Luke 16:15
And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
Study Note
Study Note
Jesus's rebuke to the Pharisees — 'ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God' — directly challenges the social honor-shame economy that governed reputation in the ancient Mediterranean world. The phrase 'justify yourselves before men' (dikaiountes heautous) uses the forensic language of justification ironically: the Pharisees construct their own verdict of righteousness through public performance rather than waiting for divine verdict. The opposition between human esteem (bdelugma, abomination — the LXX word for idol-worship — to God) inverts the entire value system by which social prestige was accumulated and displayed. The verse anticipates the Magnificat's and Beatitudes' radical reversals and underpins Luke's consistent interest in exposing the moral pretensions of the wealthy and religious establishment.
Other Translations
And he said unto them, Ye are they that justify yourselves in the sight of men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
and he said to them, `Ye are those declaring yourselves righteous before men, but God doth know your hearts; because that which among men is high, <FI>is<Fi> abomination before God;
And he said, You take care to seem right in the eyes of men, but God sees your hearts: and those things which are important in the opinion of men, are evil in the eyes of God.
Cross References
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But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of …
I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and …
I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the …
Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the …
I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth …
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but …