11:38
But: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But here introduces an unexpected development in the story. Many English versions do not translate this conjunction here. Use a natural way in your language to connect this verse with 11:37.
the Pharisee was surprised to see that Jesus did not first wash before the meal: In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of parts of this sentence. For example:
The Pharisee saw that Jesus did not wash before the meal, and he was surprised.
-or-
The Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus had not washed before eating. (Good News Translation)
In some languages it may not be necessary to say explicitly that the Pharisee “noticed” or “saw” what Jesus had not done. For example:
The Pharisee was surprised that he did not wash his hands before eating. (Contemporary English Version)
surprised: The Pharisee was surprised because he saw something that he did not expect. He had expected that Jesus would follow the rules about ceremonial purity.
Jesus did not first wash before the meal: The Pharisees’ custom was to wash their hands and arms before they ate. Before eating they would dip their hands and arms in water or ask a servant to pour water over their hands and arms. They followed this ritual, whether or not their hands were dirty, in order to make themselves ceremonially pure. Jesus did not wash his hands in this way before he sat down to eat.
In some languages it may be necessary to make some of this information explicit in either the text or in a footnote. Otherwise, people may misunderstand the cause of the Pharisee’s surprise. For example:
he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom (New Living Translation (2004))
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