Matthew 23:30

Mat 23:30. Λέγετε, ye say) By your public protestation.—οὐκ ἂν ἦμεν, κ.τ.λ., we would not have been, etc.) Such was their self-confidence.

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

Mat 23:30 . λέγετε : they not merely thought, or said by deed, but actually so pointed the moral of their action, not trusting to others to draw the inference. ἤμεθα , not in classics, ἤμην the usual form of sing. in N. T. being also rare; the imperfect, but must be translated in our tongue, “if we had been”. For the imperfect, used when we should use a pluperfect, vide Mat 14:4 , and consult Burton, § 29. οὐκ ἄν ἤμεθα , the indicative with ἂν , as usual in suppositions contrary to fact, vide Burton, § 248.

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

Verse 30. We would not have been partakers] They imagined themselves much better than their ancestors; but our Lord, who knew what they would do, uncovers their hearts, and shows them that they are about to be more abundantly vile than all who had ever preceded them.

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

(30) If we had been in the days . . .—There is no necessity for assuming that the Pharisees did not mean what they said. It was simply an instance of the unconscious hypocrisy of which every generation has more or less been guilty, when it has condemned the wrong-doing of the past—its bigotry, or luxury, or greed—and then has yielded to the same sins itself.

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

Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves,.... Or "against yourselves", as the Syriac reads; for what they said was a plain acknowledgment, and a full confession, what their fathers had done, and whose offspring they were; and from whom better things were not to be expected; since they were their fathers' own children, and of the same temper and disposition with them:

that ye are the children of them that killed the prophets. They plainly owned, that their fathers killed the prophets, and that they descended from them; though they meant not so much to reproach, their ancestors, as to give themselves a greater character; yet it did not with those, that knew them; not with our Lord: for as their own words testified against them, that they were a seed of evildoers; their practices showed them to be of the same spirit and principles with their progenitors.

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

30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

Ver. 30. If we had been in the days] Either these men grossly dissembled, or their hearts greatly deceived them; for certainly a Herod and Herodias to John Baptist would have been an Ahab and Jezebel to Elias. But as it was said of Demosthenes, that he was excellent at praising the worthy acts of ancestors, not so at imitating of them. {a} In like sort may we say of the Pharisees, they could well declaim against their forefathers’ cruelties, but not so well disclaim them. They were adversus sua ipsorum vitia facundi satis, as one speaketh in a like case. They are shrill accusers of themselves.

{a} επαινεσαι μεν ικανωτατος ην τα των προγονων καλα μιμησασθαι δε ουκ ομοιως. Plutarch.

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.

And say ... - This they professed to say by rebuilding their tombs. They also, probably, publicly expressed their disapprobation of the conduct of their fathers. All this, in building and ornamenting tombs, was a profession of extraordinary piety. Our Lord showed them it was mere pretence.

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

30. If we… in the days of our fathers — They little realized how dark a picture history would draw of themselves, 32. Fill… measure of your fathers — Our Lord judicially gives them over, (just as Jehovah gives the devil over,) to do what he knows they will do.

Gen_15:16.

The meaning of these two verses may thus be summed: Inasmuch as, even in the condemnation of your fathers, you confess yourselves their sons, there is no obstacle to your supplying all they lacked in wickedness.

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

And say. They boasted that they were better than their fathers; they disavowed their crimes, and endeavoured, by honouring the prophets" graves, to deliver themselves from the guilt of those who persecuted them. Fair show, with no reality! They professed to venerate the dead, but would not receive the living; they reverenced Abraham and Moses, but were about to murder the Christ to whom patriarch and prophet bore witness. Commentators quote the old adage, herein exemplified, "Sit licet divus, dummodo non vivus." The only practical way of delivering themselves from the guilt of their forefathers was by hearkening to those who now preached the gospel of salvation the very last thing which they were purposed to do.

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

We would not have been partakers - So ye make fair professions, as did your fathers.

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

30. ἤμεθα. The same form occurs Act 27:37 and Gal 4:3 (אD*) and Eph 2:3 (אB). In the classics ἤμεθα is not found, and the instances of the sing. ἤμην (the usual form in N.T.) are rare and doubtful. See Veitch, p. 195.

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. And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been their associates in the blood of the prophets.] That is, “You honour the dead whom your ancestors put to death, and say that, had you lived in the days of your fathers, you would have been wiser than they.”

(L)

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