Luke 11:51

11:51 from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah: Abel’s murder by his brother Cain was the first murder recorded in the Old Testament (Gen 4:8). The stoning of Zechariah, son of Jehoiada (2 Chr 24:20-22) was the last, since Chronicles is the last book in the Hebrew Bible.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 11:51 . τοῦ ἀπολομένου who perished, in place of the harsher whom ye slew of Mt. τοῦ οἴκου = τοῦ ναοῦ in Mt., the temple.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

blood of Zacharias--Probably the allusion is not to any recent murder, but to Ch2 24:20-22, as the last recorded and most suitable case for illustration. And as Zacharias' last words were, "The Lord require it," so they are warned that "of that generation it should be required."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 51. From the blood of Abel] See this subject explained at large on Mt 23:34.

Required] εκζητηθησεται may be translated either by the word visited or revenged, and the latter word evidently conveys the meaning of our Lord. They are here represented as having this blood among them; and it is intimated that God will come by and by to require it, and to inquire how it was shed, and to punish those who shed it.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(51) From the blood of Abel. . . .—See Note on Mat_23:35. We note the absence here of the description “Zacharias, son of Barachias,” which causes so much perplexity in St. Matthew’s report. So far as it goes, the omission favours the view that the additional words were inserted by the reporter of our Lord’s discourse there, or by some early transcriber.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

51. unto the blood of Zacharias] His murder by Joash is described in 2Ch_24:20-21, and also filled a large place in Jewish legends. The words “the son of Barachiah,” in Mat_23:35, are probably an erroneous gloss which has crept from the margin into the text. The murdered Zacharias was the son of the High Priest Jehoiada; the Prophet Zechariah was a son of Barachiah, but died, so far as we know, a natural death; and the Zechariah son of Barachiah, who was murdered by the Zealots, did not die till forty years later than this time. The allusions are all the more striking from the direct references to retribution in these two instances, and from the fact that they are drawn from the first and last historical books of the O. T. (Gen_4:10; 2Ch_24:22).

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.

And as he said these things unto them,.... Denounced the above woes upon them, charging them with the above crimes, and threatening them with divine vengeance:

the Scribes and Pharisees began to urge him vehemently; to fall upon him with their tongues, and express great rage, wrath, and virulence against him:

and to provoke him to speak of many things; they put questions to him, and urged him to answer them, and did all they could to irritate him to say things that they could improve against him, to draw words out of his mouth, and then wrest and pervert them.

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

51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

Ver. 51. See Mat 23:35.

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.

Blood of Zacharias, &c. This Zacharias was, according to some Zacharias the son of Joiada, whom the Jews slew between the temple and the altar. (Theophylactus, --- also St. Jerome, who moreover mentions that some editions had Zacharias, son of Joiada.) --- This generation. Not that this generation of the Jews should be punished for the crimes of others, but that having before their eyes the severe chastisement of their ancestors had received, in punishment of their wickedness, they had not grown better, but had imitated their perversity. (St. John Chrysostom, hom . lxxv. in Matt.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple. The reason, probably, why these two are selected out of the long red list of the noble army, must be sought for in the special position which the recital of these two deaths occupies in the Jewish canon of Scripture; the death of Abel being related in Genesis, the first book of the canon, that of Zacharias in the Second Book of Chronicles, which occupies the last place in the sacred volume (is the Jewish canon). They were simply two martyrdoms of illustrious men at the beginning and at the close of the long many-coloured story of the chosen race. There is no doubt that the Zacharias here alluded to was Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the high priest a prophet and preacher of righteousness, who at the commandment of the king was stoned in the court of the house of the Lord. This is related in 2Ch_24:20-22, in the same passage which was evidently in the Lord"s mind when he pronounced the awful woe upon the generation then living. This martyrdom of Zacharias was to his Jewish listeners a very familiar and painful memory. It evidently ranked among the most terrible crimes committed by their fathers, and was the subject of some wild strange legends in the Talmud. The martyr"s blood would not dry up; it was still bubbling when Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans took the temple. No sacrifices availed to stop the awful flow. Tradition assigns one of the four great sepulchral monuments at the foot of Olivet, alluded to above, to the murdered Zacharias.

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

And so it was within forty years, in a most astonishing manner, by the dreadful destruction of the temple, the city, and the whole nation. Between the temple and the altar - In the court of the temple.

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

51. ἕως αἵματος Ζαχαρίου. His murder by Joash is described in 2Ch 24:20-21, and also filled a large place in Jewish legends. The words “the son of Barachiah,” in Mat 23:35, are probably an erroneous gloss which has crept from the margin into the text. The murdered Zacharias was the son of the High Priest Jehoiada; the Prophet Zechariah was a son of Barachiah, but died, so far as we know, a natural death; and the Zechariah son of Barachiah, who was murdered by the Zealots, did not die till forty years later than this time. The allusions are all the more striking from the direct references to retribution in these two instances, and from the fact that they are drawn from the first and last historical books of the O. T. (Gen 4:10; 2Ch 24:22). The religion of the Pharisees was a mere religion of intellect and of ritual, and “la religion de tête se lie presque toujours à la haine de la piété vivante, de la religion de l’esprit, et devient aisément persécutrice.” Godet.

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.

51. The murders of Abel and Zacharias are the first and last murders in the O.T., which in the Jewish Canon ends with Chronicles. In both cases the ἐκζήτησις is indicated: “The voice of the brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground” (Gen 4:10); “The Lord look upon it, and require it” (2Ch 24:22). Chronologically the murder of Uriah by Jehoiakim (Jer 26:23) is later than that of Zachariah the son of Jehoiada. Zachariah the son of Barachiah was the Prophet, and there is no mention of his having been murdered: in Mat 23:35 “the son of Barachiah” is probably a mechanical slip. For τοῦ οἴκου Mt. has τοῦ ναοῦ, and the ναός is evidently the οἶκος meant here.

ναί, λέγω ὑμῖν. comp. 7:26, 12:5. Not elsewhere in N.T.

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

The altar and the temple. Oikou, temple, lit., house, is equivalent to naou, sanctuary (Rev.), in Mt 23:35. The altar is the altar of burnt - offering. See on Mt 4:5; and compare 2Ch 24:18 - 21.

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