Luke 11:32

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, one greater than Jonah is here.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Νινευεῖται

Nineuḯtēs

G3536

“Ninevite”

Noun, Nominative, Plural, Masculine

Appears 3× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Matthew 12:41

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: from G3535

TDNT: None

1. a Ninevite, an inhabitant of Nineveh

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

24: words
20: distinct lemmas
Gospels: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is Νινευεῖται Ninevite G3536 — appearing just 3 times in the whole Greek New Testament.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

Νινευεῖται Ninevite G3536 occurs in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Repetition

Words recur within this verse:

Ἰωνᾶ Jonah G2495 ×2
τῇ the G3588 ×3
καὶ and G2532 ×2

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Luke 11:32 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Jonah 3:5–4:4 The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
Jonah 1:2–3 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me."
Jonah 4:9 God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?" He said, "I am right to be angry, even to death."
Luke 11:31 The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and will condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, one greater than Solomon is here.
Hebrews 7:26 For such a high priest was fitting for us: holy, guiltless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Notes on Luke 11:32 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

32. they repented at the preaching of Jonas] “The people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them,” Jon_3:5.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

The light of the body is the eye,.... The Vulgate Latin and all the eastern versions read "the light of thy body is thine eye". The sense is, that as the eye gives light, to the body, and the several members of it, by which they are guided and directed; so the understanding is the light of the soul, and the guide to all the powers and faculties of it;

therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light: as when the eye is free from vicious humours, and its sight is clear, the whole body reaps the advantage of it, and is perfectly illuminated by it; so when the eye of the understanding is opened and enlightened by the Spirit of God, into the truths of the Gospel, and a single regard is had unto them, and to the glory of Christ in them, the whole soul is filled with light, joy, and comfort:

but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness; as when the eye of the body is attended with any bad humours that hinder the sight, all the members of it are in darkness; so, when the understanding is darkened through the blindness and ignorance there is in men, with respect to Gospel truths, all the powers and faculties of the soul are in a very miserable and uncomfortable condition. The 35th and 36th verses are not in Beza's most ancient copy.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

32 The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

Ver. 32. See Mat 12:41-42.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. And these poor sinners of the wicked city of Nineveh, they, too, will join in approval of the sad condemnation of the chosen people. In Nineveh. when Jonah appeared among them and bade them repent, they obeyed the solemn warning voice. Lo! a greater Preacher far than Jonah was in their midst; but, alas! Israel was deaf.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

They repented at the preaching of Jonah - But it was only for a season. Afterward they relapsed into wickedness, till (after about forty years) they were destroyed. It is remarkable, that in this also the comparison held. God reprieved the Jews for about forty years; but they still advanced in wickedness, till having filled up their measure, they were destroyed with an utter destruction.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

The men of Nineveh

It may be helpful to state explicitly that this refers to the ancient city of Nineveh. AT: "The men who lived in the ancient city of Nineveh" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

The men

This includes both men and woman. AT: "The people" (See: When Masculine Words Include Women)

this generation of people

"the people of this time"

for they repented

"for the people of Nineveh repented"

someone greater than Jonah is here

Jesus is speaking about himself. It may be helpful to explicitly state that they have not listened to him. AT: "even though I am greater than Jonah, you still have not repented" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

Nineveh

judgment day

generation

condemn

repent

preach

Jonah

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges

32. ἄνδρες Νινευῖται. Men of Nineveh or Ninevites; not ‘the men of Nineveh.’

μετενόησαν εἰς τὸ κήρυγμα Ἰωνᾶ. “The people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them,” Jon 3:5. The εἰς is difficult to explain. Perhaps it is what is called ‘the predicate of destination,’ i.e. so as to adopt the teaching of Jonah, or it may be from analogy with such phrases as πιστεύειν εἰς. Comp. Act 7:53.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Alford’s Greek Testament

Henry Alford

32. πλεῖον Ἰωνᾶ] Not ‘a greater than Jonas,’ or ‘than Solomon:’ but Jonah = the sign of Jonah,—so that πλεῖον is He who is the sign to this generation:—a sign, πλεῖον, both in its actuality, its significance, and its consequences. The order, here, seems to be for the sake of climax;—for the undervaluing and not appreciating His wisdom, will not lie so heavy on them in the judgment, as the rejection of His preaching of repentance.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

International Critical Commentary

32. ἄνδρες Νινευεῖται. No article: “Men of Nineveh.” RV. retains “The men of Nineveh.”

εἰς τὸ κήρυγμα. “In accordance with the preaching” they repented; i.e. they turned towards it and conformed to it; comp. ἐζωγρημένοι ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ ἐκείνου θέλημα (2Ti 2:26); or else, “out of regard to it” they repented; comp. αἵτινες ἐλάβετε τὸν νόμοι εἰς δαιαταγὰς ἀγγέλων (Act 7:53); ὁ δεχόμενος δίκαιον εἰς ὄνομα δικαίου (Mat 10:41). See on 10:13; and for κήρυγμα, as meaning the subject rather than the manner of preaching, see Lft. Notes on Epp. p. 161.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament

Marvin R. Vincent

Shall rise up [αναστησονται] . This verb is also used of rising from the dead, and that is implied here; but the meaning is, shall appear as witness. Hence Rev., stand up. See on Mt 12:41.

Preaching [κηρυγμα] . The proclamation. See on 2Pe 2:5.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Luke, in the Gospels, opens this verse with 24 words (20 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is Nineuḯtēs (“Ninevite”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “Ninevite” (Nineuḯtēs) contribute to the verse as a whole?
Matthew 12:41 shares the word «Ninevite» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“Jonah” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
Reading how The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges and John Gill's Exposition read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 10 words in this verse.
“Jonah” occurs 2× in this single verse.
20 distinct Greek lemmas span 24 words in this verse.