Luke 4:29

Luk_4:29. Ἕως ὀφρύος τοῦ ὄρους] up to the lofty brink (supercilium) of the hill. See Duncan, Lex. Hom., ed. Rost, p. 877, and Wetstein. This situation of Nazareth upon a hill (ἐφʼ οὗ), i.e. hard by a hill, is still entirely in accordance with its present position,the houses stand on the lower part of the slope of the western hill, which rises steep and high above them, Robinson, Pal. III. p. 419. Especially near the present Maronite church the mountain wall descends right down from forty to fifty feet,[90] Robinson, l.c. p. 423; Ritter, Erdlc. XVI. p. 744.

ὥστε] of what, as they figured to themselves the result was to be. See on Mat_24:24; Mat_27:1; comp. Luk_9:52; Luk_20:20.

κατακρημν.] 2Ch_25:12; Dem. 446. 11; Josephus, Antt. ix. 9. 1.

[90] The place which is pointed out by tradition as the spot in question is at too great a distance from the town. See Robinson, l.c., and Korte, Reisen, p. 215 ff.

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.

rose up--broke up the service irreverently and rushed forth.

thrust him--with violence, as a prisoner in their hands.

brow, &c.--Nazareth, though not built on the ridge of a hill, is in part surrounded by one to the west, having several such precipices. (See Ch2 25:12; Kg2 9:33.) It was a mode of capital punishment not unusual among the Romans and others. This was the first insult which the Son of God received, and it came from "them of His own household!" (Mat 10:36).

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 29. The brow of the hill] Mr. Maundrel tells us that this is still called "the Mountain of the Precipitation, and is half a league southward of Nazareth. In going to it, you cross first over the vale in which Nazareth stands; and then going down two or three furlongs, in a narrow cleft between the rocks, you there clamber up a short but difficult way on the right hand; at the top of which you find a great stone standing on the brink of a precipice, which is said to be the very place where our Lord was destined to be thrown down by his enraged neighbours." Maundrel's Journey, p. 116. Edit. 5th. 1732.

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

(29) The brow of the hill.—See Notes on Luk_1:26. The hill now shown as the Mount of Precipitation is about two miles from the city, and could hardly have been the place referred to. There is, however, a cliff about forty feet high close to the city.

That they might cast him down headlong.—The Greek word implies casting down from a cliff or precipice. It was not a recognised Jewish punishment, as flinging from the Tarpeian rock was at Rome; but we have an instance of it as an improvised method of execution in Amaziah’s treatment of the Edomite prisoners in 2Ch_25:12. A multitude under the influence of fanaticism or anger is always fertile in expedients of this nature.

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

29. the brow of the hill whereon their city was built] The ‘whereon’ refers to the hill not to the brow. Nazareth nestles under the southern slopes of the hill. The cliff down which they wished to hurl Him (because this was regarded as a form of ‘stoning,’ the legal punishment for blasphemy) was certainly not the so-called ‘Mount of Precipitation’ which is two miles distant, and therefore more than a sabbath day’s journey, but one of the rocky escarpments of the hill, and possibly that above the Maronite Church, which is about 40 feet high. This form of punishment is only mentioned in 2Ch_25:12; but in Phocis it was the punishment for sacrilege. (Philo.)

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 rose up,.... In great wrath, and, in a noisy and tumultuous manner, before the service was well over, and without being regularly dismissed:

and thrust him out of the city; first out of the synagogue, and then out of their city, as unworthy to be in it, though an inhabitant of it; and as if he had done something deserving of death; and therefore to be punished as a malefactor without the city:

and led him unto the brow of the hill; the edge of it, where it run out, and hung over the precipice:

whereon their city was built; so that it was a city upon an hill, and very visible, to which Christ may allude in Mat 5:14. That they might cast him down headlong; and break him to pieces: in this manner ten thousand Edomites were destroyed by the Jews, in the times of Amaziah, Ch2 25:12 though this was not an usual way with the Jews of putting persons to death, as with some other nations (u); their four capital punishments were stoning, strangling, burning, and killing with the sword (w): nor did the inhabitants of Nazareth proceed in any judicial manner with Christ, but hurried him away, in order to destroy him, without any formal process, in the manner the zealots did; though to put any man to death, or to inflict any punishment on a person on the sabbath day, as this was, was contrary to their own canon, which runs thus (x);

"they do not inflict punishment on the sabbath day, even though it is the punishment of an affirmative precept; they do not beat one that is guilty, nor put to death, as it is said, Exo 35:3 "ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day": this is a caution to the sanhedrim, that they do not burn on the sabbath day he that is condemned to burning; and this is the law with respect to any one that is liable to the other punishments.''

But these men, without any regard to the place where they were, and the worship they were concerned in, and the day of the sabbath which then was, rise up in great wrath and fury, and without any show of justice, and in the most brutish and barbarous manner attempt to take away the life of Christ.

(u) Vid. Rycquium de Capitol. Born. c. 4. (w) Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 1. (x) Moses Kotseneis Mitzvot Tora, pr. neg. 67.

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

29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.

Ver. 29. Thrust him out of the city] As unworthy to tread on their pavement. And so mad they were, that they could neither stay till the business were brought to a judicial trial, nor forbear execution till the sabbath were over.

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

The brow of the hill whereon ... - The region in which Nazareth was is hilly, though Nazareth was situated “between” two hills, or in a vale among mountains. The place to which they led the Saviour is still shown, and is called the “Mount of Precipitation.” It is at a short distance to the south of Nazareth. See the notes at Mat 2:23.

Cast him down - This was the effect of a popular tumult. They had no legal right to take life on any occasion, and least of all in this furious and irregular manner. The whole transaction shows:

That the character given of the Galileans elsewhere as being especially wicked was a just one. To what extremities the wickedness of the heart will lead people when it is acted out. And, That people are opposed to the truth, and that they would do anything, if not restrained, to manifest their opposition.

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

29. Rose up—From their seats in the synagogue. The phrase in the 28th verse, “when they heard these things,” implies that they interrupted him and broke off his discourse.

Thrust him out—Expelled him; implying that he would have stayed.

Brow—A precipitous projection. The term is taken from the brow of the human face. As Nazareth is a region of some fifteen hills, abounding in precipices, there are several which might have been suitable. The most striking of these is about two miles from the city, and is shown by the monks as the so-called “Mount of Precipitation.” The most judicious travellers reject this as being too far; and Dr. Thompson thinks that it was selected by the monks on account of its bold character and fine view over the plain of Esdraelon.

Cast him down headlong—As the Romans used to cast criminals down the Tarpeian rock. Nazareth was built on the lower margin of the hill, and the mob took Jesus up to its summit, where there is a nearly perpendicular precipice, forty or fifty feet high, over which a plunge would in all probability be fatal. Thus this very spot where Jesus had been in his boyhood accustomed to survey the expansive prospect, reaching to the Mediterranean, was selected by his townsmen as the scene of his martyrdom at their hands.

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

And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. The place now shown as the scene of the act of violence of the fanatics of Nazareth, known as the Mount of Precipitation, is some two miles from the town. It must be remembered that this happened on a sabbath day; this would therefore be beyond the limits of a sabbath day"s journey. There is, however, close to Nazareth a cliff about forty feet high.

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

29. ὥστε, אBDL, Marcion, &c. Better than εἰς τὸ of the Rec[96]

[96] Rec. The Textus Receptus.

29. ἕως ὀφρύος τοῦ ὄρους ἐφ’ οὖ ἡ πόλις ᾠκοδόμητο αὐτῶν. The word ὀφρύς, ‘eyebrow,’ is applied to hills, like the Latin supercilium (Verg. Georg. I. 108). The ‘whereon’ refers to the hill not to the brow of the hill. Nazareth nestles under the southern slopes of the hill. The cliff down which they wished to hurl Him (because this was regarded as a form of ‘stoning,’ the legal punishment for blasphemy) was certainly not the so-called ‘Mount of Precipitation,’ which is two miles distant, and therefore more than a sabbath day’s journey, but one of the rocky escarpments of the hill, and possibly that above the Maronite Church, which is about 40 feet high. This form of punishment (κατακρημνισμός) is only mentioned in 2Ch 25:12; but in Phocis it was the punishment for sacrilege. (Philo.)

ὥστε. This expresses the intended result (comp. Luk 9:52), and is a little less harsh than εἰς τὸ which would represent direct purpose (Luk 20:20). The infinitive alone might have been used, as in Mat 2:2, ἤλθομεν προσκυνῆσαι: Act 5:31, ὕψωσε … δοῦναι. (See Winer, p. 400.)

κατακρημνίσαι. Α ἅπαξ λεγόμενον in the N. T.

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.

29. ἔως ὀφρύος τοῦ ὄρους. Tradition makes the scene of this attempt to be a precipice, varying from 80 to 300 feet in height, which exists some distance off to the S.E. of the town; and we read that “they cast Him out of the town and led Him as far as the brow,” etc. But modern writers think that a much smaller precipice close at hand is the spot. Van der Velde conjectures that it has crumbled away; Conder, that it is hidden under some of the houses. Stanley says that Nazareth “is built ‘upon,’ that is, on the side of, ‘a mountain’; but the ‘brow’ is not beneath, but over the town, and such a cliff as is here implied is to be found, as all modern travellers describe, in the abrupt face of the limestone rock, about 30 or 40 feet high, overhanging the Maronite Convent at the S.W. corner of the town” (Sin. & Pal. p. 367). So also Robinson (Res. in Psa_2. PP. 325, 330), Hacket (D.B. ii. P. 470), and Schulz in Herzog Pro 2:10. P. 447). The ἐφʼ οὖ, of course, refers to τοῦ ὄρους not to ὀφρύος Both AV. and RV., have “the brow of the hill whereon,” which might easily be misunderstood. The town is on the hill, but not on the brow of it: the brow is above the modern village. Nowhere else in N.T. does ὀφρύς occur. Comp. Hom. il xx. 151; and ὀφρυόεις, Il. xxii. 411, and Hdt. v. 92. 10, with other instances in Wetst. Supercilium is similarly used: Virg. Georg. i. 108; Liv. xxvii. 18, xxxiv. 29.

ὤστε κατακρημνίσαι. The ὤστε is not needed (1:22; Mat 2:2, Mat 2:22:28; Act 5:31); but it expresses more clearly the result which was intended. Comp. 20:20, where, as here, ὤστε has been altered in some texts into the simpler εἰς τό, a Constr. which Lk. does not employ elsewhere. In 9:52 the true reading is perhaps ὡς; but in Mat 10:1, Mat 23:24, Mat 27:1 there is no doubt about the ὥστε. For κατακρημνίζω (here only in N.T.) comp. 2Ch 25:12; 2Ch_2 Mac. 12:15, 14:43; 4 Mac. 4:25; Jos. Ant. vi. 6, 2, ix. 9, 1.

The whole attempt to put Jesus to death was perhaps an instance of the form of punishment which the Jews called the “rebel’s beating,” which was somewhat analogous to Lynch Law. The “rebel’s beating” was administered by the people, without trial and on the spot, when anyone was caught in what seemed to be a flagrant violation of some law or tradition. Comp. the attempts to stone Jesus (Joh 8:59, Joh 10:31). We have a similar attempt upon S. Paul’s life (Act 21:31, Act 21:32). In S. Stephen’s case a formal trial seems to have ended in the “rebel’s beating” (Edersh. The Temple, p. 43).

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

The brow [οφρυος] . Only here in New Testament. Wyc., cope, which is originally cap or hood. The word is used in medical language both of the eyebrows and of other projections of the body. It would naturally occur to a physician, especially since the same epithets were applied to the appearance of the eyebrows in certain diseases as were appplied to hills. Thus Hippocrates, describing a deadly fever, says, "The eyebrows in elephantiasis, depicts them as problhtev, projecting, and ojcqwdeiv, like mounds. Stanley says :" Most readers probably from these words imagine a town built on the summit of a mountain, from which summit the intended precipitation was to take place. This is not the situation of Nazareth; yet its position is still in accordance with the narrative. It is built upon, that is, on the side of a mountain, but the brow is not beneath, but over the town, and such a cliff as is here implied is found in the abrupt face of a limestone rock about thirty or forty feet high, overhanging the Maronite convent at the southwest corner of the town " (" Sinai and Palestine ").

Cast him down headlong [κατακρημνισαι] . Only here in New Testament, and in the Septuagint only in 2Ch 25:12.

31 - 37. Compare Mr 1:21 - 28.

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