Luke 23:30

Luk 23:30-31. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, &c. — Proverbial expressions, to signify their desire of any shelter or refuge; and so very desirous were they of hiding themselves, that some thousands of them crept even into the common sewers, and there miserably perished, or were dragged out to slaughter. (Bell., Luk 6:9.) For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry — If the Romans are permitted by Heaven to inflict such heavy punishments on me, who am innocent, how dreadful must the vengeance be which they shall inflict on the nation, whose sins cry aloud to heaven, hastening the pace of the divine judgments, and rendering the perpetrators as fit for punishments as dry wood is for burning. The expression is proverbial; and was in frequent use among the Jews, who compared a good man to a green tree, and a bad man to a dead and dry one. It is as if our Lord had said, If a righteous person suffer thus, what will become of the wicked? Of those who are as ready for destruction, as dry wood is for the fire? Compare Eze 20:47, with Eze 21:3, where God’s burning every green and every dry tree is explained to be, his destroying the righteous and the wicked together. See also Psa 1:3, where a good man is compared to a green tree full of leaves: and both Christ and John the Baptist resemble bad men to dry, dead, and barren trees.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23:30 People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us’: Death would be better than the extended agony and suffering that Jerusalem would experience.

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

Luk 23:30. Τότε, then) then in particular (or at last), more than now.—ἄρξονται, they shall begin) viz. “the barren” shall begin, in answer to those by whom they Mere called ‘blessed.’ The same language shall be used afterwards also, Rev 6:10 [At the opening of the sixth seal, the kings, etc., said to the mountains, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne,” etc.].—λέγειν τοῖς ὃρεσι, πέσετε ἐ, ἡμᾶς· καὶ τοῖς βουνοῖς, καλύψατε ἡμᾶς) So Hos 10:8, LXX., καὶ ἐροῦσι τοῖς ὄρεσι, καλύψατε ἡμᾶς· καὶ τοῖς βουνοῖς, πέσετε ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς.—ὃρεσι, to the mountains) Often men have been covered [buried] beneath mountains. It is a great addition to the terror, when that which is horrible in itself is wished for by way of a shelter. See Rev 6:16.

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

Luk 23:30 . τοῖς ὄρεσι , τοῖς βουνοῖς : the reference is to Palestine, a land of mountains and hills, and the prayer of the miserable that a hill may fall on them and bury them under its ruins (quoted from Hos 10:8 ).

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

Isa. 2:29; Hos. 10:8; Rev. 6:16

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

mountains . . . hills, &c.-- (Hos 10:8), flying hither and thither as they did in despair for shelter, during the siege; a very slight premonition of cries of another and more awful kind (Isa 2:10, Isa 2:19, Isa 2:21; Rev 6:16-17).

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 30. Mountains, fall on us] As this refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, and as the same expressions are used, Re 6:16, Dr. Lightfoot conjectures that the whole of that chapter may relate to the same event.

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

(30) Then shall they begin to say to the mountains.—The imagery was natural in a limestone country such as Judæa, subject to earthquakes. Commonly, such catastrophes were dreaded, and men prayed against them. The time was coming when the dens and caves which usually offered a place of refuge from invading armies (Isa_2:19) would prove insufficient, and men would cry, as they had done of old (comp. Hos_10:8, from which the words are quoted), to the mountains to fall on them.

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

30. to the mountains, Fall on us] Comp. Hos_10:8. Hundreds of the Jews at the end of the siege hid themselves in subterranean recesses, and no less than 2000 were killed by being buried under the ruins of these hiding-places (Jos. B. J. vi. 9, § 4). We cannot fail to see in these events something of what St John calls “the wrath of the Lamb,” Rev_6:16. Even a terror is entreated as a relief from yet more horrible calamities.

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 there were also two other malefactors,.... Not that Christ was one, though indeed he was looked upon and treated as one by the Jews; but as the words may be read, there were also two others that were malefactors; really such, two thieves, who had been guilty of theft and robbery, and were condemned to die: and these were led with him; for the greater ignominy and reproach of Christ, that it might be thought he was equally a malefactor, and as deserving of death as they:

to be put to death; the death of the cross, which was the death the Romans put slaves, thieves, and robbers, and the worst and basest of men to.

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

30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.

Ver. 30. See Rev 6:16. {See Trapp on "Rev 6:16"}

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.

To the mountains, Fall on us ... - This is an image of great calamities and judgments. So great will be the calamities that they will seek for shelter from the storm, and will call on the hills to protect them. The same figure is used respecting the wicked in the day of judgment in Rev 6:16-17. Compare also Isa 2:21.

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

30. To the mountains, Fall on us—Terrible as is the earthquake which throws mountains and hills upon the inhabitants of the earth, that covering would be a refuge from the more terrible forms of divine wrath.

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

Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. The allusion, in the first place, was to the awful siege of Jerusalem and to the undreamed-of woes which would accompany it; and in the second place, to the centuries of misery and persecution to which the children of these "daughters of Jerusalem" would, as Jews, be subjected in all lands.

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

Hosea x, 8.

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

30. τοῖς ὄρεσιν. Comp. Hos 10:8. Hundreds of the Jews at the end of the Siege hid themselves in subterranean recesses, and no less than 2000 were killed by being buried under the ruins of these hiding-places (Jos. B. J. VI. 9, § 4). We cannot fail to see in these events something of what St John calls “the wrath of the Lamb,” Rev 6:16. Even a terror is entreated as a relief from yet more horrible calamities.

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.

30.] This is cited from the next chapter of Hosea (ref.).

It was partially and primarily accomplished, when multitudes of the Jews towards the end of the siege sought to escape death by hiding themselves in the subterranean passages and sewers under the city.… οὓς δʼ ἐν τοῖς ὑπονόμοις ἀνηρεύνων, καὶ τὸ ἔδαφος ἀναῤῥηγνύντες ὅσοις μὲν ἐνετύγχανον ἀνεῖλον. εὑρέθησαν δὲ καὶ ἐκεῖ νεκροὶ πλείους δισχιλίων, Jos. B. J. vi. 9. 4. But the words are too solemn, and too often used in a more awful connexion, for a further meaning to escape our notice: see Isa 2:10, Isa 2:19, Isa 2:21, and Rev 6:16, where is the striking expression ἀπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς τοῦ ἀρνίου—of Him who now was the victim about to be offered. And the whole warning—as every other respecting the destruction of Jerusalem—looks through the type to the antitype, the great day of His wrath. Now, ἔρχονται ἡμέραι—then ἦλθεν ἡ ἡμέρα ἡ μεγάλη τῆς ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ, Rev 6:17.

It is interesting to see how often David, who had passed so long in hiding among the rocks of the wilderness from Saul, calls the Lord his Rock (see Psa 18:2, Psa 18:46; Psa 42:9, &c.). They who have this defence, will not need to call on the rocks to hide them.

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

30. τότε ἄρξονται. The nom. is the same as to ἐροῦσιν, —the population generally, not the women only; and the τότε means simply ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις. The wish is that the mountains may fall on them and kill them, not hide and protect them. Death is preferable to such terror and misery. So also in the original passage Hos 10:8; comp. Rev 6:6, and contrast Isa 2:19.

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

Hills [βουνοις] . Only here and ch. 3 5.

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