Luke 11:46

“Woe to you as well, experts in the law!” He replied. “For you weigh men down with heavy burdens, but you yourselves will not lift a finger to lighten their load.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jesus addresses an expert in the law who had just complained that Jesus' previous remarks insulted him and his colleagues. He delivers this rebuke immediately after the expert's complaint in Luke 11:45.

The words — The Greek οὐαί (ouai) translates literally to "woe!" and introduces a pronouncement of judgment. The term νομικοῖς (nomikois) identifies the recipients as lawyers or experts in the Mosaic law.

The thread — This "woe" pronouncement pattern echoes Isaiah 10:1, which condemns those who enact unjust statutes. Jesus later repeats the "woe" formula against the same group in Luke 11:52 regarding the key to knowledge.

Why it lands — The text demands that religious leaders both bear the weight of their own interpretations and actively assist others in doing so. It requires readers to examine whether their own religious practices relieve or compound the burdens of those they teach.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.

Cross-references

Matthew 23:2 “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.
Isaiah 10:1 Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,
Luke 11:52 Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”
Luke 11:45 One of the experts in the law told Him, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us as well.”
Galatians 6:13 For the circumcised do not even keep the law themselves, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
Isaiah 58:6 Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke?