Luke 7:31

31 "To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and 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 (And all the people, [when they] heard [this]--even the tax collectors--affirmed the righteousness of God, [because they] had been baptized [with] the baptism of John,

30 but the Pharisees and the legal experts rejected the purpose of God for themselves, [because they] had not been baptized by him.)

31 "To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?

32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another, who say, 'We played the flute for you and you did not dance; we sang a lament and you did not weep.'

33 For John the Baptist has come not eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon!'