You fools! Did not the One who made the outside make the inside as well?
Parallel translations
- WEB You foolish ones, didn’t he who made the outside make the inside also?
- KJV Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?
- NKJV Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?
- NASB You foolish ones, did He who made the outside not make the inside also?
- NLT Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus reminds them that God made both the inside and the outside. The Creator cares about the heart, not just appearances.
Overview
By appealing to God as Maker of both, Jesus insists the inner life cannot be ignored. To cleanse only the outside is foolish before the God who sees the heart. True religion must begin within, where God alone can purify.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Luke 12:20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’
- 1 Cor 15:36You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
- Prov 1:22“How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?
- Prov 8:5O simple ones, learn to be shrewd; O fools, gain understanding.
- Ps 94:8–9Take notice, O senseless among the people! O fools, when will you be wise?
- Matt 23:26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well.
- Matt 23:17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred?
- Gen 2:7Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
- Luke 24:25Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
- Ps 75:4–5I say to the proud, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn.
- Ps 33:15He shapes the hearts of each; He considers all their works.
- Jer 5:21“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
- Heb 12:9Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live?
- Num 16:22But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?”
- Ps 14:1For the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.
- Gen 1:26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.”
- Zech 12:1This is the burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man within him:
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 11:40 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.