Ezekiel 16:2-3

16:2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem ¹  with her abominable practices 16:3 and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

Matthew 23:29-37

23:29 “Woe to you, experts in the law ²  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You ³  build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves ⁴  of the righteous. 23:30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, ⁵  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? ⁶ 

23:34 “For this reason I ⁷  am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, ⁸  some of whom you will kill and crucify, ⁹  and some you will flog ¹⁰  in your synagogues ¹¹  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, ¹²  whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 23:36 I tell you the truth, ¹³  this generation will be held responsible for all these things! ¹⁴ 

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ¹⁵  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ¹⁶  How often I have longed ¹⁷  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ¹⁸  you would have none of it! ¹⁹ 

Luke 11:47-51

11:47 Woe to you! You build ²⁰  the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors ²¹  killed. 11:48 So you testify that you approve of ²²  the deeds of your ancestors, ²³  because they killed the prophets ²⁴  and you build their ²⁵  tombs! ²⁶  11:49 For this reason also the wisdom ²⁷  of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 11:50 so that this generation may be held accountable ²⁸  for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning ²⁹  of the world, ³⁰  11:51 from the blood of Abel ³¹  to the blood of Zechariah, ³²  who was killed ³³  between the altar and the sanctuary. ³⁴  Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against ³⁵  this generation.

Luke 13:33-35

13:33 Nevertheless I must ³⁶  go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, because it is impossible ³⁷  that a prophet should be killed ³⁸  outside Jerusalem.’ ³⁹  13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ⁴⁰  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ⁴¹  How often I have longed ⁴²  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ⁴³  you would have none of it! ⁴⁴  13:35 Look, your house is forsaken! ⁴⁵  And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” ⁴⁶ 

Acts 7:51-52

7:51 “You stubborn ⁴⁷  people, with uncircumcised ⁴⁸  hearts and ears! ⁴⁹  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ⁵⁰  did! 7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors ⁵¹  not persecute? ⁵²  They ⁵³  killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, ⁵⁴  whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! ⁵⁵ 

[16:2]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[23:29]  ² tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:29]  ³ tn Grk “Because you.” Here ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated.

[23:29]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps “the monuments” (see L&N 7.75-76).

[23:30]  ⁵ tn Grk “fathers” (so also in v. 32).

[23:33]  ⁶ tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.”

[23:34]  ⁷ 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).

[23:34]  ⁸ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:34]  ⁹ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

[23:34]  ¹⁰ 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.”

[23:34]  ¹¹ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[23:35]  ¹² sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).

[23:36]  ¹³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[23:36]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”

[23:37]  ¹⁵ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[23:37]  ¹⁶ 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”).

[23:37]  ¹⁷ 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.

[23:37]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[23:37]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[11:47]  ²⁰ sn The effect of what the experts in the law were doing was to deny the message of the prophets and thus honor their death by supporting those who had sought their removal. The charge that this is what previous generations did shows the problem is chronic. As T. W. Manson said, the charge here is “The only prophet you honor is a dead prophet!” (The Sayings of Jesus, 101).

[11:47]  ²¹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[11:48]  ²² tn Grk “you are witnesses and approve of.”

[11:48]  ²³ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[11:48]  ²⁴ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the prophets) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:48]  ²⁵ tn “Their,” i.e., the prophets.

[11:48]  ²⁶ tc The majority of mss list a specific object (“their tombs”), filling out the sentence (although there are two different words for “tombs” among the mss, as well as different word orders: αὐτῶν τὰ μνημεῖα (autwn ta mnhmeia; found in A C W Θ Ψ 33 Ï) and τοὺς τάφους αὐτῶν (tou" tafou" autwn; found in Ë^1,[13] 2542 pc). This suggests that early copyists had no term in front of them but felt the verb needed an object. But since a wide distribution of early Alexandrian and Western mss lack these words (Ì⁷⁵ א B D L 579 1241 it sa), it is likely that they were not part of the original text of Luke. Nevertheless, the words “their tombs” are inserted in the translation because of requirements of English style.

[11:49]  ²⁷ sn The expression the wisdom of God is a personification of an attribute of God that refers to his wise will.

[11:50]  ²⁸ tn Or “that this generation may be charged with”; or “the blood of all the prophets… may be required from this generation.” This is a warning of judgment. These people are responsible for the shedding of prophetic blood.

[11:50]  ²⁹ tn Or “foundation.” However, this does not suggest a time to the modern reader.

[11:50]  ³⁰ tn The order of the clauses in this complicated sentence has been rearranged to simplify it for the modern reader.

[11:51]  ³¹ sn Gen 4:10 indicates that Abel’s blood cried out for justice.

[11:51]  ³² sn It is not clear which Zechariah is meant here. It is probably the person mentioned in 2 Chr 24:20-25.

[11:51]  ³³ tn Or “who perished.”

[11:51]  ³⁴ tn Or “and the temple”; Grk “and the house,” but in this context a reference to the house of God as a place of sanctuary.

[11:51]  ³⁵ tn Or “required from.”

[13:33]  ³⁶ tn This is the frequent expression δεῖ (dei, “it is necessary”) that notes something that is a part of God’s plan.

[13:33]  ³⁷ tn Or “unthinkable.” See L&N 71.4 for both possible meanings.

[13:33]  ³⁸ tn Or “should perish away from.”

[13:33]  ³⁹ sn Death in Jerusalem is another key theme in Luke’s material: 7:16, 34; 24:19; Acts 3:22-23. Notice that Jesus sees himself in the role of a prophet here. Jesus’ statement, it is impossible that a prophet should be killed outside Jerusalem, is filled with irony; Jesus, traveling about in Galilee (most likely), has nothing to fear from Herod; it is his own people living in the very center of Jewish religion and worship who present the greatest danger to his life. The underlying idea is that Jerusalem, though she stands at the very heart of the worship of God, often kills the prophets God sends to her (v. 34). In the end, Herod will be much less a threat than Jerusalem.

[13:34]  ⁴⁰ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[13:34]  ⁴¹ 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”).

[13:34]  ⁴² 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.

[13:34]  ⁴³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:34]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[13:35]  ⁴⁵ sn Your house is forsaken. The language here is from Jer 12:7 and 22:5. It recalls exilic judgment.

[13:35]  ⁴⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 118:26. The judgment to come will not be lifted until the Lord returns. See Luke 19:41-44.

[7:51]  ⁴⁷ sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.

[7:51]  ⁴⁸ tn The term ἀπερίτμητοι (aperitmhtoi, “uncircumcised”) is a NT hapax legomenon (occurs only once). See BDAG 101-2 s.v. ἀπερίτμητος and Isa 52:1.

[7:51]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

[7:51]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:52]  ⁵¹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:52]  ⁵² sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.

[7:52]  ⁵³ tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[7:52]  ⁵⁴ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.

[7:52]  ⁵⁵ sn Whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. The harsh critique has OT precedent (1 Kgs 19:10-14; Neh 9:26; 2 Chr 36:16).