OET interlinear LUKE 7:44

7:44a

And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon: Jesus turned to look at the woman who had come and anointed him. He was looking at the woman while he spoke to Simon about her.

Do you see this woman?: This is a rhetorical question. Jesus did not expect an answer. He was directing Simon’s attention toward the woman and asking him to consider her actions. So there are two ways to translate this:

• As a question. For example:

  Have you noticed this woman? (CEV)

  Do you see what this woman has done?

• As a polite command. For example:

  Think about what this woman has just done.

  Look at this woman kneeling here. (NLT)

7:44b

In 7:44a Jesus directed Simon’s attention toward the woman, and he seemed ready to speak to Simon about her. However, here in 7:44b Jesus first spoke about how Simon had treated him. If this is confusing in your language, consider whether you may need more transition. For example:

^44aConsider this woman ^44band think about yourself

^44aDo you see this woman? ^44bIn contrast to her

When I entered your house: The phrase When I entered your house implies that Jesus came as a guest to the Pharisee’s house. In Jewish culture it was important for a host to be very polite to a guest. In some languages there may be an idiom that fits here. For example:

I came under your roof as your guest.

In the Greek text, the word that the BSB translates as your is emphatic. If you have a way to emphasize this word in your language, consider doing that here. Some examples from English are:

It is your house that I came into.

You are the one who invited me to your home.

As for you, you are my host, and I am here in your home.

7:44c

you did not give Me water for My feet: It was a common Jewish custom to give a guest a bowl or basin of water so that he could wash the dust off his feet.This custom was especially appropriate if a guest had been traveling and so would have dusty feet. There is debate in the commentaries concerning whether such an act was a necessary or required act of hospitality. A number of commentators (see Alford, Bock, Fitzmyer, Marshall, Nolland, and Stein) follow two German sources (Heinz Schürmann’s Das Lukasevangelium 1.1–9:50 and Strack and Billerbeck’s Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch) that suggest that providing for washing the feet of guests was not required or universally practiced. If this was the case, Simon was not quite improper or rude, though he certainly missed this normal opportunity to show honor or love to his guest. Other commentators (Arndt, Bailey, Keener) favor the view that water for the feet was a required part of hospitality. For example, Bailey says “the failings of the host are glaring omissions…. It is clear that the accepted rituals of welcoming the guest are not merely overlooked in the telling of the story but have been callously omitted by a judgmental host” (Through Peasant Eyes, p. 5). The Notes take the position that even if the gestures of water for the feet, a kiss, and anointing were not required, they would have been customary in greeting a special guest of honor such as a traveling rabbi. In the homes of rich people, the servants would wash the feet of the guests, especially the guest whom they were honoring. However, Simon did not give Jesus water to wash his feet, and he did not provide a servant to wash them.

If it is not a custom in your culture to provide water to wash a guest’s feet, you may want to explain this custom in a footnote. For example:

In Jewish culture, it was common to provide water for the guests to wash their feet. This was especially important if the guests had been walking on dusty roads.

7:44d

but she wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair: In contrast to Simon, the woman acted more humbly than a servant. A servant would have washed Jesus’ feet with water and dried them with a towel. The woman used her tears to wash his feet, and she used her hair to dry them.