Luke 11:44
 
Luke 11:44
(KJV) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.
(1611 KJV) Woe vnto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye are as graues which appeare not, and the men that walk ouer them, are not aware of them.
(1587 Geneva Bible) Wo be to you, Scribes and Pharises, hypocrites: for ye are as graues which appeare not, and the men that walke ouer them, perceiue not.
(1526 Tyndale) Wo be to you scribes and pharises ypocrites for ye are as graves which appere not and the men yt walke over the are not ware of the.
 
Counterfeit Versions
(CSB) “Woe to you! You are like unmarked graves; the people who walk over them don’t know it.”
(NIV) "Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it."
(NASV) Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it."
(THE MESSAGE) Frauds! You're just like unmarked graves: People walk over that nice, grassy surface, never suspecting the rot and corruption that is six feet under."
(AMP) Woe to you! For you are like graves which are not marked or seen, and men walk over them without being aware of it [and are ceremonially defiled].
(NLT) Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.”
(ESV) Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it."
(CEV) But you are in for trouble! You are like unmarked graves that people walk on without even knowing it.
(NCV) How terrible for you, because you are like hidden graves, which people walk on without knowing."
(1901 ASV) Woe unto you! for ye are as the tombs which appear not, and the men that walk over them know it not.
(HCSB) "Woe to you! You are like unmarked graves; the people who walk over them don't know it."
(RSV) Woe to you! for you are like graves which are not seen, and men walk over them without knowing it."
(NAB-Roman Catholic) Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk."
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) Woe to YOU, because YOU are as those memorial tombs which are not in evidence, so that men walk upon them and do not know [it]!”
 
Textus Receptus - Traditional Text
ouai umin grammateiV kai jarisaioi upokritai oti este wV ta mnhmeia ta adhla kai oi anqrwpoi oi peripatounteV epanw ouk oidasin
 
Hort-Westcott - Critical Text
ouai umin oti este wV ta mnhmeia ta adhla kai oi anqrwpoi oi peripatounteV epanw ouk oidasin
 
Corrupted Manuscripts
This verse is corrupted in the following manuscripts:
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century
L 019 - Seventh century
 
Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for this verse
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century
D 05 - Bezae Cantabrigiensis - Fifth century
K 017 - Ninth century
W 032 - Fourth/fifth century
Gamma 036 - Ninth or Tenth century
Delta 037 - Ninth century
Theta 038 - Ninth century
13 (Minuscule) - Eighth century
 
Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions
Omits “Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites”
Greisbach, Johann - 1805
Lachmann, Karl - 1842 (in margin or brackets)
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871
Westcott and Hort - 1881
Nestle - 1927 as revised in seventeenth edition in 1941
Nestle-Aland - 1979 - Twenty Sixth Edition
Nestle-Aland - 1993 - Twenty Seventh Edition
United Bible Societies - 1983 - Fourth Edition
 
Affected Teaching
In this verse the Lord Jesus Christ is specifically addressing the Scribes and Pharisees and calling them hypocrites. They pretended to be so religious and they were the farthest thing from true piety and that is why Jesus is indicting them as hypocrites. Religious people are an affront to the true Gospel but religious hypocrites are more dangerous because they claim to be something in public that they are not in private. Once again the modern versions protect the guilty religious hypocrites by omitting this part and making it a generic pronouncement. Jesus specifically gave a list of their hypocrisies in Luke 11 and that is why the section is preceded by the defining term hypocrite. Jesus was focusing on the leaders because as the leaders go so goes the flock. Once again the King James Bible shines through with the truth.

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