The Meaning of Luke 11:47 Explained

Luke 11:47

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

YLT: 'Woe to you, because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

Darby: Woe unto you, for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, but your fathers killed them.

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

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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

What does Luke 11:47 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 11:45-54 - Searching Words For Hypocrites
The minute oral and written rules promulgated by the Hebrew religious leaders overlaid and almost buried under their weight the simple Mosaic code. They were the subject of incessant disputing and discussion. A vast crowd of copyists, lecturers, teachers and casuists were always debating them. The lawyer who here addressed Christ was one of this class. He could hardly believe that this revered rabbi could include him and his fellows in these terrible woes.
Our Lord speaks of Himself as the Wisdom of God. Compare Luke 11:49 with Matthew 23:34. For a moment He rises above the low levels of His Incarnation and identifies Himself with the Eternal God. But what profound sorrow filled His heart, as these stern words were wrung from His lips by the stubborn obduracy of His people! In the Hebrew Scriptures, where the order of the books differs from that of our Old Testament, the death of Abel is related in the first book and that of Zacharias in the last, 2 Chronicles 24:20-22. The legend said that the blood of the latter was bubbling up when Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem. No sacrifices availed to stop it. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 11

1  Jesus teaches us to pray, and that instantly;
11  assuring us that God will give all good things to those who ask him
14  He, casting out a demon, rebukes the blasphemous Pharisees;
27  and shows who are blessed;
29  preaches to the people;
37  and reprimands the outward show of holiness

Greek Commentary for Luke 11:47

Ye build []
Or are building, carrying on the work now. See on Matthew 23:29. [source]
Tombs of the prophets []
See on Matthew 23:29. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 11:47

Acts 7:52 Which of the prophets [τινα των προπητων]
Jesus (Luke 11:47; Matthew 23:29-37) had charged them with this very thing. Cf. 2 Chronicles 36:16. [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 11:47 mean?

Woe to you for you build the tombs of the prophets - yet the fathers of you killed them
οὐαὶ ὑμῖν ὅτι οἰκοδομεῖτε τὰ μνημεῖα τῶν προφητῶν οἱ δὲ πατέρες ὑμῶν ἀπέκτειναν αὐτούς

οὐαὶ  Woe 
Parse: Interjection
Root: οὐαί  
Sense: alas, woe.
ὑμῖν  to  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative 2nd Person Plural
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
οἰκοδομεῖτε  you  build 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: οἰκοδομέω 
Sense: to build a house, erect a building.
μνημεῖα  tombs 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: μνημεῖον  
Sense: any visible object for preserving or recalling the memory of any person or thing.
τῶν  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
προφητῶν  prophets 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root: προφήτης  
Sense: in Greek writings, an interpreter of oracles or of other hidden things.
οἱ  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
δὲ  yet 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: δέ  
Sense: but, moreover, and, etc.
πατέρες  the  fathers 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: προπάτωρ 
Sense: generator or male ancestor.
ὑμῶν  of  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
ἀπέκτειναν  killed 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἀποκτείνω 
Sense: to kill in any way whatever.

What are the major concepts related to Luke 11:47?

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