Luke 13:33-34

13:33 Nevertheless I must ¹  go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, because it is impossible ²  that a prophet should be killed ³  outside Jerusalem.’ ⁴  13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ⁵  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ⁶  How often I have longed ⁷  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ⁸  you would have none of it! ⁹ 

[13:33]  ¹ tn This is the frequent expression δεῖ (dei, “it is necessary”) that notes something that is a part of God’s plan.

[13:33]  ² tn Or “unthinkable.” See L&N 71.4 for both possible meanings.

[13:33]  ³ tn Or “should perish away from.”

[13:33]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[13:34]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:34]  ⁹ tn Grk “you were not willing.”