Luke 13:34

34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that slayest prophets, and stonest them that be sent to thee, how oft would I gather together thy sons, as a bird gathereth his nest under feathers [as a bird his nest under pens, or wings], and thou wouldest not.

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 And he said to them, Go ye, and say to that fox, Lo! I cast out fiends, and I make perfectly healings [and I make perfectly healths], to day and to morrow, and the third day I am ended.

33 Nevertheless it behooveth me to day, and to morrow, and the day that followeth [and the day following], to walk; for it falleth not [for] a prophet to perish out of Jerusalem.

34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that slayest prophets, and stonest them that be sent to thee, how oft would I gather together thy sons, as a bird gathereth his nest under feathers [as a bird his nest under pens, or wings], and thou wouldest not.

35 Lo! your house shall be left to you desert. And I say to you [Soothly I say to you], that ye shall not see me, till it come, when ye shall say, Blessed is he, that cometh in the name of the Lord.