὡς τὰ μνημεῖα τὰ ἄδηλα, καὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι οἱ περιπατοῦντες ἐπάνω οὐκ οἴδασιν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὐαί ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐστέ ὡς τά μνημεῖα τά ἄδηλα καί οἱ ἄνθρωποι περιπατοῦντες ἐπάνω οὐκ οἴδασιν)
Jesus is saying that the Pharisees are like unmarked graves because they appear to be ceremonially clean, and so people do not realize that they should avoid them and their teaching. Alternate translation: [you are like burial places that people should not go near, but people do not realize that because the places are unmarked]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐστὲ ὡς τὰ μνημεῖα τὰ ἄδηλα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὐαί ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐστέ ὡς τά μνημεῖα τά ἄδηλα καί οἱ ἄνθρωποι περιπατοῦντες ἐπάνω οὐκ οἴδασιν)
The implication is that these graves are unseen, that is, people do not know that they are there, because they do not have markers such as the stones or plaques that are customarily used to identify graves and to memorialize the people who are buried in them. Alternate translation: [you are like unmarked graves]
Note 3 topic: translate-unknown
μνημεῖα
tombs
The term graves refers to holes dug in the ground where dead bodies are buried. If your readers would not be familiar with graves, you could use a general term. Alternate translation: [burial places]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
καὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι οἱ περιπατοῦντες ἐπάνω
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὐαί ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐστέ ὡς τά μνημεῖα τά ἄδηλα καί οἱ ἄνθρωποι περιπατοῦντες ἐπάνω οὐκ οἴδασιν)
Here Jesus is using the term men in a generic sense that includes all people. Alternate translation: [that people walk over]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
οὐκ οἴδασιν
not ˱they˲_˓have˒_known_‹it›
The implication is that if the Jews walked over a grave, they would become ceremonially unclean because they had come close to a dead body. Unmarked graves would cause them to do that accidentally. Alternate translation: [do not realize that and so become ceremonially unclean]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
οὐκ οἴδασιν
not ˱they˲_˓have˒_known_‹it›
Jesus is using the implied ceremonial uncleanness to represent not doing what pleases God. He has just said in [11:42](../11/42.md) that this is really a matter of showing love and justice to others. Alternate translation: [without realizing it and so, because they follow your teaching, they do not do the things that God wants them to do most]
11:44 hidden graves in a field: Touching a grave or a dead body rendered a Jew ceremonially unclean. Jesus accused the religious leaders of being a defiling influence rather than a purifying one. This was a strongly offensive accusation (11:45).
OET (OET-LV) Woe to_you_all, because you_all_are as the the unseen tombs, and the people walking over they_have_ not _known it.
OET (OET-RV) You all won’t end well, because you’re like unmarked graves that people walk all over without even realising—the people simply don’t know that you’re dead inside.”
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.