Bible Strands
Luke 7:39
When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, He would know who this is and what kind of woman is touching Him—for she is a sinner!”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Pharisee who invited Jesus speaks inwardly to himself at the moment he observes a woman weeping behind Him, washing His feet with her tears, wiping them with her hair, and anointing them with perfume.
The words — The Greek ἰδὼν (idōn) translates literally as “having seen,” and Φαρισαῖος (Pharisaios) identifies the observer, anchoring his internal critique to what his eyes register.
The thread — His silent calculation mirrors the Pharisees’ public grumbling in Luke 15:2 over Jesus welcoming sinners, while standing in direct contrast to the crowd’s open declaration in Luke 7:16 that a great prophet has appeared.
Why it lands — The text records the Pharisee’s conditional logic that prophetic authority requires knowledge of a person’s moral status, asking the reader to evaluate whether their own judgments depend on visible sin or on discerned spiritual reality.
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The Greek words
King James Version
Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
Cross-references
- Luke 7:16 A sense of awe swept over all of them, and they glorified God. “A great prophet has appeared among us!” they said. “God has visited His people!”
- Luke 15:2 So the Pharisees and scribes began to grumble: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
- Proverbs 23:7 for he is keeping track, inwardly counting the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
- Isaiah 65:5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ Such people are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.
- Mark 7:21 For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
- 2 Kings 5:20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared this Aramean, Naaman, by not accepting what he brought. As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”
- Matthew 9:12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
- Luke 3:8 Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
- Luke 7:37 When a sinful woman from that town learned that Jesus was dining there, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume.
- Luke 16:3 The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking away my position? I am too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg.