Luke 7:45

45 You didn't give me a kiss; but from the time I arrived, this woman 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Luke 7:45 In-Context

43 Shim`on answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt." "Your judgment is right," Yeshua said to him.

44 Then, turning to the woman, he said to Shim`on, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house -- you didn't give me water for my feet, but this woman has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair!

45 You didn't give me a kiss; but from the time I arrived, this woman has not stopped kissing my feet!

46 You didn't put oil on my head, but this woman poured perfume on my feet!

47 Because of this, I tell you that her sins -- which are many! -- have been forgiven, because she loved much. But someone who has been forgiven only a little loves only a little."