Text -- Matthew 23:29-39 (NET)

23:29 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 23:30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 23:31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 23:32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! 23:33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 23:34 “For this reason I am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, 23:35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 23:36 I tell you the truth, this generation will be held responsible for all these things!

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it! 23:38 Look, your house is left to you desolate! 23:39 For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Mat 23:29

¹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

² tn Grk “Because you.” Here ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated.

³ tn Or perhaps “the monuments” (see L&N 7.75-76).

NET Notes: Mat 23:30

¹ tn Grk “fathers” (so also in v. 32).

NET Notes: Mat 23:33

¹ tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.”

sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

NET Notes: Mat 23:34

¹ tn Grk “behold I am sending.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

² tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

³ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

⁴ tn BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”

⁵ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

NET Notes: Mat 23:35

¹ sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).

NET Notes: Mat 23:36

¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

² tn Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”

NET Notes: Mat 23:37

¹ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

² tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

³ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

⁵ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

NET Notes: Mat 23:39

¹ sn A quotation from Ps 118:26.