Therefore behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city; that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar. Most certainly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is left to you desolate.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv34, 35, 37 Hypocrites be cruel.
Hypocrites be cruel.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv34–38 34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and…
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Ver. 34. Wherefore, behold, I send you] Oh the infinite goodness of God, in striving by his Spirit with refractory sinners in the use of the means, waiting their return!
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" Sed pensare solet vi graviore moram."
Prophets, wise men, and scribes] That is, apostles, pastors, and teachers, Eph 4:11, whom he here calleth by the customary names of that country. Scribe was an honourable name, till Pharisees dishonested it by their hypocrisy.
Ye shall kill and crucify] If therefore we have not yet resisted unto blood, be content with lighter crosses, and look for heavier. Omnis Christianus crucianus. (Luther.) It is but a delicacy to divide between Christ and his cross.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv34, 37 Luke saith, Luk 11:49-51, Therefore also said the wisdom…
Luke saith, Luk 11:49-51, Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. Luke saith, Therefore also said the wisdom of God. Matthew saith, Behold, I send. Christ is the wisdom of God; he here tells them he would send them prophets, wise men, scribes. Luke expounds it by prophets and apostles; men authorized by Christ to reveal unto men the will of God, and men that should be extraordinarily inspired to enable them thereunto.
Scribes, that is, persons instructed to the kingdom of God; a new sort of scribes, but much fitter for their work than the present scribes.
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And some ye shall kill and crucify, &c.: our Lord in this only foretells what usage both himself and his apostles should meet with from them, which was fulfilled in what the Scripture telleth us of the scourging of Paul, the stoning of Stephen, the killing of James, &c., beside the crucifying of himself.
That upon you, that is, as he expounds it, Mat 23:36, upon this generation, may come all the righteous blood, that is, the blood of righteous men, shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, &c. Here arise two questions:
1. Who this Zacharias the son of Barachias was.
2. How it could stand with God’s justice to bring the guilt of the blood of former generations upon that generation.
As to the first, some have guessed the person spoken of to have been one Zacharias the son of Baruch, who was the last slain upon the taking of Jerusalem, as Josephus tells us: but our Saviour here speaks of a thing passed, not to be afterwards done. Others think it was Zacharias the father of John Baptist: but we have no proof that he died a violent death. Others think it was Zechariah, who was one of the small prophets: but there was no temple in his time. It is most probably concluded to be Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, whom the Jews stoned with stones at the commandment of Joash in the court of the house of the Lord, 2Ch 24:21. The father’s name indeed doth not agree; but, first, Jehoiada (as many of the Jews had) might have two names: some think it was this same Zechariah who is called the son of Jeberechiah, Isa 8:2. Our Saviour nameth Abel, who lived before the law, and Zacharias, who lived under the law, both slain for righteousness’ sake; that under them he might comprehend all the martyrs slain in those two periods. Others judge, that these two are named because we read of Abel’s blood crying, Gen 4:10, and Zechariah’s praying (when he died) that the Lord would require his blood. For the other question, it is but righteous with God to punish the sins of parents upon their children; and though such vengeance doth not ordinarily reach further than the third and fourth generation, yet where succeeding generations go on in the same sinful courses, it may reach further, and often does. Isa 65:6,7, I will (saith God) recompense into their bosom your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together. That was the case here. They filled up the measure of their fathers’ sins. Therefore Christ tells them, that vengeance should sleep no longer, but come upon that generation, which happened in the utter destruction of Jerusalem within less than forty years after. Our Lord concludes with a pathetical lamentation over Jerusalem, and a further confirmation of what he had said about their ruin.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv34, 37 Observe here, A prophetical prediction, and a severe denunciation.
Observe here, A prophetical prediction, and a severe denunciation.
1. A prediction foretelling what cruel usage the apostle should meet with from the Jews, killing and crucifying some, scourging and stoning others; which accordingly was fulfilled in the crucifying of St. Peter, the scourging of St. Paul, in the stoning of St. Stephen, and killing of St. James. The first planters and propagators of the gospel sealed their doctrine with their blood, and the blood of the martyrs has all along been the seed of the church.
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Observe, 2. A severe denunciation, That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from Abel to Zacharias, the son of Jehoiada, 2Ch 24:20, who was the last prophet whose murder is related by name in the Old Testament. These words are not to be understood as if the end and intent of Christ’s sending the prophets were that the Jews might put them to death, and bring their righteous blood upon themselves. This was the consequence and intent of it.
Learn, 1. That raging persecutors have no regard either to the extraordinary mission, or eminent sanctity of persons who reprove them for their sins. I send unto you prophets, says our Saviour, wise men and Scribes, and some of them ye shall kill and crucify.
2. That as the piety of the person, so neither can the sanctity of the place discourage and deter bloody persecutors from their rage and fury against the prophets of God. In the temple itself, in the court of the house of the Lord, even betwixt the porch and the altar, was Zacharias slain. That it is a righteous thing with God to punish good men for the impieties of their parents:
this is to be understood, 1. Where the children tread in their fathers steps, and continue in their parents sins; which they do, if they do not confess them, abhor them, and be humbled for them.
2. This is to be understood of temporal evils, not of eternal punishments. No man shall for his father’s sins lie down in everlasting burnings. As our fathers faith will not let us into heaven, so neither will their impiety shut us into hell. At the day of judgment every man shall be separately considered according to his deeds.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv34–38 That upon you may come all the righteous blood,....…
That upon you may come all the righteous blood,.... Or "the blood of all the righteous men", as the Syriac: Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read; for there is no righteousness in blood, nor any conveyed by it: all men are of one blood, and that is tainted, they that are righteous, are not so naturally, nor by any righteousness of their own, but by the righteousness of Christ: and such were the persons here meant, whose blood being shed in the cause of righteousness, God would revenge; and the punishment for such a crime, and the vengeance of God for it, were to come upon the nation of the Jews by this means, through their crucifying of Christ, and killing, and persecuting his apostles; whereby they would make it manifest, that they approved of, and consented to, what others had done to all the righteous men, whose blood had been
shed upon the earth; whether in Judea, or elsewhere; and continued in the same wicked practices, or committed worse, and so justly incurred the wrath of God to the uttermost; which would quickly come upon them, when the measure of their fathers' sin were filled up by them, from the beginning of time, to the present age: everom the blood of righteous Abel: who was the first person in the world that was killed, and that for righteousness sake too, because his works were righteous, his person being so; not by his works, but through the righteousness and sacrifice of the Messiah, which were to be brought in; in the faith of which he offered up his sacrifice, whereby he obtained a testimony from God, that he was righteous, having respect to his person in Christ, and so to his offering. This epithet of "righteous" seems to be what was commonly given him by the Jews: hence, with a peculiar emphasis, he is called, , "Abel the righteous" (t); as he is also said to be , "the head of them that killed" (u); he being the first man that was slain; for which reason he is mentioned here by Christ; and also, because his blood cried for vengeance, and still continued to do, upon all such persons that should commit the like crime. It is an observation frequently made by the Jews, on those words in Gen 4:10 "the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me", that "it is not said in the Hebrew text, the blood of thy brother, but the bloods of thy brother; his blood, and the blood of his seed (w); and that from hence may be learned, that the blood of his children, and of his children's children, and of all his offspring, to the end of all generations, that should proceed from him, all stood and cried before the Lord (x).
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The Jerusalem Targum paraphrases the words in this remarkable manner,
"the price of the bloods of "the multitude of the righteous", that shall spring from Abel thy brother.
And Onkelos thus,
"the voice of the blood of the seed that shall rise from thy brother, &c.
unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Learned men are very much divided about this person, who he was. Some think our Lord speaks prophetically of Zechariah, the son of Baruch; who, as Josephus says (y), was slain in the middle of the temple, just before the siege of Jerusalem; and who was, as he also relates, a rich man, of an illustrious family, a hater of wickedness, and a friend to liberty: and because, as Abel was the first man that was slain, and this man being killed in the temple, at the close of the Jewish state; and because the words may be rendered, "whom ye shall have slain", therefore he is thought to be intended: but there are several things that do not agree with him, besides its being a narration of a fact, as past, according to the usual rendering of the word: for this Zacharias was the son of Baruch, and not Barachias, which are two different names; he was killed in the middle of the temple, not between the temple and the altar; nor does he appear to be a man of such great character, as to be distinguished in this manner; and besides, his death was what the Jews did not consent to in general, and therefore could not be charged with it; he was acquitted by the sanhedrim of the charge of treachery laid against him, and was assassinated by two zealots. Others have thought that Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, is meant, who is supposed to be murdered by the Jews very lately; and it being a recent action, is mentioned by our Lord: the reason of it is a tradition, which several ancient writers (z) speak of, and is pretended to be this; that there was a place, in the temple appropriated to virgins, and that Mary, the mother of our Lord, after his birth, came and took her place here, as a virgin, when the Jews, knowing her to have a child, objected to it; but Zechariah, who was acquainted with the mystery of the incarnation, ordered her to keep her place, upon which the Jews slew him upon the spot: but this tradition is not to be depended on; nor does it appear that there ever was any such particular place in the temple assigned to virgins; nor that the father of this Zacharias was Barachias; or that the son was slain by the Jews, and in this place. Others have been of opinion, that Zechariah the prophet is designed; and indeed, he is said to be the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, Zac 1:1 and the Jewish Targumist speaks of a Zechariah, the son of Iddo, as slain by the Jews in the temple. His words are these (a),
"as ye slew Zechariah, the son of Iddo, the high priest, and faithful prophet, in the house of the sanctuary of the Lord, on the day of atonement; because he reproved you, that ye might not do that evil which is before the Lord.
And him the Jews make to be the same with Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, in Isa 8:2 and read Berechiah (b): but the Targumist seems to confound Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, with him; for the prophet Zechariah was not an high priest, Joshua was high priest in his time; nor does it appear from any writings, that he was killed by the Jews; nor is it probable that they would be guilty of such a crime, just upon their return from captivity; and besides, he could not be slain in such a place, because the temple, and altar, were not yet built: it remains, that it must be Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, who was slain in the court of the house of the Lord, Ch2 24:20 who, as Abel was the first, he is the last of the righteous men whose death is related in the Scriptures, and for whose blood vengeance was required, as for Abel's. He was slain in the court of the house of the Lord; and so the Ethiopic version here renders it, in the midst of the holy house. It is often said by the Jewish writer (c), that "R. Joden (sometimes it is R. Jonathan) asked R. Acha, whether they slew Zechariah, in the court of the Israelites, or in the court of the women? he answered him, neither in the court of the Israelites, nor in the court of the women, but in the court of the priests.
And elsewhere they say (d), that they
"slew a priest and a prophet in the sanctuary; this is Zechariah the son of Jehoiada.
Now it should be observed, that the temple, or sanctuary, is sometimes put for the whole sacred building, with all its courts and appurtenances; and sometimes, as in this text, for that part of it that was covered, between which, and the altar of burnt offerings, in the court of the priests, which must he here meant, and not the altar of incense, in the most holy place, was a space of twenty two cubits (e), frequently called, in Jewish writings, the space between the porch and the altar; that is, the porch which led into the temple, and the brazen altar in the court of the priests, which was open to the air, and is the very spot here intended. Now this was a very sacred place, and is mentioned as an aggravation of the sin of the Jews, that they should enter where none but priests might; nor these neither that had any defect in them; and defile it also by shedding innocent blood,
"The court of the Israelites is holier than the court of the women; because those that wanted atonement might not enter there; and a defiled person that entered there, was obliged to be cut off: the court of the priests was holier than that, because the Israelites might not enter there, but in the time of their necessities, for laying on of hands for atonement, for killing and waving: the place between the porch and the altar was holier than that; for such that had any blemishes, or were bareheaded, or had their garments rent, might not enter (f).
Hence they say (g), that "the Israelites committed seven transgressions on that day: they slew a priest, and a prophet, and a judge; and they shed innocent blood, and they blasphemed God, and defiled the court, and it was a sabbath day, and the day of atonement.
The chief objections to its being this Zechariah are, that the names do agree; the one being the son of Jehoiada, the other the son of Barachias; and the killing of him was eight hundred years before this time; when it might have been thought our Lord would have instanced in a later action: and this he speaks of, he ascribes to the men of that generation: to which may be replied, that as to the difference of names, the father of this Zechariah might have two names, which is no unusual thing; besides, these two names signify much the same thing; Jehoiada signifies praise the Lord, and Barachias bless the Lord; just as Eliakim and Jehoiakim, are names of the same person, and signify the same thing, Ch2 36:4. Moreover, Jerom tells us, that in the Hebrew copy of this Gospel used by the Nazarenes, he found the name Jehoiada instead of Barachias: and as to the action being done so long ago, what has been suggested already may be an answer to it, that it was the last on record in the writings of the Old Testament; and that his blood, as Abel's, is said to require vengeance: and Christ might the rather pitch upon this action, because it was committed on a very great and worthy man, and in the holy place, and by the body of the people, at the command of their king, and with their full approbation, and consent: and therefore, though this was not done by the individual persons in being in Christ's time, yet by the same people; and so they are said to slay him, and his blood is required of them: and their horrible destruction was a punishment for that load of national guilt, which had been for many hundreds of years contracting, and heaping upon them,
(t) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 8. 2. (u) Juchasin, fol. 5. 2. (w) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 22. fol. 20. 1. Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 4. sect. 5. Moses Kotsensis Mitzvot Tora pr. affirm. 98. (x) Abot. R. Nathan, c. 31. (y) De Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 1. (z) Origen. in Matth. T. 3. Homil. 26. fol. 44. Greg. Nyssen. in diem nat. Christ. Vol. 2. p. 777. Basil. de human. gen. Christ. & Theophylact. in loc. (a) Targum in Lam. ii. 20. (b) T. Bab. Maccot, fol. 24. 2. (c) T. Hieros. Tannioth, fol. 69. 1. Praefat. ad Echa Rabbati, fol. 36. 4. & Echa Rabbati, fol. 52. 4. & 58. 3. Midrash Kohelet, fol. 68. 3. (d) Echa Rabbati, fol. 55. 1. (e) Misn. Middot, c. 3. sect. 6. (f) Maimon. Beth. Habbechira, c. 7. sect. 18, 19, 20. Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 7. fol. 188. 4. (g) T. Hieros. Taanioth, fol. 69. 1. Echa Rabbati, fol. 53. 1. & 58. 3. Midrash Kobelet, fol. 68. 4.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv34, 35, 37, 38 Wherefore - That it may appear you are the…
Wherefore - That it may appear you are the true children of those murderers, and have a right to have their iniquities visited on you: Behold, I send - Is not this speaking as one having authority? Prophets - Men with supernatural credentials: Wise men - Such as have both natural abilities and experience; and scribes - Men of learning: but all will not avail. Luke xi, 49.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv34–38 Verse 34. Wherefore] To show how my prediction, Ye…
Verse 34. Wherefore] To show how my prediction, Ye will fill up the measure of your fathers, shall be verified, Behold, I send (I am just going to commission them) prophets, &c. and some ye will kill, (with legal process,) and some ye will crucify, pretend to try and find guilty, and deliver them into the hands of the Romans, who shall, through you, thus put them to death. See on Lu 11:49. By prophets, wise men, and scribes, our Lord intends the evangelists, apostles, deacons, &c., who should be employed in proclaiming his Gospel: men who should equal the ancient prophets, their wise men, and scribes, in all the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv37–38 Mat 23:37. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem — The Lord Jesus…
Mat 23:37. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem — The Lord Jesus having thus laid before the Pharisees and the Jewish nation their heinous guilt and impending ruin, was exceedingly moved at the thought of the calamities coming upon them. A day or two before he had wept over Jerusalem; now he bewails it in the most mournful accents of pity and commisseration. Jerusalem, the vision of peace, as the word signifies, must now be made the seat of war and confusion: Jerusalem, that had been the joy of the whole earth, must now be a hissing, and an astonishment, and a by-word among all nations: Jerusalem, that had been a city compact together, was now to be shattered and ruined by its own intestine broils: Jerusalem, the place that God had chosen to put his name there, must now be abandoned to spoilers and robbers. For, 1st, As its inhabitants had their hands more deeply imbrued in the blood of the prophets than those of other places, they were to drink more deeply than others in the punishment of such crimes: Thou that killest the prophets, &c. And, 2d, Jerusalem especially had rejected, and would persist in rejecting the Lord’s Christ, and the offers of salvation made through him, and would persecute his servants divinely commissioned to make them these offers. The former was a sin without remedy; this a sin against the remedy. How often would I have gathered thy children, &c. — See the wonderful grace, condescension, and kindness of the Lord Jesus toward those who he foresaw would in two or three days maliciously and cruelly imbrue their hands in his blood! What a strong idea do these tender exclamations of our Lord, which can hardly be read without tears, give us of his unparalleled love to that ungrateful and impenitent nation! He would have taken the whole body of them, if they would have consented to be so taken, into his church, and have gathered them all, (as the Jews used to speak of proselytes,) under the wings of the divine majesty. The words, how often would I have gathered, &c.,mark his unwearied endeavours to protect and cherish them from the time they were first called to be his people, and the following words, declarative of the opposition between his will and theirs, but ye would not, very emphatically show their unconquerable obstinacy in resisting the most winning and most substantial expressions of the divine goodness. Thus does the Lord Jesus still call and invite perishing sinners. But alas! the obstinacy of their own perverse and rebellious wills too generally withstands all the overtures of his grace: so that eternal desolation becomes their portion, and they in vain wish for a repetition of those calls when it is for ever too late.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv34–38 I send unto you prophets ... - Jesus doubtless…
I send unto you prophets ... - Jesus doubtless refers here to the apostles, and other teachers of religion. Prophets, wise men, and scribes were the names by which the teachers of religion were known among the Jews, and he therefore used the same terms when speaking of the messengers which he would send. “I send” has the force of the future, I “will” send.
Some of them ye shall kill - As in the case of Stephen Act 7:59 and James Act 12:1-2.
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Crucify - Punish with death on the cross. There are no cases of this mentioned; but few historical records of this age have come down to us. The Jews had not the power of crucifying, but they had power to deliver those whom they condemned to death into the hands of the Romans to do it.
Shall scourge - See the notes at Mat 10:17. This was done, Act 22:19-24; 2Co 11:24-25.
Persecute ... - See the notes at Mat 5:10. This was fulfilled in the case of nearly all the apostles.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv35–38 From the blood of Abel, &c. Not that the…
From the blood of Abel, &c. Not that the Jews, to whom Christ spoke, should be punished for crimes which they themselves did not commit nor be more severely punished than they themselves deserved; but he speaks of the Jewish people which, by putting to death their Messias, should shortly fill up the number of their sins; so that God would destroy their whole nation, as if the blood of Abel, and of the prophets unjustly murdered came upon them at once. See Maldonatus. --- Of Zacharias, the son of Barachias.[2] Some think this was Zachary, numbered among the lesser prophets, whose father’s name was Barachias; but we do not read of his being murdered in this manner. The more common opinion is, that here is meant Zachary, who, preaching to the people, (2 Paralipomenon xxiv. 20,) was stoned to death in the very place where Christ was now speaking. But there he is called the son of Joiada, and not of Barachias. Some conjecture his father might have had both names; and St. Jerome tells us, that in an ancient copy of St. Matthew, called the Gospel of the Nazarenes, he found this Zacharias, of whom our Saviour speaks, called the son of Joiada. (Witham) --- St. Jerome gives another reason why he might have been called the son of Barachias, and not the son of Joiada, and this is to commend the sanctity of the father; for Barachias is interpreted the blessed of the Lord. Others suppose that he was the 11th of the 12 prophets; but it is not mentioned that he was slain between the temple and the altar. Some surmise that it was the father of the Baptist, collecting from the apocryphal writings that he was killed for preaching the arrival of the Redeemer: but that he was the son of Joiada, otherwise called Barachias, is the common opinion. (St. Jerome) --- That upon you may come, &c. Not that they should suffer more than their own sins richly deserved; but that the justice of God should now fall upon them with such a final vengeance once for all, as might comprise all the different kinds of judgments and punishments, that had at any time before been inflicted for the shedding of just blood. (Challoner)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
In Evangelio quo utuntur Nazareni, pro filio Barachiæ, filium Joiadæ reperimus Seriptum.
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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv34, 36, 37, 38 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise…
Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes--The I here is emphatic: "I am sending," that is, "am about to send." In Luk 11:49 the variation is remarkable: "Therefore also, said the wisdom of God, I will send them," &c. What precisely is meant by "the wisdom of God" here, is somewhat difficult to determine. To us it appears to be simply an announcement of a purpose of the Divine Wisdom, in the high style of ancient prophecy, to send a last set of messengers whom the people would reject, and rejecting, would fill up the cup of their iniquity. But, whereas in Luke it is "I, the Wisdom of God, will send them," in Matthew it is "I, Jesus, am sending them"; language only befitting the one sender of all the prophets, the Lord God of Israel now in the flesh. They are evidently evangelical messengers, but called by the familiar Jewish names of "prophets, wise men, and scribes," whose counterparts were the inspired and gifted servants of the Lord Jesus; for in Luke (Luk 11:49) it is "prophets and apostles."
unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar--As there is no record of any fresh murder answering to this description, probably the allusion is not to any recent murder, but to Ch2 24:20-22, as the last recorded and most suitable case for illustration. And as Zacharias' last words were, "The Lord require it," so they are here warned that of that generation it should be required.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv34–38 OUR LORD’S DENUNCIATION OF JUDGMENTS AND DEFINITE FAREWELL TO…
OUR LORD’S DENUNCIATION OF JUDGMENTS AND DEFINITE FAREWELL TO JERUSALEM, Mat_23:34-39.
34. Wherefore — In consequence of all this wickedness. That is, inasmuch as you are thus reprobate, the following course of events will transpire: namely, messengers will be sent to you, but you will so treat them as to bring the full measure of wrath upon you. Behold, I send — Our Lord here assumes divine authority. It is he who sends the prophets, and wise men, and scribes of the New Testament. Prophets — Preachers, for as the word of God is a great prophecy of the world to come, so he who preaches it, truly prophesies. Wise men — Deep thinkers in divine things, and true doctors in theology. For though the preacher stands first in the kingdom of God, yet the man who deeply studies and understands the things of God has his place, and is truly sent of Christ into his Church, whether ordained or not. Scribes — Who hold the pen of the ready writer. How measureless the amount of good the Christian author has done since our Lord spoke these words. First, the inspired writers of the New Testament; then come the early fathers of the church; and then the Christian historians, essayists, and poets. Ye shall kill — A large share of the first preachers, thinkers, and writers of the Church were martyrs.
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Crucify — There is no recorded instance of martyrdom by crucifixion, unless we include the cases of our Lord and Peter, who is said to have been crucified with his head downwards. But of the many violent deaths of our Lord’s first followers, comparatively few are recorded.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv34, 35, 37, 38 34. I send unto you prophets, and wise men,…
34. I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes] Marking the continuity of the Christian with the Jewish Church.
ye shall kill and crucify] Kill, directly as Stephen (Act_7:59), indirectly as James (Act_12:2), and crucify, by means of the Roman power, as Symeon, second Bishop of Jerusalem (Eus. H. E. iii. 32).
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scourge in your synagogues] See note ch. Mat_4:23.
from city to city] As Paul pursued Christians to Damascus; as he was himself driven from Antioch in Pisidia, from Iconium, from Philippi, and from Thessalonica.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv34–38 (34) Behold, I send unto you prophets.—In the parallel…
(34) Behold, I send unto you prophets.—In the parallel passage of Luk_11:49 these words are introduced by the statement, “Therefore said the wisdom of God,” which has led some to see in them a quotation from some prophetic writing then current (see Note there). The words are, in any case, remarkable as including “scribes” no less than “prophets” among the ministers of the New Covenant. (See Note on Mat_13:52.)
Shall ye scourge in your synagogues.—See Note on Mat_10:17.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv34–38 Wherefore; dia touto . Because ye are resolved on…
Wherefore; dia touto . Because ye are resolved on imitating your forefathers" iniquities, you will also reject the messengers that are sent to you, and shall suffer righteous condemnation. I send (egw apostellw) unto you. The sending had already begun. In the parallel passage of St. Luke (Luk_11:49) we read, "Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send." Christ is the Wisdom of God, and by his own authority gives mission to his messengers. "As the Father hath sent me, even so send you", (Joh_20:21) he says to his apostles; and to such he is referring in the words which follow. Prophets. The apostles were of like character, inspiration, and influence as the prophets under the old dispensation, and succeeded in their place as exponents of God"s will and heralds of the covenant. Wise men. Men full of the Holy Ghost and heavenly wisdom.
Scribes. Not in the then Jewish sense, but instructors in the new law of life, the law of Christ"s religion. (Mat_13:52) All the means of teaching and edification employed aforetime were abundantly and more effectually supplied under the gospel. St. Luke has, "prophets and apostles." Kill; as Stephen, (Act_7:59) James. (Act_12:2) Crucify; as Peter; (Joh_21:18, 19 2Pe_1:14) Simeon (Eusebius, "Hist. Ec:," 3:32); and probably Andrew. Scourge. (see Act_5:40 Act_22:19 Act_26:11 2Co_11:24, 2Co_11:25) Persecuted. (see Act_13:50 Act_14:5, Act_14:6, Act_14:19, 20 26:11; and compare Christ"s prediction, Mat_10:17, Mat_10:18) The passage in the Second (Fourth) Book of Est 1:32, which is strikingly parallel to our Lord"s denunciation, may possibly be a Christian interpolation, "I sent unto you my servants the prophets, whom ye have taken and slain, and torn their bodies in pieces, whose blood I will require of your hands, saith the Lord."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv36–37 Mat_23:29; Mat_23:33; Mat_23:36
Mat_23:29; Mat_23:33; Mat_23:36
How can ye escape the damnation of hell?
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The difficulty of escaping the damnation of hell
I. What your situation actually is.
1. You are even now under sentence of condemnation.
2. You need to be awakened, no man will escape a danger he does not perceive.
3. In order to escape final condemnation you must pursue religion with perseverance.
II. The obstacles.
1. The effect of sin is to make men blind to their own sins.
2. The sinner often seeks deliverance in a way in which it cannot be obtained.
3. The unbelieving heart will not submit to God until its opposition be removed.
4. The fascinating power of worldly objects.
5. Then you say the difficulties are so great that you have not courage to make the attempt to escape. (E. Payson, D. D.)
Pretence vain
To pretend holiness when there is none is a vain thing. What were the foolish virgins better for their blazing lamps when they wanted oil? What is the lamp of profession without the oil of saving grace? What comfort will a show of holiness yield at last? Will painted gold enrich? Painted wine refresh him that is thirsty? Will painted holiness be a cordial at the hour of death? A pretence of sanctification is not to be rested in. Many ships have had the name of Hope, the Safeguard, the Triumph, yet have been cast away upon the rocks; so many who have had the name of saintship have been cast into hell. (T. Watson.)
Suspension and infliction of judgments
1. It is not right that God should punish one generation for the sins of another.
2. It is just that God should punish all generations for their own sins.
3. God might if He pleased pass by the sins of all generations; He might punish them hereafter, not here.
4. It is right that God should punish one generation and not another. He has always acted as a Sovereign in sparing or punishing particular generations. God delayed to destroy the Egyptians.
5. When God does spare one generation and punish another He always has some good reason for both sparing and punishing.
6. The sins of one generation may be a good reason why God should punish the sins of another.
7. It is criminal and foolish for one generation to imitate the sins of a former.
8. It is well for the present generation to discountenance open vices prevailing.
9. Sinners always are the troublers of the world. (N. Emmons, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv34–38 34. Wherefore, I send unto you prophets and wise…
34. Wherefore, I send unto you prophets and wise men. In Luke 11:49, is a passage much like this. The men sent were inspired apostles and evangelists. By giving the Jews still further opportunities after the sin of the cross, the guilt of those continued to reject the crucified Lord was aggravated. Prophets. Inspired teachers, like the apostles, Philip, Stephen, etc. Wise men. Faithful, devout and learned, but uninspired preachers. Scribes. Usually, those who copy and teach the wisdom of others, but I suppose also embracing those who wrote the New Testament Scriptures. Some of them ye shall kill and crucify. Literally fulfilled in the next few years.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v37 Mat 23:37-39. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the…
APOSTROPHE TO JERUSALEM
Mat 23:37-39. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how frequently did I wish to gather thy children, in the manner in which a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye were not willing!” What a glorious, sweeping revival would have inundated Jerusalem with the very presence, power, and glory of God under the wonderful ministry of Jesus, if she had only opened wide the door, and bade her own long-expected and prayed-for Messiah a hearty welcome! This was the grand opportunity for which she had waited two thousand years, the glorious Antitype to which all her symbolisms, sacrifices, and oblations conspired. If she had received Him with an appreciative and enthusiastic welcome, she might have enjoyed the most exalted honors beneath the skies, in carrying the glad tidings to the ends of the earth. Then all the world would have hailed Jerusalem as the luminary of the nations, the beauty of the ages, and the glory of the whole earth — fable emblem of heaven.
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“Behold, your house is left unto you desolate!” We can not stand still. Those who will not have God’s blessings, must abide in the retributions of the enemy. That whole country, with all of its cities, soon went into utter desolation, falling into the hands of the vilest enemies to Christianity. After Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, a heathen temple to Jupiter was built on the very site of Solomon’s Temple, where Jesus was then preaching. The desolation is still on that land, and will remain till the Lord returns. The cheering omens of revival at the present day are auspicious forebodings of our Lord’s near coming.
“For I say unto you, that you can not see Me any more, until you can say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.” What a wonderful leap this utterance gives us into the unseen future! At that time the city was full of Jews, whose awful doom Jesus saw in rivers of blood and mountains of the dead, and actually a million sold into slavery and carried captives into all nations, and the little surviving remnant driven to the ends of the earth, under penalty of death in case of an attempted return. So rigidly was this death penalty enforced against all Jews who attempted to come back, that if a Jew was found in some other country, traveling with his face toward the Holy Land, he was taken up and killed. Yet the omniscient eye of Jesus, looking over seas of blood and fields of desolation, saw the elect remnant
(Romans 11), salamander-like, surviving the fires of persecutionary centuries, and finally, in the good providence of God, coming back to repopulate the desolate fields of Zion, and again clothe the fertile mountains and alluvial plains with vineyards and orchards, and rebuild Jerusalem with unprecedented grandeur; saw this remnant wake up to the awful mistake of their ancestors in rejecting their own Christ, and ultimately find in Jesus, whom their ancestors had crucified, the blessed Shiloh of prophecy and the glorious Redeemer of Israel. Thus the bona fide children of Abraham, happily converted to their own loving Brother Jesus, and gloriously sanctified, filled with the Holy Ghost, cultured, posted and delighted with the glorious prophecies confirmatory of His second coming, and consequently ready to receive Him with open arms, will send forth the joyous shout, “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!”
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv34–36 send unto you
send unto you
The Jews’ treatment of the apostles is proved, Mat 23:31-33.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv34, 37 The Peroration and the Lament over Jerusalem.
The Peroration and the Lament over Jerusalem.
v. 34. Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them ye shall scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
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v. 35. that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the Temple and the altar.
v. 36. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
It is the beginning of the judgment upon the Jewish nation for their consistent refusal to accept the Messiah, visited first of all upon their leaders. With great seriousness Jesus states this fact, because the present generation is about to fill up the measure of iniquity to the very brim. He would send His messengers again, but their hearts would be hardened by their message, against the message and against the bearers. Their false worship would not want to permit the worship in spirit and in truth. They would kill, and crucify, and scourge, and persecute the messengers of Christ. No form of inquisition and cruelty is too horrifying when people vent their spite against the messengers of the true Gospel. And so the Jews, in being punished for the murder of Christ and the messengers of the New Testament, in having their blood come upon them, would incidentally receive punishment for the murders of the prophets of the Old Testament. They have their fathers’ spirit, the same hatred for the truth and its bearers; and so the sins of the fathers will be visited upon the children. Abel was the first one to die, a martyr of his convictions, of his faith. And the hatred of the children of God continued down through the ages, one of the most conspicuous cases being that of Zacharias, the son of Jehoiada, also called Barachias, 2Ch 24:20-21, not to speak of other murders recorded in history. All the accumulated wrath of God was visited upon the Jews of the generation of Jesus, because they rejected the Messiah Himself. "As though He would say: It is one people, one kind, one generation; as the fathers, so the children. For the stubbornness that resisted God and His prophets in the fathers, resists in the same way in the children: the child is like the mother. All the blood that they have shed is bound to come upon them."
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv34, 37 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus continues to rebuke the religious leaders because of their hypocrisy.
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I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes
Sometimes the present tense is used to show that someone will do something very soon. AT: "I will send prophets, wise men, and scribes to you"
upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on the earth
The phrase "upon you will come" is an idiom that means to receive punishment. To shed blood is a metonym meaning to kill people, so "righteous blood that has been shed on the earth" represents righteous people who have been killed. AT: "God will punish you for the murders of all the righteous people" (See: Idiom and Metonymy)
from the blood ... to the blood
Here the word "blood" represents a person being killed. AT: "from the murder ... to the murder" (See: Metonymy)
Abel ... Zechariah
Abel was the first righteous victim of murder, and Zechariah, who was murdered by Jews in the temple, was probably thought to be the last. These two men represent all the righteous people who have been murdered. (See: Merism)
Zechariah
This Zechariah was not the father of John the Baptist.
whom you killed
Jesus does not mean the people to whom he is speaking actually killed Zechariah. He means their ancestors did.
Truly I say to you
"I tell you the truth." This adds emphasis to what Jesus says next.
translationWords
send
prophet
wise
scribe
crucify
synagogue
bloodshed
Abel
righteous
Zechariah (OT)
sanctuary
altar
amen
generation
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv35, 37, 38 23:35 The span from Abel (Gen 4:8-11) to Zechariah…
23:35 The span from Abel (Gen 4:8-11) to Zechariah (2 Chr 24:15-22) follows the order of the Hebrew Bible, in which 2 Chronicles is the last book. The implication is that this generation will be guilty of every murder of the righteous in the Old Testament (cp. Matt 27:25).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.