Luke 11:47

Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Woe	Οὐαὶ Ouai	G3759	"woe" · interjection
unto you	ὑμῖν hymîn	G5213	to (with or by) you
for	ὅτι hoti	G3754	demonstrative · conjunction
ye build	οἰκοδομεῖτε oikodomeite	G3618	to be a house-builder · verb — present active indicative, 2nd person plural
the sepulchres	μνημεῖα mnēmeia	G3419	a remembrance · noun — accusative plural neuter
of the prophets	προφητῶν, prophētōn	G4396	a foreteller ("prophet") · noun — genitive plural masculine
and	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
your	ὑμῶν hymōn	G5216	of (from or concerning) you
fathers	πατέρες pateres	G3962	a "father" (literally or figuratively · noun — nominative plural masculine
killed	ἀπέκτειναν apekteinan	G615	to kill outright · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
them	αὐτούς. autous	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative plural masculine

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

Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
1 Thessalonians 2:15 Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:
Matthew 23:29-33 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 11:37–end

Christ here says many of those things to a Pharisee and his guests, in a private conversation at table, which he afterwards said in a public discourse in the temple (Mt. 23); for what he said in public and private was of a piece. He would not say that in a corner which he durst not repeat and stand to in the great congregation; nor would he give those reproofs to any sort of sinners in general which he durst not apply to them in particular as he met with them; for he was, and is, the faithful Witness. Here is, I. Christ's going to dine with a Pharisee that very civilly invited him to his house (Luk 11:37); As he spoke, even while he was speaking, a certain Pharisee interrupted him with a req…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 11:47

ye build, &c.--Out of pretended respect and honor, they repaired and beautified the sepulchres of the prophets, and with whining hypocrisy said, "If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets," while all the time they "were witnesses to themselves that they were the children of them that killed the prophets" (Mat 23:29-30); convicting themselves daily of as exact a resemblance in spirit and character to the very classes over whose deeds they pretended to mourn, as child to parent.

Adam Clarke on Luke 11:47

Ye build the sepulchres - That is, ye rebuild and beautify them. See on Mat 23:29 (note).

John Gill on Luke 11:47

Woe unto you,.... Meaning particularly the lawyers or Scribes, together with the Pharisees, and even the whole body of the people, who in general were of the cast and complexion here described: for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets; See Gill on Matthew 23:29. and your fathers killed them; the prophets; "or whom your fathers killed", as read the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions; the one put them to death, and the other erected stately monuments over them, or adorned them; and yet both had the same malignant spirit against the faithful servants and messengers of God; and which showed their great hypocrisy.

The Church Fathers

But why is a "woe" pronounced against them for "building the sepulchres of the prophets whom their fathers had killed? " They rather deserved praise, because by such an act of piety they seemed to show that they did not allow the deeds of their fathers.
— Tertullian, Against Marcion Book IV

This is a good answer to the foolish superstition of the Jews, who in building the tombs of the prophets condemned the deeds of their fathers, but by rivalling their fathers' wickedness, throw back the sentence upon themselves. For not the building but the imitation of their deeds is looked upon as a crime. Therefore He adds, Truly ye bear witness that ye allow, &c.
— Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Woe to you who build the tombs of the prophets, but your fathers killed them. It is a crime not to adorn the tombs of the prophets, but to imitate the murderers of the prophets. Therefore, the Jews, by building the tombs of the prophets, were accusing the deeds of their fathers who killed them; but by emulating the deeds of their fathers, while they persecuted Christ and his apostles, they were turning the judgment upon themselves, committing the same deeds which they condemned in their parents.
— Bede, On the Gospel of Luke

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Lawyer · Jesus’ remarks against — Jesus’ remarks against
Pharisees · .By Jesus — .By Jesus
Satire · Of Jesus against hypocrites — Of Jesus against hypocrites
Self-Righteousness · .Pharisees — .Pharisees
Teachers · .Admonition against — .Admonition against

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).

Luke 11:47

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 11:37–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 11:47

Adam Clarke on Luke 11:47

John Gill on Luke 11:47

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Luke 11:47

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 11:37–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 11:47

Adam Clarke on Luke 11:47

John Gill on Luke 11:47

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Luke 11:47-51

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Luke 11:46