Jeremiah 2:20

The Lord Expresses His Exasperation at Judah’s Persistent Idolatry

2:20 “Indeed, ¹  long ago you threw off my authority

and refused to be subject to me. ² 

You said, ‘I will not serve you.’ ³ 

Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill

and under every green tree,

like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 26:8-9

26:8 Jeremiah had just barely finished saying all the Lord had commanded him to say to all the people. All at once some ⁵  of the priests, the prophets, and the people grabbed him and shouted, “You deserve to die! ⁶  26:9 How dare you claim the Lord’s authority to prophesy such things! How dare you claim his authority to prophesy that this temple will become like Shiloh and that this city will become an uninhabited ruin!” ⁷  Then all the people crowded around Jeremiah.

Matthew 23:31

23:31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

Matthew 23:33-37

23:33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ⁸ 

23:34 “For this reason I ⁹  am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, ¹⁰  some of whom you will kill and crucify, ¹¹  and some you will flog ¹²  in your synagogues ¹³  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, ¹⁴  whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 23:36 I tell you the truth, ¹⁵  this generation will be held responsible for all these things! ¹⁶ 

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ¹⁷  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ¹⁸  How often I have longed ¹⁹  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ²⁰  you would have none of it! ²¹ 

Luke 11:47-51

11:47 Woe to you! You build ²²  the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors ²³  killed. 11:48 So you testify that you approve of ²⁴  the deeds of your ancestors, ²⁵  because they killed the prophets ²⁶  and you build their ²⁷  tombs! ²⁸  11:49 For this reason also the wisdom ²⁹  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 ³⁰  for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning ³¹  of the world, ³²  11:51 from the blood of Abel ³³  to the blood of Zechariah, ³⁴  who was killed ³⁵  between the altar and the sanctuary. ³⁶  Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against ³⁷  this generation.

Acts 7:52

7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors ³⁸  not persecute? ³⁹  They ⁴⁰  killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, ⁴¹  whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! ⁴² 

Acts 7:1

Stephen’s Defense Before the Council

7:1 Then the high priest said, “Are these things true?” ⁴³ 

Acts 2:15-16

2:15 In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk, ⁴⁴  for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. ⁴⁵  2:16 But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel: ⁴⁶ 

[2:20]  ¹ tn Or “For.” The Hebrew particle (כִּי, ki) here introduces the evidence that they had no respect for him.

[2:20]  ² tn Heb “you broke your yoke…tore off your yoke ropes.” The metaphor is that of a recalcitrant ox or heifer which has broken free from its master.

[2:20]  ³ tc The MT of this verse has two examples of the old second feminine singular perfect, שָׁבַרְתִּי (shavarti) and נִתַּקְתִּי (nittaqti), which the Masoretes mistook for first singulars leading to the proposal to read אֶעֱבוֹר (’e’evor, “I will not transgress”) for אֶעֱבֹד (’e’evod, “I will not serve”). The latter understanding of the forms is accepted in KJV but rejected by almost all modern English versions as being less appropriate to the context than the reading accepted in the translation given here.

[2:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “you sprawled as a prostitute on….” The translation reflects the meaning of the metaphor.

[26:8]  ⁵ tn The translation again represents an attempt to break up a long complex Hebrew sentence into equivalent English ones that conform more to contemporary English style: Heb “And as soon as Jeremiah finished saying all that…the priests…grabbed him and said…” The word “some” has been supplied in the translation, because obviously it was not all the priests, the prophets, and all the people, but only some of them. There is, of course, rhetorical intent here to show that all were implicated, although all may not have actually participated. (This is a common figure called synecdoche where all is put for a part – all for all kinds or representatives of all kinds. See E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 614-19, and compare usage in Acts 10:12; Matt 3:5.)

[26:8]  ⁶ tn Or “You must certainly die!” The construction here is again emphatic with the infinitive preceding the finite verb (cf. Joüon 2:423 §123.h, and compare usage in Exod 21:28).

[26:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “Why have you prophesied in the Lord’s name, saying, ‘This house will become like Shiloh and this city will become a ruin without inhabitant?’” It is clear from the context here and in 7:1-15 that the emphasis is on “in the Lord’s name” and that the question is rhetorical. The question is not a quest for information but an accusation, a remonstrance. (For this figure see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 953-54, who calls a question like this a rhetorical question of remonstrance or expostulation. For good examples see Pss 11:1; 50:16.) For the significance of “prophesying in the Lord’s name” see the study note on 14:14. The translation again utilizes the indirect quote to eliminate one level of embedded quotation.

[23:33]  ⁸ tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.”

[23:34]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:34]  ¹¹ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

[23:34]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[23:35]  ¹⁴ sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).

[23:36]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[23:36]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”

[23:37]  ¹⁷ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[23:37]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[23:37]  ²¹ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[11:47]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[11:48]  ²⁴ tn Grk “you are witnesses and approve of.”

[11:48]  ²⁵ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[11:48]  ²⁶ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the prophets) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:48]  ²⁷ tn “Their,” i.e., the prophets.

[11:48]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ sn The expression the wisdom of God is a personification of an attribute of God that refers to his wise will.

[11:50]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn Or “foundation.” However, this does not suggest a time to the modern reader.

[11:50]  ³² tn The order of the clauses in this complicated sentence has been rearranged to simplify it for the modern reader.

[11:51]  ³³ sn Gen 4:10 indicates that Abel’s blood cried out for justice.

[11:51]  ³⁴ sn It is not clear which Zechariah is meant here. It is probably the person mentioned in 2 Chr 24:20-25.

[11:51]  ³⁵ tn Or “who perished.”

[11:51]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ tn Or “required from.”

[7:52]  ³⁸ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:52]  ³⁹ sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.

[7:52]  ⁴⁰ 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]  ⁴¹ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.

[7:52]  ⁴² 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).

[7:1]  ⁴³ tn Grk “If it is so concerning these things” (see BDAG 422 s.v. ἔχω 10.a for this use).

[2:15]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “These men are not drunk, as you suppose.”

[2:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “only the third hour.”

[2:16]  ⁴⁶ sn Note how in the quotation that follows all genders, ages, and classes are included. The event is like a hope Moses expressed in Num 11:29.