Luke 11:44 Meaning and Explanation
“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.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Woe to them: they are like unmarked graves that men walk over without knowing.
What Does Luke 11:44 Mean?
The third woe is the starkest. Contact with a grave made a person ceremonially unclean (Numbers 19:16), so tombs were whitewashed and marked. These men, Jesus says, are unmarked graves -- defiling those who pass over them unawares.
The image inverts their self-image: guardians of purity who in fact spread death invisibly, shaping others toward corruption while appearing respectable. Hypocrisy harms more than the hypocrite; it contaminates the unsuspecting. The cure is the chapter's theme -- an inside made clean by God, so that influence gives life instead.
Frequently Asked Questions About Luke 11:44
What does Luke 11:44 mean?
Woe to them: they are like unmarked graves that men walk over without knowing.