Luke 13:34

34. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem] The words were perhaps spoken again in the Great Denunciation of the Tuesday in Passion Week, Mat_23:37.

which killest the prophets] “It was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers” (Isa_1:21). See Luk_11:47, Luk_20:14; Mat_23:34; 2Es_1:32, “I sent unto you my servants the prophets whom ye have taken and slain, and torn their bodies in pieces, whose blood I will require of your hands, saith the Lord.”

how often] This, like other passages in the Synoptists, implies more frequent visits to Jerusalem than they actually record.

as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings] A metaphor still more tender and appealing than that of the eagle which “stirrethup her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings” of Deu_32:11-12.

ye would not] In contrast with the “would I” of Luk_13:34; it indicates “the sad privilege which man possesses of resisting the most serious influences of grace.”

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.

Luk_13:34

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem

The Saviours sorrow over lost men

I.

WORDS LIKE THESE, SPOKEN AT SUCH A MOMENT, LET US SEE, AS FAR AS WORDS CAN DO, INTO THE INNERMOST OF JESUS HEART. They are a wonderful expression of His deep-seated desire to save from ruin the worst of men, to save the unwilling, to save to the very last.

1. If ever excess of guilt could have alienated the Saviour and steeled Him against mercy, it must have been Jerusalems. Her privileges had been surpassing.

2. But if sinners sins cannot destroy Christs willingness to save them, neither can their unwillingness to be saved. You thrust the outstretched arms away: they are stretched cut still. You say, I will not: He still says, I will. He would that you would; prays you to turn; waits for your turning; grieves that you will not; but watches to welcome with joy the first poor timid tokens of your hearts relenting. Thus He maintains His Divine supremacy of love; offering to the spiritual universe the stupendous contrast of a willing God and an unwilling sinner.

3. Refusal, then, does not overbear this extraordinary desire of God to save us. Neither can delay out-weary it. On the contrary, time only tests to the utmost the sincerity of the Divine mercy. The perseverance of the Saviour is the measure of His love.

II. In the next place, THIS LANGUAGE OF THE DEPARTING SAVIOUR TELLS US HOW HE BLESSES THOSE WHO WILL BE GATHERED. Strong love like His is gentle as it is strong. Only let the mighty Lover, who made you, gather you to Himself, and you will see how He will cradle you like a mother. I read it in these words, that, when He gathers men, He gathers them to His heart. They are a cry of love. Love seeks to have the loved one near, and is ever reaching forth and calling out to draw unto itself for the joy of having what it loves. Let me say it reverently: it is the deep desire of God in our Lord Jesus Christ to bring the most impure and evil of us all into as close a relation to Himself as can be. Let us remember, the place of nearness is the place of safety. To be under the shadow of wings meant in Hebrew ears to be where mercy reigned through blood-shedding, and a gracious covenanted God guarded His faithful people. It means the same thing here. For shelter from the doom, which, for their national sins, had already sent its forewarning signs over the political horizon, Jesus called His fellow-citizens to Himself. For shelter against impending judgment overhanging every sinful soul, He calls us to repentance and to faith. It is not safety alone that by this image the Lord offers us in His tenderness. Have you not seen how, when it is night and the sky over all has spread out wings of darkness to gather all things to rest; and in the soft still gloom the airs are hushed and the birds are dumb and the beasts make no stir, but all things sleep, down to the very flowers which shut their little cups and hang their leaves in dewy rest; have you not seen how then the brood is gathered by the hen to sleep upon her breast, and be curtained over with her wings? Who does not know how they pillow there upon the down, cherished by her bodys warmth, till morning light? It is not I, it is the Lord, who says that it is so with His saved people. The soul that comes to Him finds in Him rest as well as shelter. Rest for the laden conscience in His blood; rest for the weary will in His powerful spirit; rest for the sad heart in being loved by His love and cherished in an infinite Divine comfort.

III. So far I have spoken of what He would have done had the Jerusalemites gathered at His call; WHAT HE WILL DO IF WE GATHER TO HIM. Fain would I linger here; but my text forces me to a contrast from which my soul shrinks. Its words give deeper insight still into the Redeemers heart. Underneath the joy of salvation it touches a fount of tears. It is, in truth, his last wail of sorrow over men who would not be saved. Remember, these are funeral words. Israels day is done; Israels hope is dead; Israels doom is sealed. All the toil is ended; and no huff. Farewell to merecy, for her God deserts her temple. Farewell! It is just? I know it is, most just. They have deserved it? Yes, with a thousandfold deserving. So have we all, and not one of us can blame the righteousness which condemns. But, men and brethren, love weeps when justice smites. The Lamb sorrows in His wrath. And it only makes justice the more awful when you see that it has so much of pity in it and so little of poor personal triumph or ungenerous readiness, that the Judge yearns and wails over the soul He dooms. (J. O. Dykes, D. D.)

The hen and chickens

The maternal love and courage of birds have been celebrated in the literature of all nations. Even the Mussulman admires it; witness the Moslem story of the white dove. One came before Mohammed with two fledglings tied up in a cloth, which he had taken from the wood. The mother dove had bravely followed. Mohammed commanded that the cloth should be opened; on which the dove flew down, and covered her trembling offspring with her wings. Then the prophet directed that the mother and her young should be restored unhurt to the nest in the wood, and took the opportunity to teach a good lesson--

From Allahs self cometh this wondrous love;

Yea, and I swear by Him who sent me here,

He is more tender than a nursing dove,

More pitiful to men than she to these.

To appreciate the feeling of Jesus Christ for Jerusalem, we must remember how complete was His knowledge of its sin. Let it not be thought strange that the will of the people of Jerusalem should be allowed to resist and defeat the mercy of the Son of God. The whole history of the nation was one of often-repeated resistance to the will of Jehovah, and rejection of His grace. The Lord desired to save, but never would force salvation on any nation or any creature. Indeed, a forced salvation would be futile, and mercy received against ones will could do no good. The illustration used by our Lord implied that danger was at hand. Observe a hen in the open field, happy with her chickens running about her, picking and chirping in the sunshine. Suddenly a hawk appears in the air, or some mischievous animal comes slyly over the ground. On the instant the hen calls her brood to her, covers them with her wings, and is ready for their defence. Timid enough at other times, she is brave for her chickens, and will die rather than let one of them be lost. So the Lord Jesus, perceiving the danger which hovered over Jerusalem long before the Jews were aware of it, was willing to cover and save them. So also is it in every age and every nation. He who is the Saviour of the world sees the approaching perdition of ungodly men, and is willing to deliver them. Those who come to Him He will in no wise cast out. What a simple way of salvation! And how sure and perfect the defence! When lambs are startled, they run to the ewes; the kids to the she-goats. Among the fiercest animals, the young run to their mothers for protection, and these will guard their offspring at whatever peril to themselves. But no quadruped, wild or tame, can cover her young so completely as a bird can do with her folding wings. Therefore is this last the apt illustration of the -sufficiency of Christ to save. Those who trust in Him are completely covered by His righteousness and strength. On this wise has Divine salvation always been revealed. The Psalms frequently refer to the favour and protection of Jehovah as the shadow of outstretched wings (Psa_17:8; Psa_36:7; Psa_57:1; Psa_61:4; Psa_63:7; Psa_91:4). Our Redeemers lament over Jerusalem shows what His heart is toward all mankind. It is a grief to Him to have His offer of salvation slighted, a joy to have it embraced. Bow unhappy the mother-bird while any of her brood continue astray and heedless of her call! What manner of persons Christians ought to be! What joy of faith, what restfulness of love should be under the covert of His wings! What nearness, too, to one another, and what obligation to brotherly kindness! The brood are packed very closely under the hen. (D. Fraser, D. D.)

Willingness to save

I. Now, first, observe THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD TO ISRAEL WHICH THIS VERSE BRINGS OUT BEFORE OUR VIEW.

1. We observe Gods sovereignty manifested in the choice of Israel. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. Why, we ask, should Jerusalem be singled out from all other nations of the earth? Why should the people of Israel receive Gods special teaching, and be made examples of His peculiar mercies? The Bible tells us that God dealt with Israel as He did not deal with any other nation on the face of the earth--that He gave them special instruction, that He communicated unto them special advantages, that their advantages were many every way, that is, in every point of view, but chiefly, because not to the Assyrians, not to the Egyptians, not to any other remarkable nation of antiquity, but to the Jews were committed the oracles of God. We can only account for this by Gods sovereignty.

2. We notice also the manifestation of Gods grace in the messages which He sent to this highly favoured people--O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee. Gods prophets, Gods messengers, those who were specially inspired or taught by His Holy Spirit, who alone can give understanding of the counsels of God, were sent to Israel. Why? Can we trace anything in their history which made them in a special manner deserving of such a favour as this?

Nothing of the kind. Their whole history is a history of Gods lovingkindness and mans ingratitude.

3. Observe, again, the mercy of Gods character manifested in His dealings towards them. It was not one prophet, but many, that God sent; not one messenger, but various messengers--and one after another the messengers and prophets were ill-treated.

4. I notice, further, Gods love--the love of Gods character in His dealings with them. For what was His revealed purpose towards the children of Israel when He sent to them the prophets, and gave them instruction as to His will? It was to gather their children together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings!--to gather them together, to be unto them protection and safety.

5. Further, Gods unchangeableness was manifested in His dealings with Israel. Observe the language of the Saviour, How often would I have gathered thy children! It was not one or two manifestations of Gods grace which Israel had received, but many. Every repetition of His mercy is a proof of His unchangeableness.

6. And yet there is a solemn view of this subject, for the verse immediately following the text speaks of Gods justice in His dealing with Israel. Behold your house is left unto you desolate.

7. And then observe, further, Gods faithfulness in the final issue of His dealings with Israel. For I say unto you, ye shall not see Me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. There are representatives of Israel after the flesh who shall occupy that favoured position. They shall receive the Saviour whom their forefathers rejected. And thus is it that God has, as it were, concentrated the rays of light which manifest His own character, in order that they may fall upon this single point--His willingness to save the sinful, the unworthy, the lost, and the undone.

II. But now, to pass from this, what is the special instruction which we ourselves, to whom the oracles of God are come, may derive from what we have read and examined, concerning our Lords willingness with reference to guilty Israel? We may learn, Christian brethren, WHAT WE HAVE TO DO WITH THE PURPOSES, WITH THE MESSAGES, AND WITH THE SALVATION OF GOD.

1. Learn what we have to do with the purposes of God. Observe, it was Gods sovereign purpose, with which His creatures could not interfere, to choose Jerusalem--to choose, that is, the nation of Israel, as a nation honoured and privileged above all other nations. We may be sure of His willingness to save, because even His sovereignty is revealed so as to set forth in prominence this willingness.

2. What have we to do, then, with the messages of God? How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?

3. What, then, have we to do with Gods salvation, but to regard it as set forth to us in connection with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? Observe, He speaks in the text as One who is able to save. He claims the attributes of Deity when He says, How often would I have gathered thy children together! The Man Christ Jesus, in the midst of His humiliation, speaks with the authority of God. But not only is He able to save, but willing. (W. Cadman, M. A.)

Choice may become habit

It is most necessary that the instinct of migration shall not be resisted, for such resistance means the loss of power to emigrate. In a recent article in a scientific paper upon the Everglades of Florida, we read that so enfeebled have the birds that there resort become through failure to use their wings in flight that now they find it almost impossible to rise when pressed hard by their enemies. Even so is it with human souls. The will not becomes the cannot. There is a process of deterioration that ends at last in death. Slaves of choice become slaves of habit. (W. W. Wells.)

The moorhen and her young

An angler, in Hampton Court Parle, disturbed a moorhen who had just hatched, and watched her anxiety and manoeuvres to draw away her young. She would go a short distance, utter a cry, return, and seemed to lead the way for her brood to follow. Having driven her away, that he might have a better opportunity of watching her young ones, she never ceased calling them: and they made towards her, skulking amongst the rushes till they came to the other side of the pond. They had only just left the shell, and had, probably, never heard the cry of their mother before.

Divine magnanimity

When Socrates was sentenced by the Athenian judges, the executioner wept as he handed him the fatal hemlock to drink. Christ knew the judges and rulers of Jerusalem would condemn Him to death, yet tie weeps over them. In the former case, the executioner weeps over the executed, here the case is reversed. Truly, Socrates displayed the character of a philosopher, but Jesus Christ that of a God.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

WOES AGAINST JERUSALEM

Luk 13:34-35. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how frequently did I wish to gather thy children in the manner in which a hen doth gather a brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” Jerusalem means “possession of peace,” and is built high up on Mount Zion, surrounded on three sides by the Valleys of Jehoshaphat, Hinnom, Gihon, and Kidron, one continuous, deep, mountain gorge, bearing the above names in different localities and impassable by an invading army, thus rendering it the most impregnable natural fortification of any city on the globe — a consideration of greatest moment, when we remember that Jerusalem has been besieged seventeen times and destroyed seven times; as all the kings of the earth, in all ages, seem to hold a grudge against this city, doubtless because they feared her power and influence, as she was universally understood to be the City of God. Not only in the creation of the world and the formation of these great, deep valleys did God favor Jerusalem, but His manifest miraculous interventions in her behalf are more than tongue can tell. Despite the lavish goodness of God and the copious bounty of heaven, which He poured upon her, giving her pre-eminence in all the earth for the inspiration of her prophets, the wisdom of her statesmen, the valor of her warriors, and the thrift and enterprise of her citizens, yet she would reject, persecute, and slay His prophets and saints, and go off after the idolatry of her heathen neighbors, following false prophets. Finally, as Jesus here sees in glowing panorama, moving before His infallible vision, instead of receiving her own Christ, for whom she had waited four thousand years in longing anticipation, she rejected and slew Him, thus provoking the righteous indignation of the merciful and infallible Jehovah, and brining on the Roman armies, with rivers of blood and deluges of fire, to accelerate those awful retributive judgments which expedited her hopeless ruin. “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” In A. D. 66 the Roman armies laid siege to Jerusalem, waging an exterminating war, consummating her utter destruction in 73. At the same time they rolled the desolating tide of fire and blood over all Palestine, literally verifying this terrible prophecy. The laud actually went into desolation, a million of Jews at Jerusalem alone perishing by sword, pestilence, and famine; a million more sold into slavery; and the scathed and peeled remnant driven to the ends of the earth, fugitives and tramps in every land. Jesus saw this awful panorama of blood and fire, death and destruction, rolling in horrors indescribable from Dan to Beersheba. Our mortal, finite conceptions, when augmented by the literal history of these awful tragedies, are utterly incompetent even to approximate apprehension; while the omniscience of Jesus saw every suffering, dying victim. It was God’s will and purpose that the Jews should receive their own Christ with open arms, and enjoy the exalted honor and blessing of preaching Him to the whole world, thus promoting the children of Abraham to the leadership of all nations. What a wonder that Jerusalem thus failed! N.B. — Man has proved a failure in every station, and actually forfeited all responsibility, under most favorable circumstances; and without a shadow of apology, he failed in Eden. After his lamentable fall and expulsion from Paradise, it seems that he should have profited by his failure and done better. But he did not. Going on and getting worse and worse, he so signally failed in antediluvian times as to provoke the righteous indignation of the Almighty and bring on the flood. Then he so failed in the postdiluvian age as actually to land in hopeless slavery. Afterward we see him failing so signally in the Jewish dispensation as to wind it up in the fulfillment of these awful prophecies, the destruction of Jerusalem and the desolation of the land. All this resulted from the long-prevailing maxim of Rome, “To rule or ruin.” Hence when the Jews, in their wild infatuation, because forsaken by the Holy Spirit and manipulated by Satan, persistently revolted against the Romans, they came with invincible armies, destroyed their city, and desolated their land.

“I say unto you that you can see Me no more until it shall come to pass that you may say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.” Here we see the transcendent sweep of the Divine mind, through all the intervening centuries of their alienation and sojourn among the Gentiles, till the elect remnant shall have been gathered out of every nation, which is so rapidly going on at the present day. Having thus been gathered from every land in a dry-bone state (Ezekiel 37), those bones will stir and rattle, and come together in glorious, spiritual reconstruction, when they will at last find out their awful mistake in rejecting their own Christ, turn to Him by thousands and myriads, and thus get ready, right there at Jerusalem, to hail Him with joyful triumph riding down on a cloud, and shout uproariously, “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!” You see the wonderful sweep of this prophecy — beginning with the destruction of Jerusalem and the desolation of Zion, following them in their long dispersions, wandering among the Gentiles to the ends of the earth, providentially gathered back to their native land, then gloriously saved and felicitously sanctified, so that when He returns in His glory, His own consanguinity will meet Him with joyous shouts of welcome.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13:34 as a hen protects her chicks: Cp. Deut 32:11; Ruth 2:12; Pss 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 61:4; 63:7; 91:4.

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

Luk 13:34. Ἰερουσαλὴμ, Jerusalem) It is not without cause that His discourse is turned to this city; the Pharisees had an intimate tie of connection with it: see Luk 13:31: and it was in the same city that Herod was about to assail Jesus [ch. Luk 23:11].—πόσακις, how often) Luk 13:7. He had come thither thrice since His baptism: [Joh 2:23; Joh 5:1; Joh 7:10.—Harm., l. c.]—νοσσίαν, her young brood) A collective noun.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk_13:34-35. See on Mat_23:37 ff. The original place of this exclamation is in Matthew (in opposition to Olshausen, Wieseler, Holtzmann, and others), although the connection in which Luke gives it from his source of the journey is not to be called inappropriate (in opposition to Schleiermacher, de Wette, Bleek). The painful reminder and announcement appears on the part of Jesus natural enough after Luk_13:33, and in the face of the theocratic hypocrites, Luk_13:35 is a striking dismissal.

τὴν ἑαυτῆς νοσσιάν] her own nest, namely, with the chickens therein, her own brood. Comp. Plat. Pol. viii. p. 548 A; Herod. iii. 111, often in the LXX. As to the testimony of the passage before us to an already frequent ministry of Jesus in Jerusalem, see on Mat_23:38 f., Remark. Comp. Weizsäcker, p. 310. But Schenkel, in opposition to all the evangelical notices, conjectures that during His supposed single sojourn in Judea (where He now is) He was oftener in Jerusalem. According to Keim (D. geschichtl. Chr. p. 34), Luke must at least have understood all the Jews as the children of Jerusalem, which, however, according to the context (Luk_13:33; Luk_13:35), is not correct. In Luke the apostrophe refers to the remote inhabitants of the central seat of the theocracy.

Luk_13:35. Continued apostrophe to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν κ.τ.λ.] cannot refer to the festal procession that was close at hand (Erasmus, Er. Schmid, Stein; Paulus, according to whom the meaning must be, before the festival caravans I shall not come![171]), which would yield the most nugatory and inappropriate thought in a pompous form, as the conclusion of a solemn denunciation of threatening. It refers to the Parousia (see already Theophylact), and the train of thought is: The divine protection departs from your city (ἀφίεται ὑμῖν ὁ οἶκ. ὑμ., see on Mat_23:38), and in this abandonment I shall not appear to you as a helper,ye shall not see me until I come to the establishment of my kingdom, and shall receive your (then no further to be withheld) homage as the Messiah. The meaning is somewhat different from what it is in Matthew. Observe, namely(1) that Luke has not the ἈΠΆΡΤΙ of Matthew (and, moreover, could not have it, since he has the saying before the festal entry); (2) that, therefore, in Luke the time of the οὐ μή με ἴδητε must be the duration of the previously declared abandonment; (3) that instead of ΛΈΓΩ ΓΆΡ (Matt.) Luke places ΛΈΓΩ ΔΈ, which ΔΈ is not to be taken as explanatory, in the sense of γάρ (because it is not followed by ἈΠΆΡΤΙ as in Matthew), but as in continuation, autem, as an advance towards a new point in the announcement: Ye shall be abandoned, but how long? abandoned even till my Parousia. Comp. the expression ζητήσετέ με κ. οὐχ εὑρήσετε in Joh_7:34 : the restoration of Israel, so that by ἕως κ.τ.λ. would be meant the conversion of the people (Hofmann, Schriftb. II. 2, p. 90 ff.), is neither here nor elsewhere taught in the New Testament.

ἕως ἥξει (see the critical remarks) ὍΤΕ ΕἼΠΗΤΕ] till it (the point of time) shall be, when ye shall have said. The subjunctive after ὅτε without ἌΝ: si res non ad cogitationem refertur et eventus tantummodo spectatur, Klotz, ad Devar. p. 688. See on this specially Homeric use, even Thiersch in the Act. Monac. I. p. 13 ff.; Bernhardy, p. 397 f., 400. In this place to consider the subjunctive as occasioned by ἕως (Buttmann, Neut. Gr. p. 199 [E. T. 231 f.]) is arbitrary.

[171] Comp. Wieseler, Synapse, p. 322, whom this erroneous reference drives to explain the passage in Matthew as a spurious addition. See on Matthew. Even Holtzmann sees here nothing but the dismissal until the next Passover festival.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 13:34-35 . Apostrophe to Jerusalem (Mat 23:37-38 ), suitably introduced here as in sympathy with the preceding utterance, though not likely to have been spoken at this time and place, as indeed it is not alleged to have been. It is given nearly as in Mt. τὴν νοσσιὰν (for τὰ νοσσία in Mt.) = a nest ( nidum suum , Vulgate), hence the young in the nest. Vide remarks on Mt., ad loc.

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

Vers. 34 and 35. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! 35. Behold, your house is left unto you. But I say unto you, ye shall not see me until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

It is surprising, at first sight, to find such an apostrophe to Jerusalem in the heart of Galilee. But were not the Pharisees whom Jesus had before Him the representatives of that capital? Comp. Luk 5:17: “There were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem.” Had He not been setting their minds at rest as such? Such an apostrophe to Jerusalem, regarded from a distance, has something about it more touching than if He had already been within its walls. In Mat 23:37 it is placed, during His sojourn at Jerusalem, on one of the days preceding the Passion, and at the point when Jesus leaves the temple for the last time. This situation is grand and tragic; but is it not probable that this placing of the passage was due to the certainly too narrow application (see below) of the expression your house (Luk 13:35) to the temple?

The words thy children have been applied by Baur not to the inhabitants of Jerusalem only, but to all Israelites, Galileans included; and he denies, consequently, that this saying could serve to prove the conclusion which has often been drawn from it, viz. that the narrative of the Syn. implies the numerous sojourns at Jerusalem which are related by John. But the relation of Luk 13:34 to the latter part of Luk 13:33 compels us to restrict the meaning of the word to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; its only admissible sense also in Luk 19:44; and, taken by itself, its only natural sense. Only, it is assumed that the fate of the population of the capital involves in it that of the other inhabitants of the country.

The contrast between I would...and ye would not, proves the sad privilege which man possesses of resisting the most earnest drawings of grace. As to Jesus, while mournfully asserting the futility of His efforts to save His people, He does not the less persevere in His work; for He knows that, if it has not the result that it might and should have, it will have another, in which God will notwithstanding carry out His plan to fulfilment. Some Jews saved shall become, in default of the nation as a whole, the instruments of the world’s salvation.

Jesus represents Himself, Luk 13:34, as a protector stretching His compassionate arms over the theocracy and its capital, because He knows well that He alone can rescue them from the catastrophe by which they are threatened. It is, in another form, the idea of the parable of the fig-tree (Luk 13:6-9). Now Israel rejects the protection which He offers. What more can Jesus do (Luk 13:35)? Leave to Israel the care of its own defence, that is to say,

Jesus knows it well,—give it up to a ruin which He alone could avert. Such is the meaning of the words, your house is left unto you; henceforth it is given over to your guardianship. Jesus frees Himself of the charge which His Father had confided to Him, the salvation of the theocracy. It is in its every feature the situation of the divine Shepherd in His last endeavour to save the flock of slaughter, Zach. Luk 11:4-14. The application of the expression your house to the temple, in such a unity, must be felt to be much too special. The place in question is Canaan, the abode divinely granted to the people, and especially Jerusalem, the centre of the theocracy. The authenticity of the word ἔρημος, desolate (Luk 13:35), appears more than doubtful both in Matthew and Luke. If this word were authentic, it would refer to the withdrawal of Jesus’ visible presence; comp. Ezekiel 11, where the cloud rising from over the sanctuary passes eastward, and from that moment the temple is empty and desolate. But the government ὑμῖν, “is left to you,” and the want of sufficient authorities, speak against this reading.

Like a bird of prey hovering in the air, the enemy is threatening the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Jesus, who was sheltering them under His wings as a hen her brood, withdraws, and they remain exposed, reduced thenceforth to defend themselves. The adversative form, but I say unto you, is certainly preferable to that of Matthew, for I say unto you. “I go away; but I declare to you, it will be for longer than you think; that my absence may be brought to an end, you yourselves, by the change of your sentiments in regard to me, will have to give the signal for my return.” The words ἕως ἂν ἥξῃ, until it come to pass that..., are the true reading. This moral change will certainly (ἕως) come about, but when (ἄν) it is impossible to say. Some commentators (Paulus, Wieseler, etc.) think that the time here pointed to is Palmday, on which Jesus received the homage of part of the people, and particularly of the Galileans, to whom these sayings had been addressed. “Ye shall not see me again, ye Galileans, until we meet together on the occasion of my entry into Jerusalem.” But how poor and insignificant would this meaning be, after the previous sayings! What bearing on the salvation of Israel had this separation of a few weeks? Besides, it was not to the Galileans that Jesus was speaking; it was to the representatives of the pharisaic party (Luk 13:31-34). In Matthew’s context, the interpretation of Wieseler is still more manifestly excluded.

The words which Jesus here puts into the mouth of converted Israel in the end of the days, are taken from Psa 118:26. This cry of penitent Israel will bring the Messiah down again, as the sigh of Israel, humbled and waiting for consolation, had led Him to appear the first time (Isa 64:1). The announcement of the future return of Jesus, brought about by the faith of the people in His Messiahship (ὁ ἐρχόμενος), thus forms the counterpart to that of His near departure, caused by the national unbelief (τελειοῦμαι).

How can any one fail to feel the appropriateness, the connection, the harmony of all the parts of this admirable answer? How palpable, at least in this case, is the decisive value of Luke’s short introduction for the understanding of the whole piece! The important matter here, as everywhere, is, above all, the precise indication of the interlocutors: “The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying...”

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Word for word, the nest: now the brood of chickens is the nest.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

O Jerusalem, &c.--(See on Mat 23:37; Mat 23:39).

Next: Luke Chapter 14

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 34. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem] See notes on Mt 23:37-39, where the metaphor of the hen is illustrated from the Greek Anthology.

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

(34, 35) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets.—See Notes on Mat_23:37-39. Here, as in other like cases, we have to choose between the alternatives of the words having been spoken on two different though similar occasions, or of one of the Evangelists misplacing the words which were actually spoken but once. As with most other passages thus re-appearing in a different context, I hold the former to be by far the most probable. In each report, it may be noted, they fit into the context with a perfectly natural coherence.

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

Behold, your house is left unto you desolate,.... That is, would be in a little time, both city and temple; See Gill on Mat 23:38.

and verily I say unto you; affirm in the strongest manner:

ye shall not see me; the Arabic version adds, "from henceforth", and so some copies, as in Mat 23:39 and so the Ethiopic version, "from this time"; that he spoke these words, whether in Galilee, or in the temple:

until the time come; or "until he shall come", meaning himself, and his second coming:

when ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; not they themselves in person, but their posterity, who will be converted in the latter day: and shall acknowledge the Messiah, the blessed of the Lord, who will come in his name, to judge the world in righteousness: or else the meaning is, that when Christ shall come a second time, and every eye shall see him, these Jews, among the rest, shall behold him, whom they have pierced, and mourn; and wish themselves among those, that shall receive him with joyful acclamations; and however, will be obliged to own him as the Messiah, and to confess that he comes in the name, and with the authority of the Lord, and that he is blessed for evermore.

Next: Luke Chapter 14

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

34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

Ver. 34. See Mat 23:37.

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.

See the notes at Mat 23:37-39.

From the message which Jesus sent to Herod we may learn:

That our lives are safe in the hands of God, and that wicked people can do no more to injure us than he shall permit. Compare Joh 19:11. That we “should” go on fearlessly in doing our duty, and especially if we are doing good. We should not regard the threats of people. God is to be obeyed; and even if obedience should involve us in difficulty and trials, still we should not hesitate to commit our cause to God and go forward. We should be on our guard against crafty and unprincipled people. They often “profess” to seek our good when they are only plotting our ruin. Even those professedly coming from our enemies to caution us are often also our enemies, and are secretly plotting our ruin or endeavoring to prevent our doing good. We see here the nature of religion. It shrinks at nothing which is duty. It goes forward trusting in God. It comes out boldly and faces the world. And, How beautiful and consistent is the example of Christ! How “wise” was he to detect the arts of his foes! how “fearless” in going forward, in spite of all their machinations, to do what God had appointed for him to do!

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

See Poole on "Mat 23:37-39". These five last verses afford us much for our instruction.

1. We may from them learn the craft of the enemies of the gospel, as well as their malice; they are lions, and will, like lions, tear rand rend when they see an opportunity; but when they see it convenient, then they put on the fox’s skin, doing the same thing by subtlety, which they durst not attempt to effect by cruelty.

2. Their malice is as much perspicuous; who but the children of the devil could have found in their hearts to have desired Christ to go out of their country, who did nothing there but innocently and diligently preach the gospel, deliver people from grievous diseases, and the power of Satan, who miserably possessed and tormented them?

3. When the most malicious enemies of God’s people have done what they can, they shall finish their course, and work the time God hath set them.

4. When they have perfected their work, they shall be perfected. Death is but the perfecting of the saints, as it was the perfecting of Christ.

5. Men shall die, as at the time, so at the place, which God hath set.

6. God sending of his ministers faithfully to reveal his will to people, is a declaration of his willingness to gather them under the wings of his special favour and protection.

7. The perverse wills of men are those things which hinder men and women from being gathered.

8. Temporal judgments, and that of the severest nature, will first or last follow men’s contempt of the offers of grace and salvation.

9. Those that do contemn the means of grace shalt not see them long. —Ye shall not see me.

10. The proudest scorners and contemners of Christ and his grace shall one day wash that one would or might come unto them in the name of the Lord, and do but now contemn what hereafter they would be glad they might enjoy.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

34. O Jerusalem—Jesus reiterated the same apostrophe, in fuller terms, at a later moment, in Jerusalem itself, as his closing sentence before his retirement to the sacrifice of himself for the sins of the world. See notes on Mat_23:37-39, and cut on opposite page.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee! This exquisite and moving apostrophe was uttered in similar language in the Passion-week, just as Jesus was leaving the temple for the last time. It was spoken here with rare appropriateness in the first instance after the promise of sad irony that the holy city should not be deprived of the spectacle of the Teacher-Prophet"s death. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!" It was a farewell to the holy city. It was the sorrowful summing-up of the tenderest love of centuries. Never had earthly city been loved like this. There the anointed of the Eternal were to fix their home. There the stately shrine for the service of the invisible King of Israel was to keep watch and ward over the favoured capital of the chosen race. There the visible presence of the Lord God Almighty, the Glory and the Pride of the people, was ever and anon to rest. And in this solemn last farewell, the Master looked back through the vista of the past ages of Jerusalem"s history, It was a dark and gloomy contemplation. It had been all along the wicked chief city of a wicked people, of a people who had thrown away the fairest chances ever offered to men the city of a people whose annals were memorable for deeds of blood, for the most striking ingratitude, for incapacity, for folly shading into crime. Not once nor twice in that dark story of Israel chosen messengers of the invisible King had visited the city he loved so well. These were invested with the high credentials which belong to envoys from the King of kings, with a voice sweeter and more persuasive, with a power grander and more far-reaching than were the common heritage of men; and these envoys, his prophets, they had maltreated, persecuted, murdered. How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings! God"s great love to Israel had been imaged in the far back days of the people, when Moses judged them, under a similar metaphor. Then it was the eagle fluttering over her young and bearing them on her wings; now it is slightly altered to one if possible more tender and loving, certainly more homely. How often in bygone days would the almighty wings, indeed, had Israel only wished it, have been spread out over them a sure shelter! Now the time of grace was over, and the almighty wings were folded. And ye would not! Sad privilege, specially mentioned here by the Divine Teacher, this freedom of man"s will to resist the grace of God. "Ye would not," says the Master, thus joining the generation who heard his voice to the stiffnecked Israel of the days of the wicked kings.

Divine emotion, etc.

These words are full of

I DIVINE EMOTION. They are charged with sacred feeling, The heart of Jesus Christ was evidently filled with a profound and tender regret as he contemplated the guilt and the doom of the sacred city. Strong emotion breathes in every word of this pathetic and powerful lament, And manifesting to us the Divine Father as Jesus did, we gather therefrom that our God is not one who is unaffected by what he witnesses in his universe, by what he sees in his human children. The infinite Spirit is one in whom is not only that which answers to our intelligence, but that also which answers to our emotion; and this, of course, in a manner answering to his Divinity. He rejoices in our return to his side and his service; he is gladdened by our spiritual growth, by our obedience and activity; he is pleased with our silence and submissiveness when we do not understand his way but bow to his holy will; and he is pained by our spiritual distance from him, is grieved by our slackness and our lukewarmness and our withdrawal, is saddened by our sin. He looks with a deep, Divine regret on a Church or on a child of his that is rejecting his grace as Jerusalem did, and over whom, as over it, there impends a lamentable doom.

II DIVINE PERSISTENCY. "How often would I have gathered," etc.! The Saviour desired and endeavoured to gather the children of Jerusalem under his gracious guardianship, not once, nor twice, nor thrice; his effort was a frequent act of mercy; it was repeated and prolonged. God "bears long" with us, forbearing to strike though the stroke be due and overdue; he is "slow to anger and of great mercy." But he does more than that, and is more than that; he continues to seek us that he may save us. He follows us, in his Divine patience, through childhood, through youth, through early manhood, through the days of prime, or unto declining years, with his teaching and his influence. He speaks to us by his Word, by his ministry, by his providence, by his Spirit. He seeks to win us, to warn us, to alarm us, to humble, and thus to save us. At how many times and in how many ways does our Saviour seek us! How often does he endeavour to gather us under the shadow of his love!

III HUMAN FREEDOM. "How often would I!" "Ye would not!" It is quite vain for us to attempt to reconcile God"s omnipotence with our freedom, his right and power over us with our power to act according to our own will. The subject is beyond our comprehension, and it is true wisdom to leave it alone, as an inaccessible mountain peak which we cannot climb; there is danger, if not death, in the attempt. But the facts are before us, visible as the mountain itself. God has power over us, and exercises that power benignantly and patiently. But he does not interfere with our freedom; that, indeed, would be to unman us, to put us down from the level of children into that of irresponsible creaturedom. He leaves us free; and we are free to oppose his sovereign will, to resist his Divine grace, to be deaf to his pleading voice, to shake off his arresting hand. He "would" that we should be reclaimed, be raised, be enlarged, be ennobled; and too often we "will not." A solemn, awful thing it is to share a human heritage, to live a human life, to incur human responsibility.

IV HUMAN OBDURACY. Jerusalem "often" refused to be drawn to its Redeemer. Not only can we and do we resist the grace of God; we can continue to do so; and we do continue. We can spend our life in a long contest with redeeming love; we can repel the overtures of mercy and go on rejecting our Father"s offer of eternal life through all the years and periods of a long life of privilege. Men do this, and to them the words of Jesus are applicable in all their force; over them, also, his lament has to be uttered.

1. It is well for those to whom it may apply to awake and to return before he says to them, "Your house is left unto you desolate.

2. It is better, for it is safer for us all to heed his inviting voice and place ourselves under the wings of his blessed friendship long before such words as those of our text are anywise applicable to us. C.

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

How often would I have gathered thy children together - Three solemn visits he had made to Jerusalem since his baptism for this very purpose. Matt. xxiii, 37.

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

A cry of sorrow over Jerusalem:

v. 34. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

v. 35. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate; and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see Me until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.

See Mat 23:37-38. Luke adds this cry of Jesus at this point, and it is more than likely that Jesus spoke these words and similar ones more than once. The city of Jerusalem, the capital of the nation, which should have been leader in welcoming the prophets of the Lord and showing them every honor, had gotten a reputation sadly at variance with this ideal. To stone the prophets and kill the messengers of the Lord, that was the name which Jerusalem had gotten in the course of the centuries. Jesus Himself had tried, with all the wealth and fervor of His Savior’s love, to gather the people of the city about Him, to bring them the joyful assurance of their redemption through His blood. His solicitude had been unwavering during all the years of His ministry, like that of a brooding hen anxiously concerned about the welfare of her chicks. He had wanted, but they had not wanted. "Thus and no other way it was to happen, and it always has gone thus, that the greatest harm and damage has been done to Christ, to His Word, and to His Church by those that have presumed to be the holiest and best. " And so they brought their punishment upon themselves: their dwelling, the city of Jerusalem, was destroyed and left desolate barely four decades later. They will not see Christ again until the day when He returns in His glory, and when even His enemies, who will then be completely confounded, will have to confess that Jesus is Lord. Then their lips, for the chattering of their teeth, will hardly be able to form the words, and their heart will utter curses and imprecations; but they will have to acknowledge Him whom they killed as the Lord of all.

Summary.Jesus utters some last warnings to lie prepared for the Judgment, heals the crippled woman on a Sabbath, teaches and admonishes in parables, repudiates the threat purporting to come from Herod, and. cries, out over Jerusalem.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Our Lord concludes this chapter with a compassionate lamentation over Jerusalem, the place where he was to suffer. His ingemination, or doubling of the word, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, shows the vehemency of his affection towards them, and the sincerity of his desires for their salvation.

Observe, 1. The kindness and compassion of Christ to the Jews in general, and Jerusalem in particular, set forth by a lively metaphor and similitude, namely, that of a hen gathering her chickens under her wings. As the hen does tenderly cherish, and carefully hide and cover her young from the eye of the destroyer; so would Christ have shrouded and sheltered this people from all those birds of prey, and particularly from the Roman eagle, by whose talons they were at last destoyed.

Again, as the hen continues her call to her young ones from morning to night, and holds out her wings for shelter to them all the day long, so did Christ wait for this people’s repentance and conversion; for it was more than forty years after they had killed his prophets, and murdered himself, before they met with a final overthrow.

Observe, 2. The amazing obstinacy and willfulness of this people in rejecting the grace and favor, the kindness and condescension, of the Lord Jesus Christ: I would have gathered you, but ye would not.

Observe, 3. The fatal issue of this obstinacy: Behold your house is left unto you desolate; is left, that is, certainly and suddenly will be left desolate (the present tense being put for the paulo post futurum), which denotes the certainty and proximity of this people’s ruin.

Learn, 1. That the ruin and destruction of sinners is wholly chargeable upon themselves, that is, on their own willfuness and impenitency, on their own obstinacy and obduracy. I would have gathered you, says Christ, but ye would not.

Learn, 2. How deplorably and inexcusably they will perish, who perish by their own willfulness and obduracy under the gospel.

Learn, 3. That there is no desire like unto God’s desire of a people’s repentance, no longing like unto God’s longing for a people’s salvation: O Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered thee! When shall it once be?

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

34, 35. O Jerusalem. See notes on Matt. 23:37–39. These words were probably uttered twice.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Jesus finishes responding to the Pharisees. This is the end of this part of the story.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem

Jesus speaks as if the people of Jerusalem are there listening to him. Jesus says this twice to show how sad he is for them. (See: Apostrophe)

who kills the prophets and stones those sent to you

If it would be strange to address the city, you can make it clear that Jesus was really addressing the people in the city: "you people who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you" (See: Metonymy)

those sent to you

This can be stated in active form. AT: "those God has sent to you" (See: Active or Passive)

How often I desired

"I so often desired." This is an exclamation and not a question.

to gather your children

The people of Jerusalem are described as her "children." AT: "to gather your people" or "to gather the people of Jerusalem" (See: Metonymy)

the way a hen gathers her brood under her wings

This describes how a hen protects her young from harm by covering them with her wings. (See: Metaphor)

your house is abandoned

This is a prophecy about something that would happen soon. It means that God has stopped protecting the people of Jerusalem, so enemies can attack them and drive them away. Possible meanings are 1) God will abandon them. AT: "God will abandon you" or 2) their city will be empty. AT: "your house will be abandoned" (See: Metaphor)

you will not see me until you say

"you will not see me until the time comes when you will say" or "the next time you see me, you will say"

the name of the Lord

Here "name" refers to the Lord's power and authority. (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

Jerusalem

prophet

stone

send

bless

name

lord

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

34. Ἱερουσαλὴμ Ἱερουσαλήμ. The words were perhaps spoken again in the Great Denunciation of the Tuesday in Passion Week, Mat 23:37. It is noticeable that the form Ἱερουσαλήμ is always used by St Luke (26 times) except in 3 places. The other Synoptists always use Ἱεροσόλυμα except in Mat 23:37. No certain conclusion can be built on this, for St Paul uses both forms in the same Epistle (Gal 1:17; Gal 4:25).

ἡ ἀποκτείνουσα τοὺς προφήτας. “It was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers” (Isa 1:21). See Luk 11:47, Luk 20:14; Mat 23:34; 2Es 1:32, “I sent unto you my servants the prophets whom ye have taken and slain, and torn their bodies in pieces, whose blood I will require of your hands, saith the Lord.”

ποσάκις. This, like other passages in the Synoptists, implies more frequent visits to Jerusalem than they actually record.

δν τρόπον ὄρνις τὴν ἑαυτῆς νοσσιὰν ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας (ἐπισυνάγει). A metaphor still more tender and appealing than that of the eagle which “stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings” of Deu 32:11-12.

οὐκ ἠθελήσατε. ‘Ye willed it not’ though ‘I willed it.’ The words indicate “the sad privilege which man possesses of resisting the most serious influences of grace.”

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.

34, 35. The Lament over Jerusalem. This lament is called forth by the thought of the previous verse. What sorrow that the Messiah should have to speak thus of the metropolis of His own people! The connexion is natural; all the more so if the Pharisees (ver. 31) came from Jerusalem. But the connexion in Mat 23:37 is not less natural; and there Christ is at Jerusalem. To decide between the two arrangements is not easy: and to suppose that such words were spoken on two different occasions is rather a violent hypothesis; which, however, is adopted by Alford, Andrews, Ellicott, and Stier. The wording is almost identical in both places, especially in the remarkable turn from the third sing. (αὐτήν) to the second sing. (σου), and thence to the second plur. (ἠθελήσατε). On the whole it seems to be more probable that the lament was uttered when Jerusalem was before His eyes, than when it and its inhabitants were far away. For the repetition of the name see on 10:41.

34. ἡ ἀποκτείνουσα τοὺς προφήτας. “The slayer of Prophets” pres. part. This is her abiding character; she is a murderess, laniena prophetarum, προφητοκτόνος. Comp. Act 7:52.

λιθοβολοῦσα τοὺς ἀπεσταλμένους πρὸς αὐτήν. As the wicked husbandmen did (Mat 21:35): comp. Heb 12:20. This is a repetition in a more definite form of the preceding clause. It is arbitrary to make τοὺς ἀποταλμένους refer to the Apostles and other messengers of the Gospel: they are the same class as τοὺς προφήτας. See Paschasius Radbertus on Mat 23:37, Migne, 120:789. ποσάκις ἠθέλησα ἐπισυνάξαι τὰ τέκνα σου. These words, which are found in both Mt. and Lk., are evidence from the Synoptists themselves respecting much work of Christ in Jerusalem which they do not record. As S. John tells us, He ministered there at other times than just before His Passion. The context forbids us from taking τὰ τέκνα οσου in any other sense than the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (Comp. 19:44, and see Neander, L. J. C. § 110, Eng. tr. p. 165.) This is fully admitted by Strauss, if the words were really spoken by Christ.1 He suggests therefore that they come from an apocryphal source, and probably the same from which he supposes 11:49-51 to have been taken. In this he has been followed by Loman and Pfleiderer (see Hahn, 2. p. 255). But, like 10:22, this verse—so strongly confirming the Johannean tradition—is far too well attested to be got rid of by any suppositions. The prepositions in ἐπισυνάξαι mean “together to one place—to Myself.” Comp. Ps. 101:23?, 105:47.

ὅν τρόπον ὄρνις τὴν ἑαυτῆς νοσσιάν. “Even as a hen her own brood.” For ὅν τρόπον comp. Exo 2:14. Like “fowl” in English, ὄρνις is used specially of domesticated hens (Xen. Anab. iv. 5, 25; Aesch. Eum. 866). Mt. has τὰ νοσσία αὐτῆς, “her chickens.” This similitude is not found in O.T., but is frequent in Rabbinical literature. Schoettgen, pp. 207-210. Comp. τὰ κείνου τέκνʼ ἔχων ὑπὸ πτεροῖς σώζω τάδε (Eur. Heracl. 10). Jerome quotes Deu 32:11 in illustration: “As an eagle that stirreth up her nest, that fluttereth over her young, He spread abroad His wings, He took them, He bare them on His pinions.” With ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας comp. Rth 2:12; Isa 31:5; Mal 4:2; Psa 17:8, Psa 36:8, Psa 57:2, Psa 61:5, Psa 63:8.

καὶ οὐκ ἠθελήσατε. In tragic contrast with ποσάκις ἠθέλησα: comp. Joh 1:5, Joh 1:10, Joh 1:11.

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

Would I have gathered [ηθελησα επισυναξαι] . Lit., "I desired to gather." See on will kill, ver. 31.

Hen. See on Mt 23:37.

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