Luke 7:31

31 “To what can I compare the people of this generation?” Jesus asked. “How can I describe them?

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 When they heard this, all the people—even the tax collectors—agreed that God’s way was right, for they had been baptized by John.

30 But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism.

31 “To what can I compare the people of this generation?” Jesus asked. “How can I describe them?

32 They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, ‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t weep.’

33 For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’