Luke Chapter 11 verse 38 Holy Bible
And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first bathed himself before dinner.
read chapter 11 in ASV
And when the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised because he came to the meal without first washing himself.
read chapter 11 in BBE
But the Pharisee seeing [it] wondered that he had not first washed before dinner.
read chapter 11 in DARBY
And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner.
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read chapter 11 in WBT
When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner.
read chapter 11 in WEB
and the Pharisee having seen, did wonder that he did not first baptize himself before the dinner.
read chapter 11 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 38. - He marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner. An elaborate system of utter meaningless ablutions, each carried out with particular gestures, had been instituted by the rabbinical schools. All these senseless forms and ceremonies had been developed out of the original simple directions to secure cleanliness in the Levitical Law. It is probable that our Lord, intending to bring about this discussion. pointedly abstained from even the ordinary ablution on this occasion. The language of ver. 37 seems to point to his entering the house and at once sitting down at the table. The Talmud has many references to these practices. R. Akhibha, it proudly relates, died of thirst rather than pass over these preliminary washings. In the same compilation we read that it was currently supposed that a demon sat on hands unwashed.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(38) He marvelled that he had not first washed.--See Notes on Matthew 15:2; Mark 7:3. Here the word "washed" (literally, though of course not in the technical sense, baptized) implies actual immersion, or, at least, a process that took in the whole body. Mark 7:4 shows that this was the Pharisaic standard of ceremonial purity.
