Luke 23:48

48 And all the crowds that had come together for this spectacle, [when they] saw the things that had happened, returned [home] beating [their] breasts.

Luke 23:48 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 23:48

And all the people that came together to that sight
To see the execution of Jesus; and some of them might be his inveterate enemies, and came to insult him, and did insult him; many of these, though not every individual of them:

beholding the things which were done;
the eclipse, earthquake

smote their breasts;
as conscious of guilt, and as fearing some dreadful judgment would fall upon them, and their nation, for this sin of crucifying Christ. The Persic version reads, "they went back, and kneeled down, and prostrated themselves to the ground"; as being in the utmost astonishment, confusion, fear, and dread:

and returned;
to the city, and to their own houses, where they might more seriously, and with the greater composure of mind, reflect on these things.

Luke 23:48 In-Context

46 And Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit!" And [after he] said this, he expired.

47 Now [when] the centurion saw what had happened, he began to praise God, saying, "Certainly this man was righteous!"

48 And all the crowds that had come together for this spectacle, [when they] saw the things that had happened, returned [home] beating [their] breasts.

49 And all his acquaintances, and the women who had followed him from Galilee who saw these [things], stood at a distance.

50 And behold, a man {named} Joseph, who was a member of the council, a good and righteous man

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("saw") which is understood as temporal
• [b]. *The word "[home]" is not in the Greek text, but is implied
• [c]. *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun