Deuteronomy 32:5

32:5 His people have been unfaithful ¹  to him;

they have not acted like his children ²  – this is their sin. ³ 

They are a perverse ⁴  and deceitful generation.

Isaiah 65:2-5

65:2 I spread out my hands all day long

to my rebellious people,

who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable,

and who did what they desired. ⁵ 

65:3 These people continually and blatantly offend me ⁶ 

as they sacrifice in their sacred orchards ⁷ 

and burn incense on brick altars. ⁸ 

65:4 They sit among the tombs ⁹ 

and keep watch all night long. ¹⁰ 

They eat pork, ¹¹ 

and broth ¹²  from unclean sacrificial meat is in their pans.

65:5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself!

Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’

These people are like smoke in my nostrils,

like a fire that keeps burning all day long.

Matthew 11:16-17

11:16 “To ¹³  what should I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to one another, ¹⁴ 

11:17 ‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance; ¹⁵ 

we wailed in mourning, ¹⁶  yet you did not weep.’

Luke 7:31-32

7:31 “To what then should I compare the people ¹⁷  of this generation, and what are they like? 7:32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another, ¹⁸ 

‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance; ¹⁹ 

we wailed in mourning, ²⁰  yet you did not weep.’

[32:5]  ¹ tc The 3rd person masculine singular שָׁחַת (shakhat) is rendered as 3rd person masculine plural by Smr, a reading supported by the plural suffix on מוּם (mum, “defect”) as well as the plural of בֵּן (ben, “sons”).

[32:5]  ² tn Heb “(they are) not his sons.”

[32:5]  ³ tn Heb “defect” (so NASB). This highly elliptical line suggests that Israel’s major fault was its failure to act like God’s people; in fact, they acted quite the contrary.

[32:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “twisted,” “crooked.” See Ps 18:26.

[65:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “who walked [in] the way that is not good, after their thoughts.”

[65:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “the people who provoke me to anger to my face continually.”

[65:3]  ⁷ tn Or “gardens” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[65:3]  ⁸ tn Or perhaps, “on tiles.”

[65:4]  ⁹ sn Perhaps the worship of underworld deities or dead spirits is in view.

[65:4]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and in the watches they spend the night.” Some understand נְּצוּרִים (nÿtsurim) as referring to “secret places” or “caves,” while others emend the text to וּבֵין צוּרִים (uven tsurim, “between the rocky cliffs”).

[65:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the flesh of the pig”; KJV, NAB, NASB “swine’s flesh.”

[65:4]  ¹² tc The marginal reading (Qere), supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, reads מְרַק (mÿraq, “broth”), while the consonantal text (Kethib) has פְרַק (feraq, “fragment”).

[11:16]  ¹³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[11:16]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “who call out to one another, saying.” The participle λέγουσιν (legousin) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[11:17]  ¹⁵ sn ‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance…’ The children of this generation were making the complaint (see vv. 18-19) that others were not playing the game according to the way they played the music. John and Jesus did not follow “their tune.” Jesus’ complaint was that this generation wanted things their way, not God’s.

[11:17]  ¹⁶ tn The verb ἐθρηνήσαμεν (eqrhnhsamen) refers to the loud wailing and lamenting used to mourn the dead in public in 1st century Jewish culture.

[7:31]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “men,” but this is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"). The comparison that follows in vv. 32-34 describes “this generation,” not Jesus and John.

[7:32]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “They are like children sitting…and calling out…who say.”

[7:32]  ¹⁹ sn ‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance…’ The children of this generation were making the complaint (see vv. 33-34) that others were not playing the game according to the way they played the music. John and Jesus did not follow “their tune.” Jesus’ complaint was that this generation wanted things their way, not God’s.

[7:32]  ²⁰ tn The verb ἐθρηνήσαμεν (eqrhnhsamen) refers to the loud wailing and lamenting used to mourn the dead in public in 1st century Jewish culture.