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43 Woe to you Pharisees! You love the best seats[a] in the synagogues[b] and elaborate greetings[c] in the marketplaces![d] 44 Woe to you![e] You are like unmarked graves, and people[f] walk over them without realizing it!”[g]

45 One of the experts in religious law[h] answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things you insult[i] us too.”

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 11:43 tn Or “seats of honor.” The term here is plural and is not a reference only to the lead “seat of Moses” in the synagogue, but includes the front seats near the ark.
  2. Luke 11:43 sn See the note on synagogues in 4:15.
  3. Luke 11:43 tn Grk “and the greetings.”sn The later Jewish summary of oral tradition, the Talmud, notes elaborate greetings for rabbis. The rebuke here is for pride.
  4. Luke 11:43 sn See the note on marketplace in Luke 7:32.
  5. Luke 11:44 tc Most mss (A [D] W Θ Ψ ƒ13 M it) have “experts in the law and Pharisees, hypocrites” after “you,” but this looks like an assimilation to the parallel in Matt 23:25, 27, 29. The shorter reading has earlier attestation from a variety of reliable mss (P45,75 א B C L ƒ1 33 1241 2542 lat sa).
  6. Luke 11:44 tn Grk “men.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos), referring to both males and females.
  7. Luke 11:44 sn In Judaism to come into contact with the dead or what is associated with them, even without knowing it, makes one unclean (Num 19:11-22; Lev 21:1-3; Mishnah, m. Demai 2:3). To Pharisees, who would have been so sensitive about contracting ceremonial uncleanness, it would have been quite a stinging rebuke to be told they caused it.
  8. Luke 11:45 sn That is, an expert in the interpretation of the Mosaic law. They worked closely with the Pharisees.
  9. Luke 11:45 tn For this term, see Matt 22:6; Luke 18:32; Acts 14:5; 1 Thess 2:2.

43 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.(A)

44 “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves,(B) which people walk over without knowing it.”

45 One of the experts in the law(C) answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”

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