New Living Translation
Luke 7:32
32They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, ‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t weep.’
Luke 7:32 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.
- New International Version (NIV)They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other: “ ‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.’
- English Standard Version (ESV)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.'
- New King James Version (NKJV)They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not weep.’
Context of Luke 7:32
30But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism. 31“To what can I compare the people of this generation?” Jesus asked. “How can I describe them? They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, ‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t weep.’ 33For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ 34The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’
Read all of Luke 7Luke 7:32 word by word
ὅμοιοί εἰσιν παιδίοις τοῖς ἐν ἀγορᾷ καθημένοις καὶ προσφωνοῦσιν ἀλλήλοις ἃ λέγει· ηὐλήσαμεν ὑμῖν, καὶ οὐκ ὠρχήσασθε· ἐθρηνήσαμεν καὶ οὐκ ἐκλαύσατε.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- They areεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- likeὅμοιοςhomoios · likeG3664
- unto childrenπαιδίονpaidion · childG3813
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- sittingκάθημαιkathēmai · to sitG2521
- inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
- the marketplaceἀγοράagora · marketplaceG58
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- callingπροσφωνέωprosphōneō · to call to/summonG4377
- one to anotherἀλλήλωνallēlōn · one anotherG240
- sayingλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
- We have pipedαὐλέωauleō · to play the fluteG832
- unto youσύsu · youG4771
- ye haveὀρχέομαιorcheomai · to danceG3738
- notοὐou · noG3756
- we have mournedθρηνέωthrēneō · to lamentG2354
- ye haveκλαίωklaiō · to weepG2799
Cross-references for Luke 7:32
- Proverbs 17:16It is senseless to pay to educate a fool, since he has no heart for learning.
- Isaiah 28:9“Who does the Lord think we are?” they ask. “Why does he speak to us like this? Are we little children, just recently weaned?
- Isaiah 29:11All the future events in this vision are like a sealed book to them. When you give it to those who can read, they will say, “We can’t read it because it is sealed.”
- Jeremiah 5:3Lord, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to be corrected. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent.
- Matthew 11:16“To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends,
- Zechariah 8:5And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls at play.
Commentaries on Luke 7:32
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 32They are like unto children - See on Matthew 11:16-19; (note). It is probable that our Lord alludes here to some play or game among the Jewish children, no account of which is now on record.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19-35Verses 19-35 See this passage explained in Luke 7:29 The people - The common people. That heard him - That heard “John.” The publicans - The tax-gatherers, the worst kind of people, who had, however, been converted. Justified God - Considered God as “just” or “right” in the counsel which he gave by John - to wit, in calling people to repentance, and in denouncing future wrath on the impenitent. Compare Matthew 11:19. Being baptized - They “showed” that…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-35Verses 19-35 To his miracles in the kingdom of nature, Christ adds this in the kingdom of grace, To the poor the gospel is preached. It clearly pointed out the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom, that the messenger he sent before him to prepare his way, did it by preaching repentance and reformation of heart and life. We have here the just blame of those who were not wrought upon by the ministry of John Baptist or of Jesus Christ himself. They made a…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 31-35To what, then, can I compare the men of this generation?: Jesus compares Israel to fickle children in the marketplace who play games of make-believe. They called John the Baptist to dance (a wedding game), but the serious prophet refused. Instead, he called them to mourn and repent of their sins. Then they called on Jesus to mourn (a funeral game), but he was the bridegroom who announced the joyful celebration banquet of the kingdom of God. It would not…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 31-3531-35. the Lord said, &c.--As cross, capricious children, invited by their playmates to join them in their amusements, will play with them neither at weddings nor funerals (juvenile imitations of the joyous and mournful scenes of life), so that generation rejected both John and his Master: the one because he was too unsocial--more like a demoniac than a rational man; the other, because He was too much the reverse, given to animal indulgences, and…Read the comment
Topics related to Luke 7:32
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Luke 7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Catena Aurea
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- John Lightfoot Commentary
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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