Luke 19:42

19:42 now it is too late: Israel’s rejection of Jesus was irrevocable.

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

Luk 19:42. Εἰ) Would that! לוּ, which the LXX. render εἰ, Jos 7:7.—ἔγνως, thou hadst known) the things which make for (belong unto) thy peace. Comp. Luk 19:44 [where, knowing the time of thy visitation, answers to, knowing the things which make for thy peace, here].—καὶ σὺ) even thou, thou also, after the example of the disciples, Luk 19:37.—καί γε) even truly (“at least,” Engl. Vers.), as yet [even still], after so many acceptable days.—ἡμέρᾳ σου, in this thy day) A day altogether peculiar and extraordinary. See the end of Luk 19:44; Psa 118:24 [“This is the day which the Lord hath made: we will rejoice,” etc.]—ταύτῃ, in this) after so many other days, when thou mightest have taken measures to ensure thy salvation.—τὰ) This word depends upon ἔγνως.—εἰρήνην, peace) In antithesis to οἱ ἐχθροί, enemies, in the following verse. [There is included in the idea heavenly peace;[212] comp. Luk 19:38.—V. g.]—ἘΚΡΎΒΗ, they have been hidden) also[213] by the just judgment of God.

[212] i.e. Peace with heaven.—E. and T.

[213] Even as thou knewest not when thou mightest have known, so now, when thou wouldest wish, thou canst not know.—E. and T.

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

Luk 19:42 . εἰ ἔγνως : εἰ with the aorist indicative in a supposition contrary to fact, the apodosis being omitted by an impressive aposiopesis. ἐν τ . ἡμέρα τ ., in this (late) day, not too late yet. καὶ σὺ , thou too, as well as my disciples: their insight will save them , but not you and the nation; you must know for yourselves. καὶ γε (T.R.): the combination καὶ σὺ καί γε ( vide critical notes) is suspicious. Coming before ἐν τ . ἡμέρᾳ , etc., as in T.R., it will mean: even at this late hour. τὰ πρὸς εἰρήνην , the things tending to thy peace = thy salvation. νῦν δὲ , but now as things stand; the day of grace therefore is already past. ἐκρύβη : judicial blindness has set in, the penalty of a long course of moral perversity.

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

At least wise thou, O Jerusalem, to whom this message was properly sent.

Christ breaketh off his speech, which showeth partly how he was moved with compassion for the destruction of the city, that was like to ensue: and partly to upbraid them for their treachery and stubbornness against him, such as hath not lightly been heard of.

If after the slaying of so many Prophets, and so oft refusing me the Lord of the Prophets, now especially in this my last coming to thee, thou hadst had any regard to thyself.

The fit and commodious time is called the day of this city.

That is, those things wherein thy happiness standeth.

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

at least in this, &c.--even at this moving moment. (See on Luk 13:9.)

thy peace--thinking perhaps of the name of the city. (Heb 7:2) [WEBSTER and WILKINSON]. How much is included in this word!

now . . . hid--It was His among His last open efforts to "gather them," but their eyes were judicially closed.

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 42. The things which belong unto thy peace!] It is very likely that our Lord here alludes to the meaning of the word Jerusalem, ירושלים from ירה yereh, he shall see, and שלום shalom, peace or prosperity. Now, because the inhabitants of it had not seen this peace and salvation, because they had refused to open their eyes, and behold this glorious light of heaven which shone among them, therefore he said, Now they are hidden from thine eyes, still alluding to the import of the name.

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

(42) If thou hadst known, even thou.—The emphatic repetition of the pronoun, as in Isa_48:15; Isa_51:12; Eze_5:8; Eze_6:3; Ps. ixxvi. 7, speaks of the strongest possible emotion. The broken form of the sentence, “If thou hadst known . . .,” with no corresponding clause as to what would then have followed; the “at least in this thy day,” the day that was still its own, in which it was called to repentance and action, all point to the words as being the utterance of the deepest human sorrow that the Son of Man had known.

The things which belong unto thy peace.—Literally, the things that make for, or tend to, peace. The Greek is the same as that translated “conditions of peace” in Luk_14:32 (where see Note); in this case, obviously, the “things that make for peace” are repentance, reformation, righteousness.

Now they are hid.—The Greek tense implies, by a distinction hard to express in English, in conjunction with the adverb “now,” that the concealment of the things that made for the peace of Jerusalem, was a thing completed in the past.

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

42. at least in this thy day] Isa_55:6; 2Co_6:2.

which belong unto thy peace] Perhaps with a paronomasia on the name of Salem or ‘Peace,’ and on the sound though not the derivation of Jerusalem (Yeroo Shalom ‘they shall see peace,’ comp. Psa_122:6-7). Such plays on words often spring from deep emotion. (See my Chapters on Language-pp. 269-276.) Isa_48:18, “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river.”

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 shall lay thee even with the ground,.... Beat down all the houses in it, the stately edifices, and even the temple itself; See Gill on Mat 24:2.

and thy children within thee; that is, the inhabitants of the place should be slain with the sword of the enemy, and so fall to the ground, and lie upon it;

and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon anther; such a consummate, and entire desolation shall be made, as was foretold by Daniel, Dan 9:27

because thou knowest not the time of thy visitation; in which the dayspring from on high had visited them with his personal presence, preaching among them, and working miracles; and yet they knew him not, but despised and rejected him; yea, after that they had put him to death, and he was risen again, he ordered his disciples to begin their ministry, and preach the Gospel, at Jerusalem; and they continued for some time only preaching to them, or at least rarely elsewhere, till they put away the Gospel from them. The time of the ministry of John the Baptist, of Christ, and his apostles in Judea, was the time of Jerusalem's visitation in a way of mercy; which not being taken notice of, and observed, brought another kind of visitation upon them, even in a way of wrath and vengeance. The Jews pretend to assign other causes of Jerusalem's destruction; but the true cause was their rejection of Jesus, as the Messiah.

"Says Abai, Jerusalem was not destroyed, but because they profaned the sabbath, as it is said, Eze 22:26 "and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths", &c. Says R. Abhu, Jerusalem was not destroyed, but because they ceased reading the "Shema (hear, O Israel", &c.) morning and evening, as it is said, Isa 5:11 woe to them that rise up early", &c. Says Rab. Hamenuna, Jerusalem was not destroyed, but because there ceased in it the children of the school of Rabban, (children were not put to school,) as it is said Jer 6:11 "I will pour it out upon the children", &c. Says Ula, Jerusalem was not destroyed, but because there was no shame among them, as it is said, Jer 6:15 "were they ashamed", &c. Says R. Isaac, Jerusalem was not destroyed, but because small and great were put upon a level, as it is said, Isa 24:2 "as with the people, so with the priest", &c. Says R. Amram, the son of R. Simeon bar Aba, R. Chanina said, Jerusalem was not destroyed, but because they did not reprove one another, as it is said, Lam 1:6 "her princes are become like harts", &c. Says R. Judah, Jerusalem was not destroyed, but because they despised the disciples of the wise men, as it is said; Ch2 36:16 but they mocked the messengers of God", &c. (u).''

Thus they shifted off the true cause of their ruin, and ascribed it to other things.

(u) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 119. 2.

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

42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

Ver. 42. Oh, if thou hadst known] They had cognitionem historicam non mysticam, speculativam non affectivam, apprehensionis non approbationis, discursivam non experimentalem.

At least in this thy day] The time of grace is fitly called a day in regard of, 1. Rev 2:1-29. Adornation; 3. Consolation; 4. Distinction; 5. Speedy pretrition. Amend before the drawbridge be taken up. No man can say he shall have 12 hours to his day.

But now they are hid from thine eyes] Yet they lived under the ministry long after, and no outward change to be discerned. As Plutarch writes of Hannibal, that when he could have taken Rome, he would not; when he would, he could not: so the procrastinators.

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.

If thou also hadst known. It is a broken sentence, as it were in a transport of grief; and we many understand, thou wouldst also weep. Didst thou know, even at this day, that peace and reconciliation which God still offers to thee. (Witham) --- What can be more tender than the apostrophe here made use of by our Saviour! Hadst thou but known, &c. that is, didst thou but know how severe a punishment is about to be inflicted upon thee, for the numberless transgressions of thy people, thou likewise wouldst weep; but, alas! hardness in iniquity, thou still rejoicest, ignorant of the punishment hanging over thy head. Just men have daily occasion to bewail, like our blessed Redeemer, the blindness of the wicked, unable to see, through their own perversity, the miserable state of their souls, and the imminent danger they are every moment exposed to, of losing themselves for ever. Of these, Solomon cries out; (Proverbs ii. 13.) They leave the right way, and walk through dark ways. We ought to imitate this compassion of our blessed Redeemer; and, as he wept over the calamities of the unfortunate Jerusalem, though determined on his destruction; so we ought to bewail the sins not only of our friends, but likewise of our enemies, and daily offer up our prayers for their conversion. (Dionysius)

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).

Speeches which are the products of great passion, are usually abrupt and imperfect:

If thou hadst known, that is, Oh that thou hadst known, or, I wish that thou hadst known. We are said in Scripture not to know more than we believe, are affected with, and live up to the knowledge of. They had heard enough of the things which concerned their peace, Christ had told them to them, but they attended not to them, they believed them not, and so cared not to direct their lives according to any such notions.

At least in this thy day; the time in which I have been preaching the gospel to thee (for so I had rather interpret it, than of this last journey of our Saviour’s to Jerusalem). This was properly the Jews day, for the first preachers of the gospel spent all their time and pains amongst them.

The things which belong unto thy peace, that is, to thy happiness, for so the term often signifies, and it refers as well to the happiness of the outward as of their inward man.

But now they are hid from thine eyes: God will not suffer his Spirit always to strive with man, because he is but flesh, not fit to be always waited on by the great Majesty of heaven. First men shut their eyes against the things that do concern their peace, then God hideth them from them. No man hath more than his day, his time of grace: how long that is none can tell: if he sleepeth out that, his case is desperate, past remedy.

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

42. If thou hadst known… but now—The sentence is broken, as if by the impulse of feeling.

Hid from thine eyes—For sin hath a blinding power. The man who wilfully gives himself up to one deception, knows not to what endless snares of error he may have surrendered himself as a consequence.

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

If thou hadst known," even thou, at least in this thy day. The emphatic repetition of the "thou" and the broken form of the sentence, tell of the intense feeling of the Divine Speaker. "In this thy day." There was still time, still one day left, before his terrible trial-time began, Which filled up the measure of Jerusalem and her people"s iniquity. Still one day in which, had they only known "the things which belonged to their peace," they might have won a forgiveness for all the past centuries of sin.

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

O that thou hadst known, at least in this thy day - After thou hast neglected so many. Thy day - The day wherein God still offers thee his blessings.

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

By the things belonging to their peace, we are to understand the presence of Christ amongst them, the preaching of the gospel to them: She did not know, that is, she did not consider, she did not prize and improve, her privileges as she ought; but stopped her ears against the words of Christ, and closed her eyes against the miraculous works of Christ, till at last they were hidden from her eyes.

Learn hence,

1. That the time of a people’s enjoying the light and liberty of the gospel, is a limited day, it is a short day: If thou hadst known in this thy day.

2. That it is the sad and usual lot of the gospel not to be embraced and entertained by a people to whom it is in mercy sent, till it be too late, and the time of their visitation be past and over,O that thou hadst known; but now thou shalt never know,now they are hid from thine eyes. But how hid? Was there no more preaching in Jerusalem; no public ministry after that day? Yes, behold the patience and mercy of Christ in waiting upon this people. After this, Christ sent the whole college of apostles, and they preached there the things belonging to their temporal and eternal peace; but they wanted hearts to consider and their ruin was unavoidable.

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

42. καί γε ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ σου. Isa 55:6; 2Co 6:2. καί γε is an uncertain reading (omitted in BD) and is only found in Act 2:18. The day of Chorazin and Bethsaida was past already.

τὰ πρὸς εἰρήνην σου. Perhaps with a paronomasia on the name of Salem or ‘Peace,’ and on the sound though not the derivation of Jerusalem (Yeroo Shalom, ‘they shall see peace,’ comp. Psa 122:6-7). Such plays on words often spring from deep emotion. (See my Chapters on Language, pp. 269–276.) Isa 48:18, “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river.”

νῦν δέ. ‘But as things now are.’ The sense is partly causal. The previous sentence is not concluded, by the figure called aposiopesis; in which the apodosis of a sentence is suppressed by the emotion of the speaker. Comp. Luk 13:9, Luk 22:42; Winer, p. 750.

ἐκρύβη. ‘They were hid,’ i.e. the present state of things proves the divine decree by which they were destined to be hidden from thee.

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.

42.] εἰ ἔγνως—εἰώθασιν οἱ κλαίοντες ἐπικόπτεσθαι τοὺς λόγους ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ πάθους σφοδρότητος, Perhaps in the actual words spoken by the Lord there may have been an allusion to the name Jerusalem:—‘Utinam quæ diceris Jerusalem re ipsa esses Jerusalem, ac videres ea, quæ pacem tibi præstare possent.’ Wetstein.

καὶ σύ, thou also, as well as these My disciples.

[καί γε, et quidem—even: Hartung remarks, Partikellehre i. 397, that this expression is confined to the Attic dialect. But in classic Greek the emphatic word always intervenes between καί and γε,—so καί σέ γε ἐν τούτοις λέγω, Æsch. Prom. 1009: whereas in Latin et quidem is usually found undivided.]

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

42. Εἰ ἔγνωσἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ καὶ τὰ σὺ πρὸς εἰρήνην—This is probably correct; but the text is somewhat uncertain. The aposiopesis is impressive. In the expression of strong emotion sentences are often broken. 22:42; Joh 6:62, Joh 6:12:27; Exo 32:32. Win. lxiv. 2, p. 749. The words imply that there have been various opportunities, of which this is the last. Thus once more (ποσάκις, 13:34) the synoptic narrative is found to imply the Judæan ministry recorded by Jn. The καὶ σύ perhaps implies no comparison: “even thou” (AV. RV.). But if “thou also” (Rhem.) be preferred, it probably means, “as well as My disciples.” For the wish comp. Deu 32:29. The protasis, “If thou hadst known,” does not imply any such definite apodosis as, “Thou wouldest weep as I do, for thy past blindness”; or, “Thou wouldest not perish”; or, “Thou wouldest hear Me and believe”; or, “I would rejoice like My disciples”; all of which have been suggested (Corn. à Lap. ad loc.). The expression is virtually a wish, “O that thou hadst known.” Comp. εἰ εἶχον μάχαιραν ἐν τῇ χειρί μου (Num 22:29); εἰ κατεμείναμεν καὶ κατῳκίσθμηεν παρὰ τὸν Ἰορδάνην (Jos 7:7); εἰ ἤκουσας τῶν ἐντολῶν μου (Isa 48:18). In all these places Vulg. has utinam, and RV. either “would that” or “O that.” For τὰ πρὸς εἰρήνην see on 14:32. There is possibly an allusion to the name Jerusalem, which perhaps means “inheritance of peace.”

The καὶ γε before ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ (TR. with A R) can hardly be genuine; om. א B D L, Boh. Aeth, Goth. Iren-lat. Orig. The σου after ἡμέρᾳ is still more certainly an insertion; om. א A B D L, Boh. Aeth. Arm. Iren-lat. Orig. Eus. Bas. The σου after εἰρήνην has the support of Versions, but is just the kind of addition which is common in Versions; om. א B L, Iren-lat. Orig. Epiph. Godet naively remarks, Les deux mots καίγε et σου ont une grande valeur; which explains the insertion. Elsewhere in N.T. καί γε occurs only Act 2:18 in a quotation.

νῦν δέ. “But now, as things are.” The actual fact is the reverse of the possibility just intimated. Comp. Joh 8:40, Joh 8:9:41; 1Co 7:14, 1Co 12:20.

ἐκρύβη. “Hidden once for A by Divine decree”: comp. Joh 12:38-40. The nom. to ἐκρύβη is not “the fact that (ότι) days will come,” etc. (Theoph.), but τὰ πρὸς εἰρήνην. For the form ἐκρύβη see Veitch, s.v.

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

Wept [εκλαυσεν] . With audible weeping.

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