Luke 11:32 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Luke 11:32
The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
a man (properly as an individual male) · noun — nominative plural masculine
of Nineve
ΝινευΐNineuḯ
G3535
Ninevi (i.e. Nineveh)
shall rise up
ἀναστήσονταιanastēsontai
G450
to stand up (literal or figurative · verb — future middle indicative, 3rd person plural
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
the judgment
κρίσειkrisei
G2920
decision (subjectively or objectively · noun — dative singular feminine
with
μετὰmeta
G3326
properly · preposition
this
ταύτηςtautēs
G3778
the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — genitive singular feminine
generation
γενεᾶςgeneas
G1074
a generation · noun — genitive singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
shall condemn
κατακρινοῦσινkatakrinousin
G2632
to judge against · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person plural
it
αὐτήν·autēn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular feminine
for
ὅτιhoti
G3754
demonstrative · conjunction
they repented
μετενόησανmetenoēsan
G3340
to think differently or afterwards · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
at
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
the preaching
κήρυγμαkērugma
G2782
a proclamation (especially of the gospel · noun — accusative singular neuter
of Jonas
Ἰωνᾶ,Iōna
G2495
Jonas (i.e. Jonah) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
behold
ἰδοὺidou
G2400
used as imperative lo! · interjection
a greater
πλεῖονpleion
G4119
more in quantity · adjective — nominative singular neuter, comparative
than Jonas
ἸωνᾶIōna
G2495
Jonas (i.e. Jonah) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
here
ὧδε.¶hōde
G5602
in this same spot · adverb
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Jonah 3:5-4:4 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
Jonah 1:2-3 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
Jonah 4:9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
Luke 11:31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts o…
Hebrews 7:26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Luke 11:29-36
Christ's discourse in these verses shows two things: -
I. What is the sign we may expect from God for the confirmation of our faith. The great and most convincing proof of Christ's being sent of God, and which they were yet to wait for, after the many signs that had been given them, was the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Here is,
1. A reproof to the people for demanding other signs than what had already been given them in great plenty: The people were gathered thickly together (Luk 11:29), a vast crowd of them, expecting not so much to have their consciences informed by the doctrine of Christ as to have their curiosity gratified by his miracles. Christ knew what brought such a multit…
The queen of the south, etc. - Perhaps it would be better to translate, A queen of the south, and the men of this race, shall rise up in judgment, etc. See the note on Luk 11:7. The 32d verse may be read in the same way.
John Gill on Luke 11:32
The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it,.... Luke changes the order of these instances; Matthew mentions this before the instance of the queen of Sheba; but Luke puts it last: this circumstance is not material, and the design of it is the same with the former:
for they repented at the preaching of Jonas, and behold a greater than Jonas is here: what in this case will aggravate the condemnation of the Jews in the day of judgment is, that these men were Heathens, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, and were not used to have prophets sent to them; and yet as soon as Jonas, a mere man, came to the…
(non occ.) The judgment of condemnation comes from men like or unlike to those who are condemned. From like, for instance, as in the parable of the ten virgins, but from unlike, when the Ninevites condemn those who lived at the time of Christ, that so their condemnation might be the more remarkable. (Hom. 43. in Matt.). For the Ninevites indeed were barbarians, but these Jews. The one enjoying the prophetic teaching, the other having never received the divine word. To the former came a servant, to the latter the Master, of whom the one foretold destruction, the other preached the kingdom of heaven. To all men then was it known that the Jews ought rather to have believed, but the contrary happened; therefore he adds, For they repented at the preaching of Jonas, and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
But with respect to those who refused to repent of their evil deeds, He spoke thus: 'The men of Nineve shall rise in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.' You see, therefore, how He condemned those who were instructed out of the law, by adducing the example of those who came from Gentile ignorance, and showing that the former were not even equal to those who seemed to live in error. From all these things, then, the statement that He propounded is proved, that chastity, which is observed to a certain extent even by those who live in error, should be held much more purely and strictly, in all its forms, as we showed above, by us who follow the truth; and the rather because with us eternal rewards are assigned to its observance."
And to those amongst the people who would not repent at His preaching He said, 'The men of Nineveh shall rise up with this generation and shall condemn it, for they heard and repented on the preaching of Jonas: and behold, a greater is here, and no one believes.' And thus, setting over against all their impiety those from among the Gentiles who have done well, in order to condemn those who, possessing the true religion, had not acted so well as those who were in error, he exhorted those having reason not only to do equally with the Gentiles whatsoever things are excellent, but more than they. And this speech has been suggested to me, taking occasion from the necessity of respecting the separation, and of washing after copulation, and of not denying such purity, though those who are in error do the same, since those who in error do well, without being saved, are for the condemnation of those who are in the worship of God, and do ill; because their respect for purity is through error, and not through the worship of the true Father and God of all."
Dictionary and topics
Nineveh — First mentioned in Gen. 10:11, which is rendered in the Revised Version, “He [i.e., Nimrod] went forth into Assyria and builded Nineveh.” It is not again noticed till the days of Jonah, when it is…
Judgment · THE GENERAL — THE GENERAL
Judgment, The · Neglected advantages increase condemnation at — Neglected advantages increase condemnation at
Nineveh · Inhabitants of, repented at Jonah’s preaching — Inhabitants of, repented at Jonah’s preaching
Pharisees · .By Jesus — .By Jesus
Responsibility · ACCORDING TO PRIVILEGE — ACCORDING TO PRIVILEGE
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Luke 11:27-33
Luke 11:27-28
Matthew 12:46-50
Mark 3:31-35
Luke 11:27-28
46. And while he was still talking to the multitudes, lo, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak to him. 47. And one said to him, Lo, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak to thee. 48. But he answering said to him who had told him, Who is my mother, or who are my brethren? 49. And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, Lo, my mother and my brethren. 50. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.
31. And his mother and brethren came, and standing without, sent to him to call him. [152] 32. And the multitude wa…
