11:41a
But: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But introduces a strong contrast. The contrast is between what the Pharisees were actually doing in 11:39b–c and what they should have been doing instead in 11:41a. They were careful about their ritual cleanness, and at the same time were greedy and wicked. Instead, they should have been concerned about giving alms to the poor.
Since the contrast is not with the preceding verse (11:40), it may be necessary to make the connection explicit. For example:
Instead ⌊of acting like that⌋
11:41a is also advice that concludes this paragraph. So in some languages it may be more natural to introduce this verse as a conclusion. For example:
⌊So what you should do⌋ instead ⌊is to⌋…
-or-
⌊So do not be greedy and wicked.⌋ Instead…
-or-
⌊So remove wickedness from your hearts.⌋ Instead…
give as alms: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as give as alms means “give as charity” or “give to the poor.” For example:
Give…as a gift to the poor (God’s Word)
the things that are within you: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the things that are within you is literally “the-(things) being-inside.” There are several ways to interpret this phrase:
(1) It refers figuratively to a person’s possessions. For example:
give what you have to the poor (Contemporary English Version)
(New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version, King James Version)
(2) It refers to the inside of a person. Specifically, it refers to giving “inwardly” or “from an inner motivation.” For example:
give from your heart to those in need (NET Bible)
(Berean Standard Bible, NET Bible)
(3) It refers to food that is inside the dishes. For example:
So give what is in your dishes to the poor (New Century Version)
(New International Version, Good News Translation, New Century Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) or a combination of interpretations (1) and (2). These two interpretations fit well together and are supported by a majority of scholars. See the General Comment on 11:41a–b at the end of 11:41b for another way to express the relationship between these verse parts.
11:41b
and: The Greek text here is literally “and behold.” Some English versions, such as the English Standard Version, translate it that way. This phrase calls attention to the next statement. It indicates that the next statement is something important. It introduces what will happen if the Pharisees give generously to poor people. Most English versions do not translate this phrase. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
I tell you
-or-
I assure you
everything is clean for you: There are at least two ways to interpret the clause everything is clean for you:
(1) Your entire being will be truly clean in God’s sight and will be acceptable to him. For example:
and you will be clean all over (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
and then you will be fully clean (New Century Version)
(New Living Translation (2004), New Century Version, Contemporary English Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
(2) Everything that needs ceremonial cleansing will be ritually clean and acceptable for you to use. For example:
everything will be ritually clean for you (Good News Translation)
(Berean Standard Bible, Good News Translation)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). It is consistent with Jesus’ overall teaching that God emphasizes inner purity more than ritual purity.
clean: The word clean here means something like “acceptable to God.” Jesus was saying that washing bowls and cups and hands made them ceremonially clean. But in order for the people eating at the feast to be truly clean before God, they had to be clean inside.
One way to be clean inside was to be generous to the poor. If they did that, God would be pleased with them, whether or not they washed their hands.
General Comment on 11:41a–b
Verse 11:41a (giving alms to the poor) may be regarded as a means to achieving the result in 11:41b (becoming truly clean). In some languages, it may be more natural to make this explicit. For example:
So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over. (New Living Translation (2004))
© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.