Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Luke 11:41 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 41. 41But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Luke 11:41 joins inward integrity and material generosity instead of replacing justice with ritual contempt.
At a Pharisee's table, woes land on injustice and locked knowledge
This verse is one part of that explanation in Luke 11:37–11:54. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Luke 11:37–11:54
Read Luke 11:41 with 11:37–11:54. In isolation, this contribution—joins inward integrity and material generosity instead of replacing justice with ritual contempt—can be detached from its speaker, audience, scene or teaching sequence, and outcome. The complete unit establishes: At a Pharisee's meal Jesus contrasts exterior washing with inward greed, calls for generosity, condemns neglected justice and love, status seeking, hidden contamination, burdening experts, prophet-killing memorials, and blocked knowledge.
Follow the Context
- Identify the actors, setting, and initiating speech or action in Luke 11:37–11:54.
- At a Pharisee's meal Jesus contrasts exterior washing with inward greed, calls for generosity, condemns neglected justice and love, status seeking, hidden contamination, burdening experts, prophet-killing memorials, and blocked knowledge.
- Hold this material interpretive limit in view: The speech is severe intra-Jewish prophetic polemic and Luke's generalizations carry anti-Jewish reception risk. Purity practice itself is not the enemy; exploitation and hypocrisy are the focus.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not detach its specific contribution—joins inward integrity and material generosity instead of replacing justice with ritual contempt—from the complete unit or override the unit's explicit boundary: The woes do not authorize antisemitism, contempt for Torah or Pharisees, harassment of scholars, leader exemption, or generalized collective guilt.
What Remains True
Luke 11:41 joins inward integrity and material generosity instead of replacing justice with ritual contempt. Read inside Luke 11:37–11:54, this contribution supports the unit's proportionate truth: At a Pharisee's meal Jesus contrasts exterior washing with inward greed, calls for generosity, condemns neglected justice and love, status seeking, hidden contamination, burdening experts, prophet-killing memorials, and blocked knowledge. Its use remains accountable to affected people and the unit's explicit boundary.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Luke 11:37–11:54 — Table Woes Expose Injustice and Burdening AuthoritySources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: Luke 11:37–11:54, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations; the edition is not treated as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Luke.txt, 11:37–11:54
Open the Luke Greek text file ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Luke
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, KJV-language clarification, historical notes, Synoptic parallels, and textual alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Luke PDF, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to Luke 11:37–11:54
Open source ↗