Devouring widows houses

What does Jesus mean when he mentions this in Luke 22:46-47
He goes on to observe the rich man and the poor widow...both offering gifts to the treasury...but what does he mean by the scribes devouring widows houses?

Ive worked in retirement villages where a lot of widows live but they have often sold the family home so they can live there, or rather have licence to occupy. The owner of the retirement village is immensely wealthy, and makes their turnover from peoples deaths when they can sell the property again. Is this what is meant by devoruing widows houses, or its modern day equivalent?

46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
Jesus Arrested
47 While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him,


Methinks you have the wrong scripture.

Arrgh typo luke 20:46-47

haha

Using other translations can often help with tricky verses wording.

Luke 20:46-47 New Living Translation (NLT)
46 “Beware of these teachers of religious law! For they like to parade around in flowing robes and love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces. And how they love the seats of honor in the synagogues and the head table at banquets. 47 Yet they shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, they will be severely punished.”

Thanks...although devour kind of sounds similar to lions stalking their prey...and we know the devil is like a lion seeking whom he may devour...

Anyway is this similar to the case I'm observing happens in retirement villages? After all the widows property is theirs no longer and they have no inheritance left to give to their heirs, their children. It just all goes to the retirement village owner, laughing his way to the bank.

devouring widows houses was to take their property and kick them to the street, its nothing to do with providing for our retirement ad nold age, banks are more guilty of that

It is pretty straight forward. They take advantage of widows in any manner they are able.

How did they kick them to the street...? I mean the scribes.
What did they do. In Jesus illustration both the rich man and the widow went to the temple and gave offerings, rich man casting his gifts away and the widow gave all she had to it. But the rich man never noticed the widow or gave any of his riches to her so they could be equal.

Maybe its when the rich just totally ignore the poor that Jesus doesnt like.

I think it would be more of a spiritual understanding hid in that parable. . Widow or fatherless represent the unbeliever before they were married to Christ as His bride a new creation. Fatherless without the father of Spirits. He has not left us as orphans. .

I would think it means they their minds a blinded. Satan devouring widows houses as a safe place, the bride of Christ or city of refuge.

2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

John 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

The gospel requires a two fold work. Visit the widows especially in Christ fulfill their literal needs and feed them with our daily bread the true fast. .

James 1:27 [Full Chapter] Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Hogwash and codswollop. It's not a parable. Widows were formerly-married women whose husbands had died... many of them had no means of support. The people whom Jesus was lambasting were the prominent men of that culture who had no compassion for people, but were happy to line their own pockets when they could.

The OP is about as close to that situation as you could get in today's western culture.

The bible uses word metaphors throughout to reveal the gospel of Christ.

Yes when looking at the literal understanding of the parable the OP is about as close to that situation as you could get in today's western culture. But the Bible unlike other books is not about the cultures directly .It is a book of spiritual truth that runs along side of literal historical truths. You could say multi layered as the signified language in which God use to reveal himself by with spiritual; words as spiritual understanding.. Foolish to natural man who cannot understand seeing they are spiritually discerned..

Without parables Christ spoke not. Widows were formerly-married women whose husbands had died. or formerly-married men whose wives had died. When looking at the spiritual understanding in respect to the gospel widow or fatherless speak of the new creation. the bride of Christ.

When you see the word widow or fatherless its a sure thing the gospel is also there. No special care for those outside of the body of Christ.

Psalm 68:5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

Job 22:9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

Job 27:15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.

It does use metaphors, similes, synechdoche, and a host of other poetic devices. However, not everything is a device.

You acknowledge the presence of historical truth, but then you completely disregard it as if it weren't even there. Jesus was talking about literal widows being deprived of their literal homes by literal greedy men walking around in literal flowing robes. No metaphor.

You're way off base Garee. You're implying that you understand these things because you are "spiritual" and that I don't understand them because I'm not. I could say the same about you, but I suspect you may not grasp the hint.

This is the only verse in the entire Bible that you take literally. You're inconsistent.

The gospel is in the plain text; you don't need to hunt to find it where it's been hidden beneath poetic devices.

Your insistence on allegorizing everything only leads to confusion... which is where you seem to have arrived and settled. By all means, look for another meaning where there is a metaphor or simile; but as there isn't one in this passage, it means exactly what it says.

That's an interpretation rather than translation, tho. It does literally say 'devour widows houses'

There's an illusion there to this:

Ezekiel 34:10 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
Which is also connected to Zechariah 11. He is showing Himself to be the Good Shepherd and them, the hired hands ((John 10)), and declaring Himself to be God, as those OT passages also say God Himself is the Good Shepherd.

That's something you'd miss if you just read the NLT or some other non literal translation

That's something you'd probably miss if you just read the NLT or some other non literal translation, and if you don't go through the Bible always looking for it testifying of Christ

He asked for help to understand one line. I provided that help. No need to overcomplicate it in an effort to make yourself look impressive. Which you didn't look impressive, just irritating.
BDF egos...

Its ok all responses are valued, yes I did get the reference to widows being easy prey for both lions wolves or self-serving shepherds. I mean to devour is quite a word picture.

I know of one such widow, sold her family home, everything on the property got bulldozed and they carried away her house, and the developers put 3 on it so they could collect the rent and make more money.
Shes moved into a retirement village.

Some houses just get demolished. Its hungry property speculators or house flippers that make all the money. The widow doesnt really make much at all probably not enough to decently live on for the rest of her life and shes lost her house in the process.

This is a forum, allow others to respond in each's manner. Do not appoint yourself judge and jury of others; it is not kind.God bless you and keep you in His way always,...

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Way off whose base?

I never said you were not spiritual.

I am suggesting all Christian are spiritual and therefore in the spiritual book they are to rightly divide and seek out the things hidden in the parables. The widow in that parable represents a believer. Widows, fatherless and strangers represent what we were before we first believed. It never about the flesh as to what the eyes see as the natural course of this world.

Its not that the father of lies pursues those not married (widows) as easy targets. But attempts to devour their substance the gospel in a hope of making it without effect. Spiritual words provide spiritual understanding.

[QUOTE="garee, post: 3863920, member: 237842] The widow in that parable represents a believer.[/QUOTE]
Sigh....

It's not a parable. End of discussion.

Its not a parable, at least I dont think so it was Jesus direct observation but there WERE other parables Jesus told about widows.

What about the one where the widow kept knocking at the door. Luke 18:1-8