“Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.”
My Notes
What Does Luke 20:47 Mean?
Jesus accuses the scribes of two sins that share the same root: they "devour widows' houses" (exploit the most vulnerable for financial gain) and "for a shew make long prayers" (use religious performance to cover their exploitation). The exploitation and the performance work together—the prayers are the camouflage for the devouring.
The "devouring" of widows' houses likely refers to corrupt legal practices: as trusted religious advisors, scribes managed estates, offered legal counsel, and handled financial matters for vulnerable women. Their position of spiritual trust gave them access to financial exploitation. The widow trusted the scribe because he was religious. The scribe exploited the widow because she was defenseless.
The consequence—"greater damnation" (perissoteron krima, more abundant judgment)—is pronounced not for the exploitation alone but for the combination: the exploitation hidden behind religious performance. The long prayers make the devouring worse, not better. Using religion to cover financial predation is more condemned than either sin separately. The spiritual veneer intensifies the judgment.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Are you using any form of spiritual authority in ways that exploit the trust people place in you?
- 2.Where do you see the combination of religious performance and financial exploitation in your world?
- 3.If long prayers amplify rather than reduce guilt when combined with exploitation, how does that change your view of religious leaders who are also predatory?
- 4.Who are the 'widows' in your sphere—the vulnerable people whose trust you've been given? How are you stewarding that trust?
Devotional
They devour widows' houses and make long prayers as a cover. The devouring is hidden behind the praying. The exploitation is dressed up as spirituality. And Jesus says: they'll receive greater damnation. Not just for the stealing. For the praying while stealing.
The scribes had spiritual authority. Widows trusted them because of it. And the scribes used that trust to take what the widows had—their houses, their savings, their security. The religious title gave them access. The access gave them opportunity. And the long prayers gave them cover. The entire system—spiritual authority weaponized against the vulnerable—is exactly what Jesus reserves His harshest language for.
The "greater damnation" isn't because the sin is worse in isolation. It's because the religious performance makes it worse. A thief who steals openly faces one kind of judgment. A thief who steals while praying faces a harsher one. The prayers don't reduce the guilt. They amplify it. Because using God's name as a tool for exploitation is a deeper violation than the exploitation itself.
If you have any spiritual authority—any position where people trust you because of your faith—this verse draws a blazing line around how you use that trust. The widow's house isn't just financial. It's her security, her dignity, her future. And the scribe who takes it while praying is committing a sin so compounded that Jesus promises an enhanced sentence. Greater damnation. Not for the weak. For the religious predators.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
The scribes were students in the law, and expositors of it to the people, men in reputation for wisdom and honour, but…
which devour widows" houses Josephus expressly tells us that the Pharisees had large female followings, and an absolute…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture