Luke 11:47 kjv
Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
Luke 11:47 nkjv
Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
Luke 11:47 niv
"Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them.
Luke 11:47 esv
Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed.
Luke 11:47 nlt
What sorrow awaits you! For you build monuments for the prophets your own ancestors killed long ago.
Luke 11 47 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Lk 11:42 | "Woe to you, Pharisees! For you tithe mint... and neglect justice and love..." | Jesus' "Woe" series begins |
| Lk 11:48 | "So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs." | Explains the meaning of their action |
| Mt 23:29-32 | "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs... thereby you testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets." | Direct parallel to Luke 11:47-48 |
| Acts 7:51-53 | "You stiff-necked people... Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?" | Stephen's sermon accusing of persecuting prophets |
| Neh 9:26 | "Nevertheless they were disobedient... and killed your prophets who warned them..." | OT example of killing prophets |
| 2 Chr 24:19-21 | "Yet He sent prophets... But they would not listen... stoned Zechariah..." | Example of specific prophet killed by stoning |
| 2 Chr 36:15-16 | "The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers... they kept mocking the messengers..." | Repeated rejection of God's messengers |
| Jer 2:30 | "In vain have I struck your children; they received no instruction; your own sword has devoured your prophets..." | Futility of persecuting prophets |
| Isa 29:13 | "This people draw near with their mouth... while their hearts are far from me..." | Classic definition of hypocrisy |
| Ezek 33:31 | "They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people... but they do not perform them." | Outward piety without inward obedience |
| Mk 7:6-7 | "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me...’" | Reinforces Isaiah's prophecy of hypocrisy |
| Rom 2:17-24 | "You then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself?..." | Hypocrisy of religious teachers |
| Jn 5:44 | "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?" | Rejection stemming from misplaced honor |
| Gal 1:10 | "Am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God?" | Seeking human praise vs. God's will |
| 1 Thess 2:14-16 | "You suffered... from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets..." | Continuity of persecution, includes Jesus |
| Heb 11:32-38 | "who through faith... were sawn in two, were killed with the sword..." | Overview of martyrs, including prophets |
| Lk 13:34 | "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets..." | Jesus' lament over Jerusalem's pattern |
| Mt 10:41 | "Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward." | Contrast: True reception of prophets |
| Jas 5:10 | "As an example of suffering and patience, brethren, take the prophets..." | Understanding the role of persecuted prophets |
| Jn 8:44 | "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires." | Spiritual lineage of wickedness and murder |
| 1 Jn 3:12 | "We are not to be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother." | Root of murder (spiritual vs. physical) |
Luke 11 verses
Luke 11 47 Meaning
This verse pronounces a severe condemnation, a "woe," upon the religious leaders of Jesus' time—the lawyers and Pharisees. It highlights their profound hypocrisy: while they outwardly display respect for the ancient prophets by building and adorning their tombs, they are inwardly aligned with the same rebellious and murderous spirit that led their ancestors to kill those very prophets. Jesus reveals that their actions, rather than honoring the prophets, unwittingly affirm their identification with the persecutors.
Luke 11 47 Context
Luke 11:47 is part of a series of "woes" Jesus pronounces upon the Pharisees and lawyers during a meal. The context begins with a Pharisee inviting Jesus to dine, only for the Pharisee to be surprised that Jesus did not ritually wash His hands. Jesus uses this as an opening to expose the internal corruption behind their outward religious observances (Lk 11:37-41). The condemnation escalates from neglecting justice and love (Lk 11:42), to loving prominent seats (Lk 11:43), and then to being like unmarked graves, defiling those who walk over them unwittingly (Lk 11:44). Verse 47 specifically targets their hypocrisy regarding the prophets, leading directly into verse 48 which clarifies their complicity by approving their fathers' deeds and perpetuating the same spirit. This passage demonstrates Jesus' confrontation with religious leaders who upheld external traditions while rejecting God's true message and messengers, ultimately fulfilling the pattern of their ancestors.
Luke 11 47 Word analysis
- Woe to you! (οὐαὶ ὑμῖν - ouai hymin): This is a strong prophetic pronouncement of judgment, not merely an expression of sorrow or pity. It functions as a warning of impending disaster and condemnation from God. It echoes the "woes" of Old Testament prophets (e.g., Isa 5:8, Hab 2:6), signaling God's displeasure and a coming reckoning.
- For you build (οἰκοδομεῖτε - oikodomeite): Present active indicative. This signifies an ongoing or habitual action. The religious leaders were actively, at that very time, engaged in building or refurbishing the tombs. The word implies careful construction or embellishment.
- the tombs (τὰ μνημεῖα - ta mnēmeia): Literally "memorials" or "monuments," commonly understood as tombs or sepulchres. These were often elaborate structures, white-washed to be seen. Building or adorning them was an outward act of veneration for the deceased.
- of the prophets (τῶν προφητῶν - tōn prophētōn): Refers to the true spokesmen of God throughout Israel's history, who often faced persecution and martyrdom for delivering God's challenging messages. This designation gives gravity to the hypocrisy, as these leaders claim honor for those God sent.
- and your fathers killed them. (οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν ἀπέκτειναν αὐτούς - hoi pateres hymōn apekteinan autous): A direct and damning accusation. Patères (fathers) refers to their physical and historical ancestors. Apékteinan (killed) is in the aorist tense, indicating a completed past action. This historical fact stands in stark contrast to their present veneration.
Words-Group by Words-Group analysis
- "Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets...": This phrase immediately establishes the deep irony and hypocrisy. The religious leaders demonstrate outward respect for those who proclaimed God's truth, creating grand memorials. This act outwardly professes alignment with divine messengers of the past.
- "...and your fathers killed them.": This sharp juxtaposition reveals the paradox. Their ancestors systematically persecuted and murdered these very prophets. By commemorating the dead, the current generation appears pious, yet this pious act ironically serves to highlight the lineage of those who violently rejected God's messengers. The implication, made explicit in the following verse (Lk 11:48, Mt 23:31), is that their actions approve and perpetuate the murderous deeds of their fathers by continuing to reject God's present messenger, Jesus. Their outward show of honoring the dead is merely a whitewashing of an enduring spirit of rebellion and hostility toward God's living voice. They claim the prophets of old, but oppose the living Prophet among them.
Luke 11 47 Bonus section
This woe from Jesus points not merely to a historical pattern of violence against prophets, but to a spiritual continuum. The "fathers" represent not just a distant past, but a continuous rejection of divine truth, embodied now in these religious leaders who oppose Jesus. Their honoring of past prophets, then, becomes a "protest against future grace," preventing themselves from embracing the Living Word before them. This behavior confirms they are spiritually descended from those who rejected God, sealing their own guilt and setting the stage for even greater acts of rejection, culminating in their responsibility for Jesus' death (which fulfills the pattern of the shedding of all righteous blood on earth, mentioned in Lk 11:50-51). They inherited and continued the pattern, indicating a stubborn, unrepentant heart toward God's call to righteousness and true faith.
Luke 11 47 Commentary
Luke 11:47 unmasks the ultimate form of religious hypocrisy. The religious leaders prided themselves on their veneration of the prophets by building impressive tombs, portraying themselves as pious guardians of tradition and righteousness. Yet, Jesus exposes their actions as a deep spiritual deception. By constructing monuments to the martyred prophets, they inadvertently confirmed their ancestral inheritance of murderous intent toward God's messengers. Their honor was superficial, failing to truly embrace the spirit or words of the prophets; rather, it whitewashed the very lineage that resisted and murdered divine truth. This denunciation underscores a timeless truth: it is easy to revere dead saints, but true faithfulness lies in hearing and obeying the living word of God, even when it challenges current comfort or power structures. Honoring the past while persecuting the present manifestation of God's truth reveals a heart fundamentally opposed to God.