The Meaning of Luke 11:54 Explained

Luke 11:54

KJV: Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.

YLT: laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.

Darby: watching him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.

ASV: laying wait for him, to catch something out of his mouth.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Laying wait for  him,  and  seeking  to catch  something  out of  his  mouth,  that  they might accuse  him. 

What does Luke 11:54 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 11:45-54 - Searching Words For Hypocrites
The minute oral and written rules promulgated by the Hebrew religious leaders overlaid and almost buried under their weight the simple Mosaic code. They were the subject of incessant disputing and discussion. A vast crowd of copyists, lecturers, teachers and casuists were always debating them. The lawyer who here addressed Christ was one of this class. He could hardly believe that this revered rabbi could include him and his fellows in these terrible woes.
Our Lord speaks of Himself as the Wisdom of God. Compare Luke 11:49 with Matthew 23:34. For a moment He rises above the low levels of His Incarnation and identifies Himself with the Eternal God. But what profound sorrow filled His heart, as these stern words were wrung from His lips by the stubborn obduracy of His people! In the Hebrew Scriptures, where the order of the books differs from that of our Old Testament, the death of Abel is related in the first book and that of Zacharias in the last, 2 Chronicles 24:20-22. The legend said that the blood of the latter was bubbling up when Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem. No sacrifices availed to stop it. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 11

1  Jesus teaches us to pray, and that instantly;
11  assuring us that God will give all good things to those who ask him
14  He, casting out a demon, rebukes the blasphemous Pharisees;
27  and shows who are blessed;
29  preaches to the people;
37  and reprimands the outward show of holiness

Greek Commentary for Luke 11:54

Laying wait for him [ενεδρευοντες αυτον]
An old verb from εν — en and εδρα — hedra a seat, so to lie in ambush for one. Here only and Acts 23:21 in the N.T. Vivid picture of the anger of these rabbis who were treating Jesus as if he were a beast of prey. [source]
To catch something out of his mouth [τηρευσαι το εκ του στοματος αυτου]
An old Greek verb, though here only in the N.T., from τηρα — thēra (cf. Romans 11:9), to ensnare, to catch in hunting, to hunt. These graphic words from the chase show the rage of the rabbis toward Jesus. Luke gives more details here than in Luke 20:45-47; Matthew 23:1-7, but there is no reason at all why Jesus should not have had this conflict at the Pharisee‘s breakfast before that in the temple in the great Tuesday debate. [source]
Lying in wait - to catch [ἐνεδρεύοντες - θηρεῦσαι]
Met aphors from hunting. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 11:54

Acts 23:21 For there lie in wait [ενεδρευουσιν γαρ]
Present active indicative of ενεδρευω — enedreuō old verb from ενεδρα — enedra (Acts 23:16), in the N.T. only here and Luke 11:54 which see. Till they have slain him (εως ου ανελωσιν αυτον — heōs hou anelōsin auton). Same idiom as in Acts 23:12 save that here we have ανελωσιν — anelōsin (second aorist active subjunctive) instead of αποκτεινωσιν — apokteinōsin (another word for kill), “till they slay him.” Looking for the promise from thee This item is all that is needed to put the scheme through, the young man shrewdly adds. [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 11:54 mean?

watching Him to catch in something out of the mouth of Him
ἐνεδρεύοντες αὐτὸν θηρεῦσαί τι ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ

ἐνεδρεύοντες  watching 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἐνεδρεύω  
Sense: to lie in wait for, to lay wait for, prepare a trap for.
θηρεῦσαί  to  catch 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Active
Root: θηρεύω  
Sense: to go a hunting, to hunt, to catch in hunting.
τι  in  something 
Parse: Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: τὶς  
Sense: a certain, a certain one.
ἐκ  out  of 
Parse: Preposition
Root: ἐκ 
Sense: out of, from, by, away from.
στόματος  mouth 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Singular
Root: στόμα  
Sense: the mouth, as part of the body: of man, of animals, of fish, etc.
αὐτοῦ  of  Him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.