Luke 7:45

45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet.

Luke 7:45 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 7:45

Thou gavest me no kiss
A token of civility among friends, when they met together on any occasion. The Jews have a saying F2, that

``all kisses are foolish, excepting three; the kiss of grandeur or dignity, as in ( 1 Samuel 10:1 ) and the kiss at parting, as in ( Ruth 1:14 ) and the kiss at meeting, as in ( Exodus 4:27 ) (of which sort this kiss may be thought to be), to which some add the kiss of consanguinity (or that used by relations to one another), as in ( Genesis 29:11 ) ''

but this woman, since the time I came in.
The Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions read, "since she came in"; and so two of Stephens's copies; which seems to be the more agreeable reading, seeing Christ was in Simon's house before this woman came; for she knowing that he was there, came thither after him:

hath not ceased to kiss my feet;
which shows, that this action was repeated by her times without number, even ever since she came into the house.


FOOTNOTES:

F2 Shemot Rabba, sect. 6. fol. 91. 3, 4.

Luke 7:45 In-Context

43 Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly."
44 Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.
45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet.
46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
47 Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little."
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.