LUKE 7:38 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) She stood weeping behind Yeshua’s feet, wetting his feet with her tears. Then she used her hair to wipe off the tears and kissed his feet and rubbed the lotion into them.

Key: khaki:verbs, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT and stood behind him near his feet, weeping. She began to wet his feet with her tears, and she was wiping them with the hair of her head and kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfumed oil.

UST As Jesus was reclining to eat, the woman stood behind him at his feet. She was crying, and her tears fell on Jesus’ feet. She continually wiped his feet with her hair. She kept kissing them and anointing them with the perfume.

BSB [As] she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with [her] tears and wipe [them] with her hair. Then she kissed His feet and anointed [them] with the perfume.

MSB [As] she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with [her] tears and wipe [them] with her hair. Then she kissed His feet and anointed [them] with the perfume.

BLB and having stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with the tears, and she was wiping them with the hairs of her head, and was kissing His feet, and was anointing them with the fragrant oil.

AICNT and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.

OEB and placed herself behind Jesus, near his feet, weeping. Then she began to make his feet wet with her tears, and she dried them with the hair of her head, repeatedly kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume.

WEBBE Standing behind at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET As she stood behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. She wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfumed oil.

LSV and having stood behind, beside His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with the tears, and with the hairs of her head she was wiping, and was kissing His feet, and was anointing with the ointment.

FBV She kneeled beside Jesus and with her tears wet his feet, and dried them with her hair. She kissed his feet, and then she poured the perfume over them.

TCNT As she stood behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

T4T As the people there were reclining to eat, the woman stood behind Jesus, at his feet. As she was crying because she was sorry for her sins, her tears fell on Jesus’ feet. Then she wiped his feet with her hair, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the perfume.

LEB and standing behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and was wiping them[fn] with the hair of her head and was kissing his feet and anointing them[fn] with the perfumed oil.

7:38 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation

BBE And went in and took her place at the back of him, near his feet, weeping, so that his feet were washed with the drops from her eyes, and with her hair she made them dry, and kissing his feet she put the perfume on them.

Moff and stood behind him at his feet in tears; her tears began to wet his feet, so she wiped them with the hair of her head, pressed kisses on them, and anointed them with the perfume.

Wymth and, standing behind close to His feet, weeping, began to wet His feet with her tears; and with her hair she wiped the tears away again, while she lovingly kissed His feet and poured the perfume over them.

ASV and standing behind at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

DRA And standing behind at his feet, she began to wash his feet, with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

YLT and having stood behind, beside his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with the tears, and with the hairs of her head she was wiping, and was kissing his feet, and was anointing with the ointment.

Drby and standing at his feet behind [him] weeping, began to wash his feet with tears; and she wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed [them] with the myrrh.

RV and standing behind at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

SLT And stood at his feet behind, weeping, been to wet his feet with tears, and wiped with the hairs of her head; and she kissed his feet, and anointed with the perfumed oil.

Wbstr And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

KJB-1769 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

KJB-1611 And stood at his feet behind him, weeping, and began to wash his feete with teares, and did wipe them with the haires of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the oyntment.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps And stoode at his feete behynde hym, weepyng, and began to washe his feete with teares, & dyd wype them with the heeres of her head, and kyssed his feete, and anoynted them with the oyntment.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation))

Gnva And shee stoode at his feete behinde him weeping, and began to wash his feete with teares, and did wipe them with the heares of her head, and kissed his feete, and anoynted them with the oyntment.
(And she stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the heares of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. )

Cvdl & stode behynde at his fete, and wepte, and beganne to water his fete with teares, and to drye the wt the hayres of hir heade, and kyssed his fete, & anoynted the with oyntmet.
(and stood behind at his feet, and wept, and began to water his feet with tears, and to dry the with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed the with oyntmet.)

TNT and she stode at his fete behynde him wepynge and beganne to wesshe his fete with teares and dyd wipe the with the heares of her heed and kyssed his fete and anoynted them with oyntment.
(and she stood at his feet behind him weeping and began to wash his feet with tears and did wipe the with the heares of her heed and kissed his feet and anointed them with ointment. )

Wycl and sche stood bihynde bysidis hise feet, and bigan to moiste hise feet with teeris, and wipide with the heeris of hir heed, and kiste hise feet, and anoyntide with oynement.
(and she stood behind bysidis his feet, and began to moist his feet with tears, and wipide with the hairs of her heed, and kissed his feet, and anointed with ointment.)

Luth und trat hinten zu seinen Füßen und weinete und fing an, seine Füße zu netzen mit Tränen und mit den Haaren ihres Haupts zu trocknen; und küssete seine Füße und salbete sie mit Salben.
(and stepped rear to/for his feet and cried and caught an, his feet to/for netzen with teardrops/tears(n) and with the hairn theirs/hers heads to/for trocknen; and kissed his feet and ointment they/she/them with ointment.)

ClVg et stans retro secus pedes ejus, lacrimis cœpit rigare pedes ejus, et capillis capitis sui tergebat, et osculabatur pedes ejus, et unguento ungebat.[fn]
(and standing back otherwise/wrongly feet his, with_tears he_began rigare feet his, and hairs of_the_head self tergebat, and osculabatur feet his, and unguento ungebat. )

7.38 Cœpit rigare. Maria soror Lazari bis eodem functa est officio: semel in Galilæa cum primo accedit cum humilitate et lacrymis, ubi remissionem peccatorum accepit. Secundo, in Bethania, non jam peccatrix nominata, sed casta, et ideo devota: ibi pedes, hic caput inungit.

7.38 It_began rigare. Maria sister Lazari twice the_same functa it_is officio: once/first in/into/on Galilæa when/with at_first comes when/with humility and with_tears, where remission of_sins/sinners he_received. Secondly, in/into/on Bethania, not/no already sinsrix namesa, but casta, and therefore/for_that_reason devota: there feet, this/here the_head inungit.

UGNT καὶ στᾶσα ὀπίσω παρὰ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ κλαίουσα, τοῖς δάκρυσιν ἤρξατο βρέχειν τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ταῖς θριξὶν τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῆς ἐξέμασσεν, καὶ κατεφίλει τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἤλειφεν τῷ μύρῳ.
(kai stasa opisō para tous podas autou klaiousa, tois dakrusin aʸrxato breⱪein tous podas autou, kai tais thrixin taʸs kefalaʸs autaʸs exemassen, kai katefilei tous podas autou, kai aʸleifen tōi murōi.)

SBL-GNT καὶ στᾶσα ⸂ὀπίσω παρὰ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ⸃ κλαίουσα, ⸂τοῖς δάκρυσιν ἤρξατο βρέχειν τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ⸃ καὶ ταῖς θριξὶν τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῆς ἐξέμασσεν, καὶ κατεφίλει τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ καὶ ἤλειφεν τῷ μύρῳ.
(kai stasa ⸂opisō para tous podas autou⸃ klaiousa, ⸂tois dakrusin aʸrxato breⱪein tous podas autou⸃ kai tais thrixin taʸs kefalaʸs autaʸs exemassen, kai katefilei tous podas autou kai aʸleifen tōi murōi.)

RP-GNT καὶ στᾶσα παρὰ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ὀπίσω κλαίουσα, ἤρξατο βρέχειν τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ τοῖς δάκρυσιν, καὶ ταῖς θριξὶν τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῆς ἐξέμασσεν, καὶ κατεφίλει τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἤλειφεν τῷ μύρῳ.
(kai stasa para tous podas autou opisō klaiousa, aʸrxato breⱪein tous podas autou tois dakrusin, kai tais thrixin taʸs kefalaʸs autaʸs exemassen, kai katefilei tous podas autou, kai aʸleifen tōi murōi.)

TC-GNT καὶ στᾶσα [fn]παρὰ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ὀπίσω κλαίουσα, [fn]ἤρξατο βρέχειν τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ τοῖς δάκρυσι, καὶ ταῖς θριξὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῆς ἐξέμασσε, καὶ κατεφίλει τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἤλειφε τῷ μύρῳ.
(kai stasa para tous podas autou opisō klaiousa, aʸrxato breⱪein tous podas autou tois dakrusi, kai tais thrixi taʸs kefalaʸs autaʸs exemasse, kai katefilei tous podas autou, kai aʸleife tōi murōi. )

7:38 παρα τους ποδας αυτου οπισω ¦ οπισω παρα τους ποδας αυτου ANT CT

7:38 ηρξατο βρεχειν τους ποδας αυτου τοις δακρυσι ¦ τοις δακρυσιν ηρξατο βρεχειν τους ποδας αυτου CT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 7:36–50: Jesus forgave a woman’s sins and taught a Pharisee about love

In this section a Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus to be the guest of honor at a dinner in his home. While Jesus was there, a sinful woman came and washed his feet with her tears. She dried them with her hair, kissed them, and poured scented oil on them. By these unusual actions, the woman honored Jesus and showed that she loved him.

By contrast, Simon neglected common ways to honor a guest. He did not greet Jesus with a kiss or give him water to wash his feet or put oil on his head. Jesus said that the woman’s acts of love showed that her sins had been forgiven. Simon’s failure to show love showed that his sins had not been forgiven.

Certain Jewish customs help to explain some of the actions in this story:

For special meals, the Jews usually ate at low tables and reclined on couches or cushions with their feet extended away from the table. This made it easier for the woman to kiss Jesus’ feet and pour perfume on them. (See the notes at 7:36b.)
When a religious teacher such as Jesus was invited to a feast, he ate with the host and the other invited guests. People who had not been invited were allowed to come in quietly and listen to what the teacher said. They were not supposed to join the invited guests.
Often a slave washed the feet of the guests. People considered feet to be dirty. When the woman washed Jesus’ feet and kissed them, she humbled herself and honored Jesus.

This section is not explicitly connected to the preceding one, but it does illustrate some of the statements in 7:29–35. The woman was a person who “acknowledged God’s justice” (7:29). Simon the Pharisee was one of those who “rejected God’s purpose for themselves” (7:30).

Some other possible headings for this section are:

A sinful woman washes Jesus’ feet at the home of a Pharisee named Simon

Jesus compares a Pharisee and a sinful woman

7:38a

As she stood behind Him at His feet weeping,

and came to Jesus. As she stood behind him near his feet, she was crying so much that
As she stood at Jesus’ feet, she was weeping and when she bent/kneeled down,

she stood behind Him at His feet: The woman stood behind Jesus. He was lying down on a couch with his head near the table and his feet away from the table. She was standing next to his feet.

weeping: The action of weeping often expresses sorrow. Here the woman may have been feeling sorrow over the sinful life that she had lived. However, she was probably weeping mainly because she was very grateful to Jesus that he had forgiven her. In this context the word weeping does not imply loud wailing and crying out.

In some languages it may be helpful to include a footnote about the reason for the woman’s weeping. For example:

The woman may have been crying because she was sorry for her sins and/or because she was so thankful that her sins were forgiven (verse 47). (TRT)

7:38b

she began to wet His feet with her tears

her tears began to make his feet wet.
her tears fell onto his feet.

began to wet His feet with her tears: As the woman wept, her tears fell down on Jesus’ feet. The tears started to make Jesus’ feet wet, and as they continued to fall, they continued to make them wet. In some languages a word like “began” may not be necessary. Other ways to translate this are:

and washed his feet with her tears (GW)

His feet were wet with her tears (REB)

General Comment on 7:38a–b

In 7:38a the woman was standing, but the actions in the rest of the verse imply that she was kneeling or sitting at his feet. In some languages it may be helpful to make this information explicit. For example:

she stood behind him at his feet weeping. Then she knelt and began to wet his feet…

7:38c

and wipe them with her hair. Then she kissed His feet

Then she wiped his feet with her hair, kissed them,
Over and over she dried them with her hair, kissed them to show her respect/gratitude to him,

wipe them with her hair: The form of the Greek verb that the BSB translates as wipe implies that the woman did this action many times. As her tears fell on Jesus’ feet, she used her hair like a towel to wipe his feet.This is an emphatic expression. In Jewish culture, adult women usually covered their heads with a scarf. It was very unusual for a woman to uncover her hair in public.

kissed His feet: The form of the Greek verb that the BSB translates as kissed implies that the woman kissed Jesus’ feet many times. Kissing his feet was a sign of deep reverence and humility, as well as gratitude.

kissed: In this context the word kissed indicates that the woman rounded her lips slightly, touched or pressed them to Jesus’ feet, and withdrew them. In some cultures, the action of kissing is not known. In other cultures, the action may imply something inappropriate in this context. If that is true in your language, here are some options to consider:

Use a descriptive phrase and indicate the meaning of the action. For example:
She kept touching her lips to his feet to show her respect/gratitude.
Use a more general expression. For example:
She bowed over his feet repeatedly thanking him from her heart.

7:38d

and anointed them with the perfume.

and rubbed the scented oil on them.
and put/poured the scented oil on them and rubbed it in.

anointed them with the perfume: The pronoun them refers to Jesus’ feet. The Greek word that the BSB translates as anointed describes the action of applying oil or ointment to part of the body and rubbing it in. Here the term “anointed” does not imply a religious act. Other ways to translate this are:

putting perfume on them (NLT)

rubbed them with the perfume

put the scented oil on them and rubbed it in

It was not the usual custom to put oil on someone’s feet. Normally people put it on the head. It is not clear if the woman poured out part or all of the scented oil. However, the form of the Greek verb here implies that the woman poured out the oil and rubbed it into Jesus’ feet many times.

General Comment on 7:37b–38d

There are eight verbs in 7:37b–38d. They are all part of one sentence in Greek. In Greek the first four verbs are background information, and the last four are the main verbs that describe four important actions. Here is the structure in Greek:

Background actions:

knowing that Jesus was eating,

bringing an alabaster jar of scented oil,

standing behind him,

weeping,

Main actions:

she began to wet his feet,

and was drying them,

and was kissing his feet,

and was rubbing them with the oil.

Translate these actions in a natural way in your language.

General Comment on 7:38c–d

In 7:38c–d the woman wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair, kissed his feet, and put scented oil on them. These actions expressed reverence and love. The actions were unusual in Jewish culture, but they were not offensive. They did not express any wrong sexual connotations. If these gestures might be considered offensive in your culture, it may be helpful to include a footnote. For example:

What the woman did showed great humility on her part and honored Jesus. These gestures also showed the grateful love that the woman had for Jesus. These were unusual acts in Jewish culture.

Parallel LUKE 7:38