Luke 9:54

And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
when	ἰδόντες idontes	G1492	used only in certain past tenses · verb — second aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
his	αὐτούς autous	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative plural masculine
disciples	μαθηταὶ mathētai	G3101	a learner · noun — nominative plural masculine
James	Ἰάκωβος Iakōbos	G2385	Jacobus · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
John	Ἰωάννης Iōannēs	G2491	Joannes (i.e. Jochanan) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
saw	εἴδω eídō	G1492	used only in certain past tenses
said	εἶπαν· eipan	G2036	to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
Lord	κύριε, kurie	G2962	supreme in authority · noun — vocative singular masculine, a title
thou	θέλεις theleis	G2309	to determine (as an active option from subjective impul… · verb — present active indicative, 2nd person singular
command	εἴπωμεν eipōmen	G2036	to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 1st person plural
fire	πῦρ pur	G4442	"fire" (literally or figuratively · noun — accusative singular neuter
down	καταβῆναι katabēnai	G2597	to descend (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active infinitive
from	ἀπὸ apo	G575	"off · preposition
heaven	οὐρανοῦ ouranou	G3772	the sky · noun — genitive singular masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
consume	ἀναλῶσαι analōsai	G355	properly · verb — aorist active infinitive
them	αὐτός autós	G846	the reflexive pronoun self
even	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
as	ὡς hōs	G5613	which how · particle
Elias	Ἠλίας Ēlias	G2243	Helias (i.e. Elijah) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
did	ἐποίησεν; epoiēsen	G4160	to make or do (in a very wide application · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular

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

2 Kings 1:10-14 And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fi…
James 1:19-20 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
James 3:14-18 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
Acts 4:29-30 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
2 Samuel 21:2 And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Am…
2 Kings 10:31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which…
2 Kings 10:16 And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD. So they made him ride in his chariot.
Revelation 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 9:51-56

This passage of story we have not in any other of the evangelists, and it seems to come in here for the sake of its affinity with that next before, for in this also Christ rebuked his disciples, because they envied for his sake. There, under colour of zeal for Christ, they were for silencing and restraining separatists: here, under the same colour, they were for putting infidels to death; and, as for that, so for this also, Christ reprimanded them, for a spirit of bigotry and persecution is directly contrary to the spirit of Christ and Christianity. Observe here, I. The readiness and resolution of our Lord Jesus, in prosecuting his great undertaking for our redemption and salvation. Of this…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 9:54

James and John--not Peter, as we should have expected, but those "sons of thunder" (Mar 3:17), who afterwards wanted to have all the highest honors of the Kingdom to themselves, and the younger of whom had been rebuked already for his exclusiveness (Luk 9:49-50). Yet this was "the disciple whom Jesus loved," while the other willingly drank of His Lord's bitter cup. (See on Mar 10:38-40; and Act 12:2). That same fiery zeal, in a mellowed and hallowed form, in the beloved disciple, we find in Jo1 5:10; Jo3 1:10. fire . . . as Elias--a plausible case, occurring also in Samaria (Kg2 1:10-12).

Adam Clarke on Luke 9:54

That we command fire - Vengeance belongs to the Lord. What we suffer for his sake, should be left to himself to reprove or punish. The insult is offered to him, not to us. See the note on Mar 3:17.

John Gill on Luke 9:54

And when his disciples, James and John, saw this,.... The Persic version reads thus; when "James and John, and the disciples saw this"; that is, the other disciples besides them, so making all the disciples say what follows; whereas only those two are intended, who having been the messengers, were the more provoked at this indignity to their Lord and master: they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them; being enraged at this conduct of the Samaritans towards, Christ, and burning with love to him, and zeal for his honour; being "Boanerges's", sons of thunder, they were for punishing of them in a most terrible manner, even with, fire from heaven;…

The Church Fathers

They thought it much juster that the Samaritans should perish for not admitting our Lord, than the fifty soldiers who tried to thrust down Elijah.
— Titus of Bostra ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

But as yet they were not so, nay, being stirred up with fervid zeal, they wished to bring down fire from heaven upon them. It follows, And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, will thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, &c.
— Cyril of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

For holy men who well knew that that death which detaches the soul from the body was not to be feared, still because of their feelings who feared it, punished some sins with death, that both the living might be struck with a wholesome dread, and those who were punished with death might receive harm not from death itself but from sin, which would be increased were they to live.
— Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

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

Apostle — A person sent by another; a messenger; envoy. This word is once used as a descriptive designation of Jesus Christ, the Sent of the Father (Heb. 3:1; John 20:21). It is, however, generally used as…
Boanerges — Sons of thunder, a surname given by our Lord to James and John (Mark 3:17) on account of their fervid and impetuous temper (Luke 9:54).
Elijah — Whose God is Jehovah. (1.) “The Tishbite,” the “Elias” of the New Testament, is suddenly introduced to our notice in 1 Kings 17:1 as delivering a message from the Lord to Ahab. There is mention made…
James — (1.) The son of Zebedee and Salome; an elder brother of John the apostle. He was one of the twelve. He was by trade a fisherman, in partnership with Peter (Matt. 20:20; 27:56). With John and Peter he…
John — (1.) One who, with Annas and Caiaphas, sat in judgment on the apostles Peter and John (Acts 4:6). He was of the kindred of the high priest; otherwise unknown. (2.) The Hebrew name of Mark (q.v.). He…
Persecution — The first great persecution for religious opinion of which we have any record was that which broke out against the worshippers of God among the Jews in the days of Ahab, when that king, at the…
Apostles · Moral state of, before Pentecost — Moral state of, before Pentecost
James · .Bigotry of — .Bigotry of
Rashness · .James and — .James and
Retaliation · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Revenge · Rebuked by Jesus — Rebuked by Jesus
Strife · Christ, an example of avoiding

Luke 9:54

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 9:51-56

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 9:54

Adam Clarke on Luke 9:54

John Gill on Luke 9:54

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Luke 9:54

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 9:51-56

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 9:54

Adam Clarke on Luke 9:54

John Gill on Luke 9:54

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Luke 9:49-56

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Luke 9:54