Luke 11:51 kjv
From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.
Luke 11:51 nkjv
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.
Luke 11:51 niv
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.
Luke 11:51 esv
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.
Luke 11:51 nlt
from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will certainly be charged against this generation.
Luke 11 51 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Gen 4:8-11 | Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. And [God] said... the voice of your brother's blood is crying to me... | Abel as the first righteous martyr. |
| 2 Chr 24:20-21 | The Spirit of God came upon Zechariah... he stood above the people... "Why do you transgress...?" They conspired against him and by command of the king they stoned him... between the altar and the house of the LORD. | Identification of Zechariah and location of martyrdom. |
| Matt 23:35 | So that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. | Parallel passage highlighting the same cumulative guilt. |
| Heb 11:4 | By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice... through it he still speaks, though dead. | Abel's righteous character and enduring witness. |
| Heb 12:24 | and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. | Jesus's blood transcends and surpasses the Old Covenant's martyred blood. |
| Matt 23:29-39 | "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous..." | Condemnation of those who superficially honor prophets while rejecting God's current messengers. |
| Acts 7:51-53 | "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered." | Stephen's speech echoing the persistent resistance to God's Spirit and prophets. |
| Neh 9:26 | "Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them..." | OT pattern of rejecting and killing prophets. |
| Jer 2:30 | "In vain have I struck your children; they received no instruction; your own sword has devoured your prophets like a ravening lion." | God's lament over Israel's treatment of His prophets. |
| Jer 26:20-23 | Narrative of Urijah the prophet being killed by King Jehoiakim, an example of royal persecution of prophets. | Another specific instance of a prophet's murder, reinforcing the pattern. |
| Luke 13:34-35 | "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together... your house is left to you desolate." | Jesus's lament and prophecy of Jerusalem's desolation due to rejecting messengers. |
| Luke 19:41-44 | And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes..." | Jesus's sorrowful prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction due to lack of understanding. |
| Deut 19:10 | "...that innocent blood may not be shed in your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, and so bloodguilt come upon you." | Warning against bloodguilt upon the land. |
| Hos 4:1-2 | "There is no faithfulness or steadfast love... there is swearing, deception, murder, stealing, and adultery..." | General sin, including bloodshed, that incurs divine judgment. |
| Jer 7:15 | "And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsfolk, all the offspring of Ephraim." | Foreshadowing divine judgment and exile. |
| Ps 9:12 | For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted. | God's attribute as one who avenges righteous blood. |
| Rev 18:24 | And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth. | Echoes the cumulative bloodguilt theme on a grander scale against Babylon. |
| Gal 4:4 | But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son... | Suggests that the coming of Christ represents a decisive moment for reckoning. |
| 1 Thes 1:10 | and to wait for his Son from heaven... who delivers us from the wrath to come. | Concept of impending wrath, relevant to "charged against this generation." |
| Luke 21:20-24 | "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near... for these are days of vengeance..." | Prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction as a "time of vengeance." |
Luke 11 verses
Luke 11 51 Meaning
Luke 11:51 conveys Jesus's solemn declaration of judgment upon "this generation" for the cumulative guilt of all righteous blood shed throughout history, from Abel to Zechariah. It asserts a continuity of rebellion against God's messengers by Israel, culminating in the rejection of Jesus and His prophets, which will lead to a divine reckoning and accountability for the contemporary generation.
Luke 11 51 Context
Luke 11:51 is part of Jesus's "Woes" pronounced against the Pharisees and experts in the law (scribes) following a dinner invitation where Jesus had rebuked them for their outward piety concealing inner corruption. These woes, specifically from Luke 11:37-54, criticize their hypocrisy, legalism, burdening others with impossible demands, rejection of God's wisdom and messengers, and their ultimate culpability for shedding innocent blood. The preceding verses (Luke 11:49-50) directly mention that God will send prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute, so that the blood of all prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, might be charged against "this generation." Verse 51 climactically names the first (Abel) and what, from the perspective of the Jewish canon, could be considered the last (Zechariah in 2 Chronicles), symbolizing the entire spectrum of righteous martyrs whose bloodguilt will be brought to account upon those who represent the continuation of this long-standing rebellion.
Luke 11 51 Word analysis
- from the blood of Abel:
Abel(Greek: Habel, transliterated from Hebrew Hevel): The very first recorded murder victim in Scripture (Gen 4:8), martyred by his brother Cain. His blood is called to mind by God. Symbolizes the archetypal innocent victim, and the start of a long line of righteous people suffering for their faithfulness.
- to the blood of Zechariah:
Zechariah(Greek: Zacharias): Refers to Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest, from 2 Chronicles 24:20-22. He confronted King Joash and the people for abandoning the LORD, and was stoned to death in the court of the temple.
- who perished:
perished(Greek: apolōlen): Past perfect tense of apollumi, meaning "to destroy, kill, lose, perish." Indicates a violent, decisive, and final death.
- between the altar and the temple:
- Specifically referring to the location of Zechariah's murder as recounted in 2 Chronicles 24:20-21. "Altar" is likely the brazen altar in the temple courtyard. "Temple" refers to the house of the LORD. His murder in such a sacred space highlighted the extreme defilement and sacrilege of the act by God's people. This detail validates the identification of this specific Zechariah.
- Yes, I tell you:
Yes(Greek: Nai): An emphatic affirmation. It introduces a solemn and certain pronouncement from Jesus, emphasizing the gravity of what follows. It elevates the statement from a mere observation to a divine decree.
- it will be charged against this generation:
charged against(Greek: ekzētēthēsetai apo): Literally, "will be sought out from," or "will be required from." It signifies a demand for reckoning, a strong sense of divine accountability and retribution for accumulated bloodguilt. It means the justice due for those murders will be exacted from them.this generation(Greek: tēs geneas tautēs): Refers to the people contemporary with Jesus and His ministry—the Pharisees, experts in the law, and others who rejected Him. It encompasses those responsible for rejecting Jesus, God's ultimate messenger, thereby demonstrating a continued pattern of rebellion. The term "generation" in prophetic context can also denote a certain class of people or an era marked by particular characteristics, in this case, a generation characterized by profound spiritual blindness and rejection.
Luke 11 51 Bonus section
The reference to Abel and Zechariah encapsulates the full breadth of the Old Testament prophetic tradition as understood in a Jewish context where 2 Chronicles was the last book. This structural reference makes Jesus's condemnation utterly comprehensive. This verse highlights that ignoring and persecuting God's messengers is a deeply ingrained historical pattern within Israel, yet the "this generation" of Jesus's time is particularly culpable because they stand at the decisive point of divine revelation—the Messiah Himself. Their sin is magnified not only by quantity but by the quality of the messenger rejected.
Luke 11 51 Commentary
Luke 11:51 is a powerful condemnation by Jesus, bringing to a climax His "Woes" against the religious leaders. By citing Abel, the first recorded martyr in the Jewish canon, and Zechariah (of 2 Chronicles 24), who is considered the last prophet murdered within the Hebrew Bible's historical narrative (2 Chronicles being the final book in the traditional Jewish order), Jesus paints a picture of a continuous and unbroken chain of rebellion against God and His messengers. This collective guilt, accumulated over millennia, is dramatically laid at the feet of "this generation." Their sin is not merely a repetition but the culmination of this long history of rejection, because in Jesus, God's final and most profound Word has come. Their rejection of Him means that the cup of their ancestors' iniquity is now full. This statement functions as a severe prophetic warning of impending divine judgment, primarily foreshadowing the catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in A.D. 70, a direct consequence of rejecting the Messiah. It illustrates a biblical principle of corporate responsibility and that ultimate rejection of God's final witness will incur definitive wrath.