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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
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 V49 V51 V53
OET (OET-LV) Woe to_you_all, because you_all_are_building the tombs of_the prophets, but the fathers of_you_all killed_ them _off.
OET (OET-RV) You all won’t end well, because you all build fancy tombs for the prophets that your own ancestors executed.
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 11:47–48 Jesus criticized the law experts for building tombs to honor the dead prophets. The logic of Jesus’ statement is difficult to follow because:
Normally, building tombs to honor someone is a good thing to do.
If the law experts built tombs for prophets whom their forefathers had killed, people would think they were trying to atone for the sins of their fathers. That too would normally be a good thing to do.
Jesus’ logic was something like this:
The only real way to honor the prophets would be to follow and obey their message.
But the law experts did not obey the message of the prophets. So they were not honoring the prophets.
If they were not honoring the prophets’ lives, then by building tombs they were honoring their deaths.
This was the same as agreeing with what their ancestors did.
See the General Comment on 11:47–48 at the end of 11:48b for some possible ways to clarify 11:47–48.
Woe to you!
It will be bad/terrible for you(plur),
How sad/awful! God will also severely punish you(plur) experts in the law,
Woe to you!: This phrase is the same as in 11:43a.
You build tombs for the prophets,
because you(plur) build memorials/tombs for the prophets,
for you(plur) make/erect fine monuments to honor the prophets
because you(plur) set up beautiful stones to decorate the graves of the prophets
You build tombs for the prophets: The law experts were apparently in the habit of building fine tombs or memorials to honor the prophets of Old Testament days.
build tombs: The Greek word that the BSB translates here as tombs probably refers to stone monuments. These monuments were built at the site of the grave. They served to decorate the grave. Other ways to translate the phrase build tombs are:
make fancy grave markers
build monuments (CEV)
make/erect memorials
set up beautiful stones to decorate the graves
prophets: The word prophets describes men and women who spoke on behalf of God. They told people what God revealed to them. Some ways to translate prophets are:
spokesmen for God
men who speaks God’s words
God’s message-speakers
The word prophets also occurs at 10:24a. See also prophet in the Glossary.
but it was your fathers who killed them.
and it was your(plur) ancestors who killed/murdered the prophets.
whom your(plur) ancestors killed.
your fathers: The Greek word that the BSB translates literally as fathers figuratively means “ancestors.” Many English versions translate it that way. Another way to translate this is:
your forefathers (NIV)
killed: The Greek word that the BSB translates as killed can also be translated as “murdered” here. The ancestors of the law experts had killed the prophets unlawfully because they had hated the prophets and their message.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
πατέρες
fathers
Jesus is using the term fathers in a generic sense that includes both men and women. Alternate translation: [ancestors]
OET (OET-LV) Woe to_you_all, because you_all_are_building the tombs of_the prophets, but the fathers of_you_all killed_ them _off.
OET (OET-RV) You all won’t end well, because you all build fancy tombs for the prophets that your own ancestors executed.
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.