Luke 13:34

34 "Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused!

Luke 13:34 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 13:34

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets
These words, with what follow, as they stand in ( Matthew 23:37-39 ) were delivered by Christ, when he was in the temple at Jerusalem; but here they were spoken by him when in Galilee, in Herod's jurisdiction; so that it appears, that the same words were spoken by Christ at different times, in different places, and to different persons: unless it can be thought, that Luke transcribed them from Matthew, and inserts them here, on occasion of Christ's having mentioned the perishing of a prophet in Jerusalem; where many had been killed and put to death, in one way or another, and particularly in the following:

and stonest them that are sent unto thee;
as Zechariah, ( 2 Chronicles 24:20-22 )

how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen
doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not?
and therefore ought not to have been condemned as a false prophet by their sanhedrim, as he suggests he should be, and as he afterwards was; (See Gill on Matthew 23:37).

Luke 13:34 In-Context

32 He said to them, "Go, tell that fox, `Pay attention: today and tomorrow I am driving out demons and healing people, and on the third day I reach my goal.'

33 Nevertheless, I must keep travelling today, tomorrow and the next day; because it is unthinkable that a prophet should die anywhere but in Yerushalayim.

34 "Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused!

35 Look! God is abandoning your house to you! I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of ADONAI!'"