Luke 7:31

31 "How can I describe the people who are living now? What are they like?

Luke 7:31 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 7:31

And the Lord said
This clause is not in the Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions, nor in some copies, nor in Beza's most ancient copy; and being omitted, more clearly shows, that the two former verses are the words of Christ, and not an observation the evangelist makes, on the different behaviour of Christ's hearers, upon the commendation he had given of John:

whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation;
or "to what men shall I liken them", as the Persic version: the phrase "men of this generation", is Rabbinical; so (yvwa awhh ard) , the men of that "generation", are more beautiful in work than these, says the Targumist on ( Ecclesiastes 7:11 ) . "And to what are they like?" To that which follows.

Luke 7:31 In-Context

29 "All the people, including tax collectors, heard John. They admitted that God was right by letting John baptize them.

30 But the Pharisees and the experts in Moses' Teachings rejected God's plan for them. They refused to be baptized.

31 "How can I describe the people who are living now? What are they like?

32 They are like children who sit in the marketplace and shout to each other, 'We played music for you, but you didn't dance. We sang a funeral song, but you didn't cry.'

33 John the Baptizer has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'There's a demon in him!'