Luke 7:31 kjv
And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?
Luke 7:31 nkjv
And the Lord said, "To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?
Luke 7:31 niv
Jesus went on to say, "To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like?
Luke 7:31 esv
"To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?
Luke 7:31 nlt
"To what can I compare the people of this generation?" Jesus asked. "How can I describe them?
Luke 7 31 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Lk 7:32 | They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another: 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.' | Describes the illustration's content. |
| Lk 7:33 | For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' | Explains their rejection of John's asceticism. |
| Lk 7:34 | The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' | Explains their rejection of Jesus' inclusivity. |
| Lk 7:35 | Yet wisdom is justified by all her children. | God's wisdom is affirmed by those who accept it. |
| Mt 11:16 | "But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces..." | Parallel passage in Matthew's Gospel. |
| Mt 11:17 | "...who call out to their playmates, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.'" | Parallel illustration details. |
| Mt 11:18-19 | John... came eating... you say... Jesus came eating... you say... | Parallel explanation of rejections. |
| Isa 5:20 | Woe to those who call evil good and good evil... | Perversion of judgment and discernment. |
| Isa 30:9 | For they are a rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the Lord; | Prophecy of a disobedient generation. |
| Jer 5:21 | Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not; who have ears, but hear not: | Spiritual blindness despite sensory ability. |
| Ps 95:10 | For forty years I loathed that generation and said, 'They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.' | Israel's persistent unbelief in the wilderness. |
| Mk 3:5 | And when he had looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, he said... | Jesus' sorrow over spiritual hardness. |
| Acts 7:51 | "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you." | Stephen's indictment of similar resistance. |
| Deut 31:27 | For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord; | Moses warns of Israel's rebellious nature. |
| Rom 10:21 | But of Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people." | God's continued appeal to disobedient Israel. |
| Jn 1:11 | He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. | Rejection of Jesus by His own people. |
| Heb 3:10 | Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, 'They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.' | Echoes Ps 95 concerning unbelief. |
| Mt 16:3 | And in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. | Failure to discern spiritual signs. |
| 1 Cor 10:9 | We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, | Testing or provoking God/Christ through unbelief. |
| Lk 13:34 | 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 as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were unwilling! | Jesus' lament over Jerusalem's rejection of prophets and Him. |
| Heb 4:7 | ...saying through David a long time afterward, as has just been said, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." | Call to avoid hardening hearts in response to God's word. |
| 2 Tim 3:7 | always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. | Characteristic of those resistant to truth. |
| Hos 4:6 | My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge... | Consequence of spiritual ignorance/unwillingness to know God. |
Luke 7 verses
Luke 7 31 Meaning
Luke 7:31 initiates Jesus' lament and illustration concerning the spiritual obstinacy of His contemporary generation. He questions to whom or what this generation can be aptly compared, emphasizing their unwillingness to respond positively to either John the Baptist's austere call to repentance or His own more joyous message of the Kingdom. The verse sets the stage for a parable about children in the marketplace, highlighting a pervasive spiritual immaturity and a tendency to find fault regardless of the divine approach.
Luke 7 31 Context
Luke 7:31 follows a pivotal moment in Jesus' ministry where He first commends the faith of a Roman centurion (Lk 7:1-10) and then performs a miraculous raising of a widow's son from death (Lk 7:11-17), both demonstrating His authority over sickness and death. John the Baptist, now imprisoned, sends his disciples to inquire if Jesus is "the one who is to come" (Lk 7:18-23). Jesus affirms His identity through His works and then speaks highly of John, stating that John is more than a prophet, identifying him as the messenger who prepares the way for the Lord (Lk 7:24-30). However, amidst this testimony, Jesus notes a paradox: while the common people and tax collectors responded to John's baptism, the Pharisees and legal experts rejected God's purpose for themselves. Verse 31, therefore, serves as Jesus' direct address to "this generation" – primarily the religious leaders and a significant portion of society – who refused to embrace either John's severe call to repentance or Jesus' message of grace and the Kingdom, demonstrating a capricious and critical spirit regardless of God's clear manifestations.
Luke 7 31 Word analysis
- To what: Greek: Tíni (τίνι). An interrogative pronoun, expressing the desire for a suitable comparison or likeness. It introduces a rhetorical question designed to provoke thought on the nature of the people being described.
- then: Greek: Oun (οὖν). A conjunctive particle often indicating consequence or continuation. Here, it signifies "therefore" or "consequently," linking the preceding observation about John and Jesus to this comparison. It points to a conclusion drawn from their prior behavior.
- shall I liken: Greek: homoiōsō (ὁμοιώσω). Future active indicative of homoióō, meaning "to make like, to liken, to compare." Jesus seeks an appropriate analogy to illustrate their nature.
- this: Greek: taútēn (ταύτην). The demonstrative pronoun emphasizes the specificity of "this generation" directly present and being addressed, pointing to the contemporary audience.
- generation: Greek: geneán (γενεάν). Refers to the people of a specific era or age group. In this context, it often carries a negative connotation in Jesus' teachings, referring to His contemporaries who rejected divine truth (e.g., Lk 11:29-32, Lk 17:25). It highlights their collective spiritual disposition.
- And what: Greek: Kaí tínes (καὶ τίνες). "And what" or "and whom." It repeats the rhetorical inquiry, intensifying the search for the appropriate comparison and indicating a search for their intrinsic character.
- are they like?: Greek: eisin hómoioi (εἰσιν ὅμοιοι). Present indicative of eimi (to be) + adjective homoios (like). It further stresses the identity and behavior that will be described by the following parable, making the connection explicit between "this generation" and the "children in the marketplace."
Words-group by words-group analysis
- "To what then shall I liken this generation?": This rhetorical question sets up a vivid illustration. Jesus seeks an analogy to expose the spiritual stubbornness and inconsistency of His contemporaries. It highlights a divine frustration with their unwillingness to receive God's messengers.
- "And what are they like?": This follow-up question intensifies the inquiry. It's not just what they are like, but how they are like that, probing deeper into their nature and behavior that resists God's diverse approaches through John the Baptist and Himself.
Luke 7 31 Bonus section
The underlying polemic in Jesus' words is against the hypocritical religiosity prevalent among many Pharisees and legal experts, who outwardly observed rituals but inwardly resisted the spirit of God's calling. They embodied a contradiction: claiming to await the Messiah and the prophet (Elijah/John), yet rejecting them when they appeared because they did not conform to their preconceived notions or expectations. This verse implicitly teaches the importance of spiritual flexibility and discernment—recognizing God's voice even when it comes in unexpected forms, rather than imposing one's own agenda or rigid expectations upon divine revelation. The lament also foreshadows the rejection Jesus would ultimately face.
Luke 7 31 Commentary
Luke 7:31 serves as Jesus' deeply insightful diagnosis of spiritual resistance. The generation Jesus addresses demonstrated a profound unwillingness to genuinely respond to God's overtures, regardless of the form they took. John the Baptist came with an austere, ascetic message of repentance, and they dismissed him as demon-possessed. Jesus came with a message of grace, feasting, and companionship with sinners, and they derided Him as a glutton and a drunkard. Their response wasn't based on the content or character of the messengers but on a predisposition to find fault. They acted like petulant children in the marketplace who couldn't be pleased by any game their peers suggested—whether a joyous wedding song or a sorrowful funeral dirge. This highlights spiritual immaturity, a closed heart, and a judgmental spirit that refuses to engage with God's truth on its own terms. This inability to be moved by either solemnity or celebration indicates a hardened heart that prioritizes criticism over genuine seeking of God's will.